Pithari Taverna

I would have given three because of «issues», but the food is just SO good I can’t give less than four. So, what is bad:
.So loud on a busy Friday night I *literally* had to scream at my dinner companions to be heard.
.Very, very crowded. I don’t know how they haven’t moved to a larger place by now. Just insanity. They have a parking lot in back but it only holds like 10 cars so on a busy night don’t even bother going down the side street where the lot is located. Just find street parking and walk.
.We were not exactly welcomed with open arms when we entered. It was kind of off putting but they were very crowded so I can understand that they wanted to make sure the reservations were correct for large parties. But our waitress was very friendly, professional, and helpful.
.Covered outdoor seating.
Good:
–Food
–Food
–Food
–Really, really, good food. If you’re not familiar it’s basic Mediterranean deliciousness. Somewhere in between Italian and Lebanese, but with its own very unique flair. Lots of fresh ingredients. A lot of seafood available but chicken and lamb, etc. also. Olives, really good olive oil, and pita brought to your table. Everything is made fresh. Be patient… it’s worth it.
–Not particularly inexpensive but quite reasonable. I had such a good time I did an impromptu thing and picked up the tab for my table of seven. With tip it was only like $ 200 which is such a bargain around here. We didn’t have desserts but had five or six fun appetizers, including the flaming cheese dish.
–Several vegetarian selections. Spinach pie, eggplant, mousaka, grape leaves, etc. (If you’re vegan I would not recommend… lots of dairy. You could probably get by on hummus, grape leaves and maybe salad but it wouldn’t be a very adventurous night. If you do seafood you are made in the shade… but you are NOT a vegetarian, babe.)
–BYOB
Definitely make a reservation!

Love this place. Been coming here for years and always excellent. Great service and food.

This place is cute, and the waiters and host are so warm and welcoming. If the roof was lifted, you would feel like you’re in a Greek courtyard.
I am not the biggest fan of Greek food, and this place didn’t change my mind. The feta-​stuffed phyllo dough was delicious. Everything else was too oily (as in Olive Oil) for me. In fact, I had a stomach ache that almost (*almost*) stopped me from getting ice cream.

We enjoyed all aspects of the restaurant. Server was great, food was awesome. My new spot for Mediterranean cravings

How did I not know about this place until 2016?!? Pithari Taverna is one of my favorite new restaurants, and it’s partly because of their baklava.
My first time going was a Saturday night, and it was obviously pretty busy but my friends and I were able to get seats. I got the lamb shank, and it was very tender and juicy.
I was creeping a bit and seeing what other people got, and I have to say the salads at Pithari Taverna actually looked pretty good too. Definitely, come here if you’re around the area, but try to come with just 1 – 2 friends or you’ll have a hard time getting seats!

The food was never great. In fact the only thing consistent about it was that it was inconsistent. Yet I always found myself going here despite a general ³⁄₅ star experience. It was more a Greek atmosphere thing.
Based on my last visit, I think I need to find another Greek restaurant in the area. I asked if I could sub spinach for potatoes and would pay an upcharge. Turns out they don’t have spinach. That made me wonder where and when the spinach pie is made.
Then my wife asked if she could substitute a stuffed eggplant for the stuffed tomato on the Liga apo olla. We have been doing this like forever… old owner who we miss so much and even under the new owner. Apparently not anymore. The server, who was very pleasant and really trying, brought over someone else to explain. Ok, fine I am sure your reason is valid but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it. And you could have been a little nicer. A smile goes a long way. Autio or Good bye!
Oh yeah, and the Greek Burger is tasteless and dry.

I’ve went on a sat night. The place is packed! But we didn’t have to wait for seating. The parking was a bit painful because their parking lot only fits 10 cars. We had the beef and lamb gyro platter with lemon potato and lamb shank with orzo. Both were delicious. The lemon potato is super amazing! This restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol so you can bring your own.

Believe the hype!
Excellent service, excellent food. Hard to find both nowadays, but after reading countless reviews we went here and were not disappointed.
Do it.

Their food is awesome! Both seafood and meat dishes are great. Can’t get enough of warm pita bread they serve before meals. Always goto place in highland park area.

My friends and I visited this place on my birthday. I was extremely satisfied with 1) the ambience, 2) the quality of the food, 3) their excellent service, 4) overwhelmingly delicious foods.
Definitely, one of the best greek restaurants I have ever visited. Fancy and delicate ambience. Delicious and fulfilling dishes. Sophisticated yet delightful tastes.
I LOVED absolutely LOVED THEIR OCTOPUS appetizer. It wasn’t just a simple dish. Tastinf the octopus was like experiencing the joy. The moment I stuffed the octopus inside the mouth, I instantly fell in love with this place.
I very much also enjoyed their cold appetizer composed with hummus, yogurt, eggplants, feta cheese, etc. Although the spreads were good, I wish they have served the «warmed up» breads.
For our main, we ordered 1 fish dish, and a steak. Speechless. The lemon-​potato that was served as a side was also delicious!!!
I LOVED MY DINE IN EXPERIENCE! !!! CANT WAIT TO VISIT THIS PLACE AGAIN!

Love the Hummus, really good. But the other dish, which combines different dishes, is just okay, too creamy and heavy for me. Maybe we should order another salad. The portion ia pretty big for each dish. Nice environment, great service.

Experiencing some intense Greek food cravings? Well search no more because this place will go well above your cravings and satisfactions, in terms of food and service as well.
QUICK POINTERS
* Fabulous service!
FOOD (menu)
* Included all major Greek coveting meals
* Fairly priced with the exception of some specialty dishes being a little more
* Menu provided on their Web site for additional reference
FOOD (taste experience)
* Pita (complimentary) [1]
* Pikilia Cold spreads ($ 14.95) [2]
* Saganaki ($ 9.95) [3]
* Manitaria Yemista ($ 8.95) [4]
* Gyro Wrap Deluxe ($ 11.95) [5]
SERVICE
* Decent sized private lot parking
* Super friendly staff; felt like my second family [6]
OVERALL
Literally everything you would imagine a 5-​star, $$, Greek restaurant to be that is more catered to be family friendly. They got a private parking lot, a clean and spacious restroom, lots of space to move around so you’re not constantly squeezing between chairs whenever you get up, nice selection of food options and all reasonably priced, spectacular staff, food didn’t take centuries to reach the table and into our stomachs… the only thing I regret is not having had a big enough stomach to gobble down some more food (:
p. s. I’ll confess, I am so tempted to make another stop there at this moment after writing up this delicious review ha!
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[1] Served super nice and warm~
[2] Recommended appetizer for groups to share!
[3] Exactly what heavenly cheese would taste like ha
[4] I’m a huger sucker for mushrooms so these suckers were A+ in my tummy
[5] Huge platter! Perfect for your gyro cravings (;
[6] Was my first time here, yet the staff treated my like they were my uncles, and as though I was a regular, which I do not mind being after my wonderful experience (:

Second time around, we had the saganaki and octopus appetizers. Both were huge hits. The saganaki (flaming fried cheese) was delicious. I love octopus and this one was prepared just right. For entrees, the beef & lamb gyro platter was a popular choice at our table. I had one of the specials, seafood souvlaki (shrimp, calamari, and scallops) with rice. A solid choice for dinner.

Such an amazing Greek restaurant! I’m so glad I found this place through Unilocal,all the reviews were on point. The service was friendly and the food was excellent.
We were celebrating a friend’s birthday and the servers/​hosts tried to help make it as special as possible and asked if they should cheer along with us when our friend walks in and even sang and rang bells during the birthday song! I thought it was amusing how enthusiastic the servers were. Apparently we were not the only ones who thought about having a birthday party here, but another group (much larger than ours) had a birthday celebration for someone as well. I watched as the servers helped prepare the special event for that person as well. In general, I’m very pleased with their customer service and their helpfulness.
Food was excellent, prices ranged from $ 15-​$ 25 for entrees and $ 7-​$ 10 for appetizers. But the appetizers were decent sizes and the entrees were HUGE. We ordered the Pikilia Cold Spreads and that was amazing for a huge group to share. They brought out hot pita bread each time we ran out without us having to ask. I definitely recommend that if you want an appetizer to share. And if you love cheese I definitely recommend the Saganaki (it’s the flaming cheese you will see in pictures). The cheese had a nice taste and was great in texture on the pita breads. After being slightly filled with appetizers, I decided I would share my entrée with my boyfriend and we got the Aegean Seafood Platter, that was insanely large, but in my opinion, as delicious as it is, if you are looking for Greek to try, I wouldn’t go for this dish ONLY because it tastes very similar to Italian, but maybe it’s because we chose spaghetti instead of rice. Even so if you’re looking for Greek instead this wouldn’t be the dish (I think the only difference was that it was slightly more liquidy than a normal pasta dish).
Overall, definitely a great restaurant and if I was ever in the area and craving Greek food, this will be the first place I’d come to.

Food: The dishes my family and I ordered were all very well made. The prices are a little high ranging from a base of ~15 but this is reflected in the large portions. Come prepared to enjoy lots of food. Some thoughts on the dishes:
–The pikilia cold spread was a great palette of different tastes. This is possibly filling for even 3 – 4. For those of you who don’t know greek it includes different spreads composed of hummus, roasted eggplant, cucumber/​yogurt, spicy feta, fish eggs, and olives.
–The Arni Yiouvetsi vs the Arni Fricase: Both are very delightful lamb dishes with large chunks of meat. The latter, however, is significantly more oily, so it feels heavier.
Décor/​Service: the restaurant has some very nice art that help convey the Greek influence. It’s a bit transportive. The scene as a whole, with these colors, the lighting, the bustling and smiling servors, really still give this location a homey feel.

I have been to Pithari about 5 different times now and they never disappoint. Even though it is usually crowded you never seem to wait long to be seated or to get your food. Both the meat and seafood dishes come out perfectly cooked. I have never had better calamari anywhere. Also the pita and olive oil they give you before the meal (which is actually about a bunch of whole olives in oil) is amazing, and I don’t usually like olives.
I recommend getting any of the souvlaki dishes or just anything with lamb, especially the lamb dish with orzo that is served in a clay pot. The meat just falls off the bone.
I especially wanted to write a review for our most recent visit because we were very full so we didn’t order dessert but they gave us some complimentary baclava anyway! It was delicious and of course then we had to order some Greek coffee to go with it.
This is an authentic Greek restaurant that is consistently good and has great service. Highly recommended.

Good Greek food not far from Rutgers University. The fresh pita and saganaki was the highlight. My wife and I shared the entrée platter and it was enough food for the both of us.
Service was good and so was the food. I would eat here again. They don’t serve alcohol so BYOB.

Ambiance
Stunning yet relaxing atmosphere! As I walk, I feel like I’m in a different place. I absolutely love the net with the fake vines and fruits hanging in the ceiling. The blue and white exudes «island time» and ultimately, this restaurant exudes «Greece.»
Food
I’m always down for lunch or dinner here because I know I will have a very satisfying meal. I’ve tried many dishes here, and I don’t even know which one to start with. There are times, my friend and I will order a bunch of appetizers/​small plates to share instead of an appetizer and entrée each. I love the charcoal grilled octopus! You must try the traditional saganaki that they put on fire! It’s quite awesone. One time I ordered the feta saganaki by accident, but it was still very delicious! I love how they drizzle it with honey making it sweet and savory! Even though I don’t like meatballs, my friend ordered it and made me try a ball — it was unexpectedly tasty! Very meaty and flavorful! I enjoyed the light crisp on the outside! The feta/​spinach spanakopitas are very satisfying too! Always an amazing time here!
Service
The service is outstanding! Enough said.

This is the go to spot for Greek food within New Jersey. The food here is absolutely splendid. This is better than most places in the city and that is saying something.
The food is excellent and the service is very good. The waitress checked on is constantly and my water glass was never less than half.
Be sure to try their seafood dishes! The seafood is seasoned rather well. Honestly just stick to a bunch of appetizers between people because there is a lot of good food here!

Looking for tasty Greek food and AMAZING homemade pita… THIS IS THE PLACE FOR YOU! I must’ve had 3 baskets full of their pita. They come in perfect bite sized pieces and were still warm fresh from the oven. They come with a plethora of delicious spreads including an decadent caviar cream cheese… you know I had a lot of that! :)
My entrée was a Lamb Shank Orzo which was quite tasty even though, truth be told, I really didn’t have the stomach capacity to eat it after all that amazing pita bread. The meat was fall off the bone tendar and the orzo was well flavored. We also shared an appetizer of the grilled octopus which was nicely done.

Ein recht zuverlässiger Indikator für die Qualität eines Restaurants ist ein hoher Prozentsatz von Gästen, welche die Nationalität des Wirtes teilen. So war es auch bei Pithari: Ein griechischer Kollege feierte dort seinen Geburtstag, und meine entsprechend hohen Erwartungen wurden nicht enttäuscht.
Eigentlich muss man sich gar nicht die Liste der Hauptgerichte durchlesen. Bei den kalten und warmen Vorspeisen findet man mehr Köstlichkeiten als man an einem Abend verdauen kann. Besondere Erwähnung verdient der eingelegte Tintenfisch. Authentische griechische Küche, zuvorkommende Bedienung und moderate Preise. Zu Stoßzeiten kann es recht voll und laut werden.
Direkt neben dem Restaurant findet sich ein angeschlossener Lebensmittelladen. Wer es bevorzugt, selber zu kochen, kann sich hier mit Zutaten eindecken. Außerdem bietet der Laden eine kleine Auswahl griechischer Weine und höherprozentiger Getränke an. (Altersnachweis erforderlich!)