Ela! Greek Taverna

Went just before closing. Order spaghetti and open face lamb shawarma with fries. The fries could have been crispier and the shawarma meat was slightly overcooked. I caulked it up to being the end of the night. It was tasty and filling and had great flavor… Could have used the classic garlic sauce though. ;)

Absolutely great ambiance going on for being located in a strip mall. If you didn’t know you were in a strip mall, you wouldn’t know you were in a strip mall. Our server was very sweet, and checked on us often, but not in an overbearing way.
As we weren’t very hungry, my dad and I tried the Mediterranean Trio for $ 15. I think the price was a little high on this, but my goodness it was good quality. The pita was so soft and flavorful and kopanisti was heaven in your mouth. The tzatsiki and hummus were your basic run of the mill hummus, but were obviously homemade. My dad said that his $ 8 glass of sangria packed a lot of great flavor. My sister also enjoyed her Ratatouille ‘braim’ for $ 17 but could have done without the potato as filler. It was a large portion that could probably be split and included a good Greek salad.
If I lived nearby, I would certainly put Ela! in my regular rotation. We had a wonderful, and relaxing dining experience.

It was really good food, but expensive in my opinion. For example 3 dolmades costs $ 13. The meal itself was very well done, but again overpriced.
Staff are friendly and courteous.
NO GREEK MEZE!
Why do no restaurants in Nova Scotia do this Greek MEZE dinner? It’s more coat effective and the customers would love it!
Don’t call a platter a meze. A Meze is an entire dinner of tiny courses sampling everything. Like 10 courses.

I am never disappointed with the food. Slightly pricey, but reliably delicious. I love anything lamb, and they do it just right at Ela.

Fantastic! Great food, fast and friendly service! Also very nice atmosphere. Love the decorating, such a unique lovely place!

We visited the restaurant last night. Excellent food, excellent service. I have absolutely no complaints about our first time there. This could be a regular for us on date night.

I usually like this place a lot, but my my food last time was only 3-​star. The moussaka was a little crispy on the bottom, not enough to say anything at the time, because the server was nice. The Greek salad had a little too much green pepper, too few tomatoes, and was a little over-​dressed. The appetizer and dessert were fine. I’ll go back, but I hope they find their mojo again!

I went to Ela Greek because my wife was insistent, but I was resistant because I expected fast-​food quality, clichéd Greek cuisine. I am happy to report that I was wrong. The food was fresh, authentic, and tasty. The service was friendly, efficient, but not rushed and our server was very helpful. We ordered the calamari but requested it grilled instead of deep fried and our request was graciously and easily accommodated. The end result was delicious. In all we shared five dishes plus two desserts and everyone was more than satisfied with the flavour, portion sizes and overall experience. We¹ll be back.

I grew up eating lots of garlic in most of my meals — so when I go to Ela! if there isn’t enough garlic, I start to question the establishment. So far so good, that’s never happened to me yet!
I love their souvalaki, their shawarma (even though it’s very different than the Lebanese kind I’m used to), and the lemon potatoes/​greek salad are so good!
I’d like to do a review of one visit here — but to be honest, I go to this Ela at least once or twice a month. So it all kind of mixes together — but what stays the same is the food quality and service. They seem to have this great consistency about those things that I expect every time I go there and they never let me down.
I’m trying to go through the entire menu and try as much of it as I can — the last thing I had was the Chicken Breast Riganato. It’s a pretty good sized sandwich. Very flavourful, delicious bread and tasty secret ela sauce! The greek salad and the lemon potatoes like I said before are just so friggin good… I could eat platefuls of those two things.
Service was consistent, attentive and super friendly as usual. Will definitely be continuing my tradition of eating here and loving every minute of it!

In the area for business, stayed next door at the Hampton Inn and had a few great meals here. Nice décor and good service. The mussels appetizer is very good, I have ordered it more than once. I would return just for the mussels.
The mains dishes I have tried have been good, but nothing that would have me rushing back, so I am giving Ela! 4 instead of 5 stars.

A bit pricey and just average for quality of food. I had a halumi sandwich, which was fairly dry and had a terrible winter tomato in it, after I asked for no tomatoes. So basically it was cheese on yesterday’s bread with bad tomatoes. The greek salad that came with it was pretty decent. The service was fairly slow, with just a couple of other tables around on a Saturday at late lunch time. The décor and atmosphere outshone the food. There are a number of other options in this area so I’d definitely try something else next time.

Food was ok but definitely NOT authentic Greek food. I was upset to see my Greek salad had lettuce and green pepper? Never had I had a «Greek salad» with lettuce and green pepper. When I mentioned it to the waitress that I did not get a Greek salad she laughed at me (no joke) and said that the salad is pretty much the same as a Greek salad. It isn’t.
6pm on a Friday and the place was almost empty (first hint). Food was very pricy and the the Unilocal reviews all say that its a «lunch place» (second hint). We asked to sit by a window and the waitress said no, that section is closed. Meaning «we don’t want to clean if we don’t need to» (third hint). If you want to pay too much for mediocre service this is your place. If your looking for Greek food then save your money.

NOMNOMNOM!
I’m not usually a fan of greek food, but I decided to try out this place one day after a day of shopping with the gals. They love greek food so I was outnumbered but I entered the restaurant with a good-​feeling — it can’t be worse then the other bad restaurants there.
Not only is the outside of the building stunning, but the inside is absolutely gorgeous. Huge windows make it light and spacious and the interior décor is just… i felt like I was stepping into Greece: big trees are planted everywhere.
I’ll admit though, I didn’t order a «traditional» greek dish. My friends ordered the lamb while I order the chicken penne. Before our main dish, we received bread and olive oil — which is definite points in my books… i looooove bread. The chicken penne was delicious, creamy and full of taste.
Finally, a GOOD restaurant in Dartmouth Crossing!

The interior decorating is absolutely stunning. Excellent food and great service. Our waiter was very polite, helpful, & caring. The food was delicious and this is one of the better restaurants I’ve visited in quite some time. I’ll definitely be back!

Let me get the nitpicking stuff out of the way first. They were woefully understaffed for a Monday night. We literally had to walk all the way in before anyone would acknowledge and seat us.
The place was empty at 6. But one table of three ordering their desserts when we arrived. My GF and I were there to celebrate her Birthday and have a quiet romantic evening. We asked for a table in the corner. To which the server responded, «Oh that section is closed»
WHY DO SERVERS SAY THIS?! IT infuriates me. If a table or section is reserved for a party then fine. But if it’s because you don’t want to have to sweep under more tables then GFY. If I wanted to be corralled into a section with 20 other people shoulder to shoulder I’d go to Burger King. We are paying for a nice dinner. Stop seating everyone together just so you can leave 2 minutes earlier. This is sloppy and unprofessional. We ended up seated right next to the only other frikken people in there. I’d like to note that shortly after we arrived more people started arriving they put people at the table we wanted. Not a happy camper.
Turn down the goddam heat. This was insane. The place was a sauna. There were little space heaters on the floor going full blast, and it was a mild night. When we asked the server to turn off the heater by us she chuckled and did so right away. I wonder who was cold?
NOW. Enough of that. Because of all my bitching. I loved Ela!
The food was incredible.
Best Greek food I’ve ever had. The feta and taziki starters were flawless. The lamb melted in my mouth. The salad was bright and crisp. Our server was very attentive and kept our drinks filled. It was a shame we had no room for dessert.
This easily had 5 stars all over it if it wasn’t for those small problems with service.
I will be back.
Well done Ela! Keep up the exceptional food and train your welcome staff better,

Ela and I were off to a rocky start, but I admit it was more my fault than anything else.
I’ve since become a big fan of their lunch menu options, which offer the main item with a side greek salad and either lemon potatoes or rice (always go with the potatoes). I’m not a greek salad fan — olives and feta are not my thing (noted in my last review) so I was really happy to discover than they let me substitute the salad for extra, delicious potatoes! Sure it’s more carby, but who cares?
My fave dish is the chicken shwarma which is packed with real chunks of grilled chicken and an awesome garlicky sauce. Warning, it;s super filling, a bit messy and you will need some mints after you eat it.
I love that the offer take out, it’s usually ready in 15 minutes which means I can just call over and by the time I walk there from my office it’s ready.

My knowledge of Greek food is around as limited to the hummus that you get in double packs at Costco (seriously, that stuff is the best), but this restaurant has something for everyone!
I have been here a few times and each time, our meal was so delicious, we left stuffed to the brim! Service is fabulous, water was always topped up and the drink specials at dinner time are really great, I think I had some sort of mojito made with a splash of Riesling wine once, delish! Also their homemade bread and dipping oil is so good, and free! Free!
The appetizers vary from the typical (hummus and pita, spanikopita, dolmades) to a little fancier stuff which I didn’t try but I bet is amazing. The feta cream sauce is so so good. They have a range of menu options for dinner, from souvlaki to halibut (omg the halibut, with cream sauce and rice!) to stews. The atmosphere is so nice as well, take a break from shopping and drop in!

Here’s my pro tip: Don’t order a meal. Just get appetizers. No, seriously, if you and your friend (s) (You do have friends, right? This is only going to work if you have friends.) each order two appetizers. No main course. Go insane with a smörgåsbord of delicious Greek appies.
Seriously, all the food here is amazing but you can’t necessarily share every dish (And, no, not just because I — I mean YOU! — never learned to share as a child.) so getting a table full of appetizers is the ideal solution.
The restaurant itself is warm and bright with tons of parking (Or close to the bus if you don’t have any friends to drive you there and I’m pretty sure I’ve already said this is only going to work if you have friends.).
Staff are friendly and efficient (And, no, they’re not flirting with you. No. They’re not. They’re just smiling. It’s what normal people do. It doesn’t mean anything. … No, they’re not flirting! ARGH! No wonder you don’t have any friends!).

My love of the Ela restaurants is obviously no secret: there’s feta, carbs, cream sauces, and whimsy — also known as the lyrics to my personal version of that favourite things song from The Sound of Music.
Once again, despite being tucked away in a business park (albeit a very new and attractive one), they’ve managed to recreate that signature Mediterranean flare with a gorgeous, bright interior that feels like what I believe a Greek patio must be.
The service lives happily on the nice middle ground in between likable and upscale professional and the food is consistently fresh, flavourful and filling. They easily kept up with our table of seven last night without even breaking a sweat, each dish showing up at the same time, piping hot, and exactly as ordered.
I noticed last night even more vegetarian options than before including a Briam (a Greek casserole/​stew dish), stuffed peppers, spinach ravioli, and the vegetarian moussaka that I ordered. Nice to visit a spot where I actually get to choose from a healthy selection!
The moussaka was rich and delicious, the perfect comfort food for a day of torrential downpours! The Greek salad that came with it wasn’t in the more traditional (sans lettuce) style but really, there was feta there so who cares? And unfortunately, only because I’m a greedy fatass, the dish didn’t include any of the lemon-​roasted potatoes that I’m obsessed with.
Now here’s the only thing I realized about Ela last night: I always feel better coming here for lunch than I do for dinner. That’s not to say anything dramatic changes at 4pm… but the lunch specials are just such great deals that once you get used to them, it’s hard to adjust to the higher dinner prices without any great change in quantity or quality of food.
When I visit for lunch, this is a great thing. When I come for dinner, I just think I could have paid less for this at lunch…

If you are ever out in Dartmouth crossing and would like a hot spot to eat go to OPA. Decorated with the Greek theme in mind with stone white walls, dark wooden tables and brightly coloured tiles accenting the architecture.
Of course going to OPA the chicken Slovakia was on my list to order. Chicken with your choice of potatoes or rice I chose the roasted potatoes with side of Greek salad delicious all for $ 12. For desert we ordered chocolate torte $ 6.
Opa is a fun restaurant with music playing almost like you are at a big family dinner party. Service is great and friendly!
This is a must.