Athenian Grill

A little bit of Athens in downtown Austin

By Dale Rice
American-Statesman Restaurant Critic
Oct. 7, 2004

	The combination plate includes chicken and slices of gyro with yogurt dip and other appealing tastes.
	Owner George Betondos invites diners to experience Greek cuisine at the downtown Athenian Grill.
	Cap off your dining experience with kataifi, which looks like a hay bale but actually hides a filling of nuts within shreds of phyllo dough.
Photos by Andrew Price/AA-S
Athenian Grill 705 Colorado St. (512) 482-8988 Rating: Forks Up. Price: Moderate Oct. 7, 2004 Reviews: • Castle Hill Cafe • Athenian Grill More In Restaurants: • Complete Restaurant Reviews • Austin360 Foodie Board • Girl Walks Into A Bar

A casual, cafeteria-style place for lunch with wait-service at dinner, Athenian Grill has opened in the space formerly occupied by Jean Luc's Bistro on Colorado between Seventh and Eighth streets.

Get off to a good start on Mediterranean cuisine with the meze ($5.50), an appetizer assortment that included one each of spanakopita, tiropita, dolmades and keftedes, with a large dollop of tzatziki (a yogurt, cucumber and garlic dip).

Enticing triangles of light, golden, flaky phyllo dough, the spanakopita was filled with spinach and feta cheese, while the tiropita held a cheese filling of Romano and feta. A meatball in a chunky, lightly spicy tomato sauce, the keftede was as tasty as the dolmade, a grape leaf stuffed with a ground beef-rice mixture.

For the main course, the leg of lamb ($12.95) featured strongly flavored meat that may have sat too long after cooking; despite a plateful of pan juices, it was dry and stringy. It was served with four wedges of crisp potato.

The combination plate ($11.99) was far more interesting, with slices of gyro (compressed beef and lamb) and chicken (also cooked in a vertical broiler like the gyro), along with a cheese pie, meatball, rice pilaf and the yogurt dip. While the meats were a bit on the dry side, the plate made up for that with its appealing variety.

Each entrée also was accompanied by a complimentary house salad and pita bread.

For the sweet ending, the desserts were variations on a theme.

The baklava ($2.99) featured phyllo dough layered with chopped nuts and honey. Unfortunately, the bottom layer of dough was so tough it was almost impossible to cut through with a fork.

With the appearance of a small bale of straw, the kataifi ($2.99) enclosed a filling of nuts within tiny shreds of phyllo dough. It was as delightful as it was attractive.

We left the restaurant happy that there's another ethnic cuisine now available for a nice downtown dinner.