Trattoria Athena

Had been here many times before, but not for number of months. Used to like it quite a bit and recommended it to many people – but no more. Since I was here last, prices have gone up, portions have gone down, service is indifferent. The chef is still very competent, but his skill doesn’t make up for the restaurant’s current deficiencies. Their sister restaurant, Enoteca, also in Brunswick, is a better bargain.

Dinner was $ 150 for 4 with 3 drinks and three of us walked away hungry. My risotto, while good, was $ 24 and when brought out my wife thought it was a starter. The portion was so small I was done before everyone else and still hungry. All of the other dishes were way too small and overpriced. I hate leaving a place hungry, I go out to eat so I won’t be hungry, isn’t that kind of the point of it all? We have eaten there twice with the same results, 3 years apart. Nice wait staff, stingy portions. We won’t return for reasons stated above.

Service excellence. Bread and olive oil excellent. Appetizer pickled eggplant excellent. wine excellent. Pasta entrée ravioli ricotta and pear superb. Lamb chops way way way too salty and I like salt. If it weren’t for the salt would have been at a four star rating.

Wow! This is in the running for «best meal I’ve ever eaten at a restaurant.» My wife and I shared a bruschetta with sausage and greens for an appetizer. I got a veal chop, she got moussaka. Everything was incredibly delicious.
I’m docking one star for atmosphere. The restaurant is right next to a theater, and it’s popular for people to come here right before the shows. We arrived at about 6:40 and the place was very crowded and loud (there are maybe 10 tables total in the restaurant). However, by 7:00 the crowds had cleared out to go to a show, and we enjoyed the rest of our meal in peace.
If you make a reservation, be sure to ask not to be seated in the middle of the floor. We arrived without a reservation, and that was the only table left. Of course, I can’t fault the restaurant for that, but just a tip for those going in the future!

Our first experience here and we loved it. Every aspect of our meal was great. My wife and I would highly recommend Trattoria Athena. It also made for a great date night.

Yum! Great fresh food and a fun atmosphere.

Absolutely delicious! We ate veal chop with currant polenta & grilled veggies & ravioli if the day. The strawberry tiramisu was unbelievable! Pricy but worth it for a quality night out. A bit loud for us. Only complaint.

Athena is a cozy space in an older building off the main street. The restaurant was full this night. Our party of four ordered identical meals beginning with a fried artichoke appetizer and an aioli mayonnaise. It was a delicious start. Unfortunately, the meal went downhill from there. After a long wait, our four orders of roast lamb arrived. It was not really the roast lamb, but rather the grilled loin chops, tough cuts worthy only of stew, grilled but raw in the inside. Two portions were difficult to cut, chew and ultimately inedible. Two of our party graciously ate what they were given and two returned the uneaten dinners. The waitress was apologetic and offered to bring something else. Not wanting our friends to wait while it was prepared, as we had waited quite awhile already, and now very hungry, we ordered two grilled Caesar salads. They were over salted and had a minimal accompaniment of cheese. Still hungry but now late, we ordered Baklava to go. It was very good. They «comp’d» us the two uneaten portions. It was still an expensive and unsatisfactory dinner, which I hope was some sort of exception, as the place generally has good reviews. It seems like they are under duress from their new wine bar venture on Main St. They are not keeping up with the details as evidenced by menu on their web site being outdated. We may try it again, but not for awhile. We still have a (salty) bad taste in our mouths from the experience.

tiny sister to Enoteca Athena. still don’t get the italian but got loads of seriously good greek-​ish dishes. had Two Coves Farm lamb liver sauté, fisherman’s seafood stew and braised rabbit. just the type of bistro food i love to find, a destination eatery imho.

Overpriced. Slow service. Small portions. Friendly staff. We’ve been twice and we’re done. The nearby Great Impasta is a much better choice.

Quaint. Good food. We came in about an hour before close, so I did kind of feel like we were being rushed. (They only offered us a seat at the bar even though there were free tables.) My only complaint abt the food is that I would have loved to see at least one dish w lobster in it, being in Maine and all. Overall a good experience, but I wouldn’t make an extra effort to go back.

Disappointing. We’ve been a few times in the past and liked it, but the recent experience fell short. The pasta dish was very good; the three out of four appetizer was good, although we had to ask for extra bread. And the service was good except the for the lack of a sharp knife for me. The waiter presented sharp knives to two of the three of us that had ordered the duck. The fourth person at our table stuck with the pasta & appetizer so didn’t need the extra knife.
The big problem was the duck entrée. It consisted of a duck drumstick balanced on some greens. I don’t know how the duck was cooked. I suspect microwave. It was the toughest duck I’ve ever had. Duck is a fatty bird, but properly cooked most of the fat melts away and leaves a crispy skin with tender meat. Not an elastic skin with a layer of blubber and rubberized meat. The three of us that had the duck felt uncomfortable the remainder of the evening. One of our group went home and subsequently called, «O’Rourke.»

My wife chose not to take her leftover home. The waiter was perceptive enough to ask for comments which she provided. He comped her a gedunk which was good.
Then there was the wine: I don’t think it is a huge leap of faith to expect to see Retsina on a wine list of a Mediterranean restaurant. It was not on T.A.‘s list, as it had been a couple of years ago. When we asked for it, the waiter informed us that he would have to obtain it from their sister restaurant down the next street. He did that, which is «good service,» but wine pairing is part of the whole meal experience. Shouldn’t be an afterthought. Timing was «off.»
We’ll likely go back someday, but I think we’ll skip the entrees.

Probably beating a dead horse at this point, but this place is honestly amazing and the best kind of local business to support. I’ve been several times in the last couple of years (special occasions) and was delighted when I had made reservations for my boyfriend’s birthday and they had Prosecco waiting for us. If you want a nice dinner in Brunswick, this is the place to go.

Two Coves farm braised lamb shanks… AMAZING! Great atmosphere with creative dishes, coupled with relaxing atmosphere and a great wait staff. One of my favorite restaurants in the Brunswick area.

If you haven’t tried this gem of a restaurant yet, you MUST add them to your list! The cozy atmosphere, friendly & attentive wait staff and amazing food make for an unforgettable experience. They use fresh & local ingredients so the menu is constantly changing by what is in season.
Weeks later I’m STILL dreaming about the meal we had during our visit! It was hands down the BEST meal I’ve ever had in Brunswick! I will definitely be back :-)

I really wanted to give this place a better review, but I’m sorry to say it didn’t really stack up. We got in without a reservation on a Friday night, so I give them kudos for fitting us in. Our server was also very friendly, but there seemed to be some issues with timing. The service was quite slow when we initially got seated. I noticed people waiting for a long time to get seated even though they had reservations. It seemed disorganized.
The problems really showed up with the food. Nothing was memorable. My pasta dish was tasty, but I could have made it at home. We also ordered a fish stew that looked amazing. The unforgivable issue with the stew was out of the 5 mussels in it, 2 of them were closed, hence inedible! I cannot fathom how the chef didn’t notice this. They should never have been served.
One other peeve, the lights above the bar are way too bright, like fluorescent. It doesn’t give it a warm atmosphere.
Would I go back? Maybe, but I wouldn’t make a special trip.

We got a chance to visit Brunswick this summer and made it a «must» to dine again at Trattoria Athena. This time we brought two friends from LA with us (we were all on a vacation my wife dubbed the «Tour de Maine»). Needless to say, it was outstanding once again. What was fun was that nearly the entire menu had changed to a completely different set of entrees (so it seemed) as well as some appetizer changes. This made it fun to try a whole other set of dishes on a seasonal basis.
Great service as well — they helped us select two reasonably priced Greek wines (one of which was Amethystos, dry white wine) that went great with our meal.
We’ll be back again… and again…

I have reviewed the Trattoria on several sites because my wife and I love it so much. We haven’t been in a few months due to our family’s schedules and ran across this on Unilocal and we couldn’t resist.
This is the best restaurant in Brunswick by far and our favorite restaurant of all time (in the USA). I grew up in New York having lots of ethnic food, never much Greek/​Meditteranean, mostly Italian. Now don’t get me wrong I love the parms, fra diavolos and scampis but after I tasted Athena’s cuisine I was sold.
Subtle, complex and creative. Wonderful service in a warm and cozy location. I don’t think it would feel the same on Maine Street.
No we are not family, we are not the owners, we are not professional posters or food reviewers. We are just Trattoria Athena «groupies» if there is such a thing.
Keep up the fantastic work. Brunwsick is that much better having you guys around.

This place is by far my favorite restaurant in Brunswick (ok, maybe El Camino and Aki round out my top 3).
I love the mix of traditional Mediterranean food (Italian and Greek) and the cute modern Maine feel. Special props go out to the waitstaff who consistently give the best service I’ve experienced in the area. The waiter with the scorpion tattoo always goes out of his way to be extra helpful.
The food is great all the time, but the best way to experience it is to sign up for one of their reservation only tasting menu dinners. I’ve been to a couple, and they consistently stand out as some of the best meals I’ve had in a long time — plus they are always paired with plenty of wine and make for a really fun time.

How have I not reviewed Trattoria Athena before? In Unilocal’s words, «Woohoo! As good as it gets!» I can say, without reservation (OK, maybe with the slightest reservation because Clementine is pretty darn good, too), that this is the best restaurant in Brunswick. In fact, I’ve heard some people, who are knowledgable on the situation (which I am not), call this the best restaurant in Maine.
Everything is fresh and house-​made (particularly the pasta). The menu is constantly changing, so it is hard to recommend anything in particular. That being said, everything I’ve had from here is great, so it doesn’t seem like you can go wrong.
The place is small, so you might want reservations. Also, it is a little pricey for Maine, but I guess you have to pay sometimes to get the best.