Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church

It’s THAT time again. Time to get your Greek on! I may be a regular all 3 days of the festival which began tonight ⁹⁄₇ and goes on all day Sat and Sun. The church elders cook all their specialties; my compliments go out to all the church chefs. Come for the unparalleled home cooking, stay for the music and refreshments! Dishes served include spanakopita, moussaka, pastichio, gyros, beef or chicken kebabs, roast lamb, dolmades, and the best greek salad ever. Desserts include baklava and loukoumades. I don’t always know what I’m eating, but I do know it’s delish!

I don’t attend this church. Let’s get real; I don’t attend any church. But if the services are anything like their Greek Festival, I’d seriously reconsider.
Since I know nothing about the religious aspects of this establishment, I’m just going to review this as a pop-​up Greek restaurant. One that I wish would never pop down.
The food at the festival is pretty incredible. So many options! There’s a gyro stand outdoors where you can get slices of delicious meat in a perfect pita sandwich. Indoors, there are Greek staples like spanikopita, grape leaves, and lamb. I got the Moussaka Dinner Plate, which for $ 12 includes a hefty cube of eggplant-​ground beef goodness, Greek salad, roasted potatoes, and (non-​Greek) bread. The meat in the moussaka was slightly sweet, the edges just the right amount of crispy brown. The potatoes were a perfect pairing, and the salad made me feel a tiny bit better about myself. Man was I full. And so, so happy.
The outdoor tent has tables on tables, a bar with reasonably-​priced alcohol for about $ 5 per glass (and who doesn’t want to drink on church property?), and pastries. Baklava happened (obviously), and it was flaky, chock full o’ nuts and honey, and not too soggy.
I can only imagine how hard the parishioners worked to get all this food together. Many of the servers thanked us for coming and looked genuinely happy to be there. This adorable older woman showed my friend how to say «spanikopita» correctly and another gave us the recipe for her shwarma marinade. Come home with me please?
With all of these hungry attendees and logistics involved, a few bumps are to be expected. The food lines — both outside and inside — were LONG (maybe because those nice ladies keep talking to everyone!). Having food on your plate but not being able to dig in because you have to wait for your turn at the cash register may be the the worst form of torture.
In the outdoor tent, traditional Greek bands were playing, and attendees were dancing that dance that you see in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was a super nice touch and very festive. However, the music was so loud that you could barely hear the person sitting next to you, so we had to eat without talking and communicate with hand signals if necessary. Also, although the portions were ginormous, I ended up spending about $ 20 on my meal (dinner plate, dessert, drink). It’s a fundraiser and definitely a fun event, but you may be surprised if you’re expecting this to be a cheap outing.
This festival made me want to marry a nice Greek boy so I can have a Greek grandma and a great Greek wedding with lots of Greek goodies. Any takers?

Have gone to the annual «Greek Festival» every September for the past few years now — and it’s always a good time. Why? Because its all about the GREAT FOOD and really NICE PEOPLE.
Here’s a list of favorites that we go back for every year:
— Spinich Pie. Hands down the best we’ve ever had. It’s a must-​try.
— Mousaaka. Delicious, big portion, fresh flavor, also a must try. For veg-​heads, note they do not do a meatless one. This one has eggplant and ground beef.
— Greek Salad. Nothing fancy, but it’s huuuggge and loaded with fresh feta and kalamata olives. Dressing is great too! TIP: Get it in the «to-​go» container b/​c it’s hard to eat a whole one and you will want it for later!
— Chicken Kabobs. Moist and tender, great char on the outside.
— The desserts/​pastry section: Worth checking out all of it!
They offer ALOT more food that I haven’t tried. Oh, you can get «ala carte» or the full dinner plate, but I think its a better deal to go ala carte and get one big salad to share, and skip the salad/​starch add-​ons for the dinner plate. I cannot review the Gyros because the line is always so long. But they look and smell delicious if that is your thing, you will not be disappointed!
This year, like past years, the food has been really good and everyone involved is working their tails off and is always really nice.
The one warning I have for you is to get there early because by Sunday, they start to run out of some more popular items. This year, when I went back on Sunday for another Spinich Pie, they were all gone! I hope they make up more trays for next year so they don’t run short. Did I mention it’s the best we’ve ever had?

Now’s the time on Unilocal where I do something I’ve never done before: Review a church. I’m not a religious person, I never even went to church as a kid. But if I did go to church, this is the kind of church I’d want to belong to.
They hold the most amazing, wonderful and DELICIOUS Greek Festival every year, and I’ve been lucky enough to go for the past three years. The Greek festival is held in early September each year, and features the best gyro I have ever had, along with lots of other delicious dishes and desserts. It is so much fun to sit and enjoy this amazing food with the fun and lively Greek music pumping through the speakers, or if you’re there in the evening, to watch the Greek dancing. They also have some amazing raffles that benefit their church, such as a $ 2,000 travel voucher & some amazing Greek pottery.
Every volunteer (who I assume are parishioners) I have encountered has always been so kind and friendly and fun, which I imagine is a reflection on the church itself. It just seems like an amazing community, and it makes me wish I was Greek rather than an Irish/​English/​Scottish Mutt.
If you live in the Boston area, you’d be crazy not to go to this festival next year.