Papapavlo’s Bistro & Bar

Stockton, United States

4

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 209-477-6133
Website:
www.papapavlos.com
Address:
501 N Lincoln Ctr, Stockton, CA, 95207
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
No
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Street, Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Classy
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Stockton) 11:58 AM Saturday, June 28, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Welcome to Papapavlo’s Bistro & Bar. We have the finest and freshest gourmet cuisine! Please visit our web site to view our Menu.

We have superb service and quality food!

We are open seven days a week in Stockton. Feel free to contact us with any question you may have.

History

Established in 1989.

Papapavlo’s began, and still is, a family owned business. The restaurant came into existence with a menu that consisted of our family recipes, originating from our Greek heritage.

Papapavlo’s quickly became a popular restaurant and we began to cater, do deliveries & take out.

About 7 years into Papapavlo’s existence, we realized that not everyone might enjoy experiencing Greek food, so we expanded our menu to include many other entrees that were not Greek, because we want EVERYONE to enjoy Papapavlo’s.

We added fabulous pastas (ex: seafood pasta), fresh entrée salads (ex: charbroiled chicken), pizzas (ex: chicken & pesto), fish specials (ex: pistachio crusted salmon). We have an extensive children’s menu, as we love when families dine here.

Papapavlo’s is locally owned and the owners are completely involved with all day to day operations. Seeing Papapavlo’s flourish and continue as a positive contributor to our community means everything to us. We’d love to serve you!

Meet the Business Owner

Jennifer and Andy P.

Business Owner

Andy began his career as a dishwasher moving up through each position until he became general manager of a well known franchise restaurant. Once he felt he knew the ropes, he opened Papapavlo’s in 1989 with his family’s expertise in cooking behind him. Papapavlo’s flourished immediately; the fresh, grilled entrees were a hit from the start. The restaurant business is a passion that only certain people have in them, & Andy absolutely loves the business!

Jennifer became involved 7 years into Papapavlo’s existence. She graduated from UOP with a BS in Business Administration, emphasis in Marketing. She runs the administrative side of Papapavlo’s: scheduling, bookkeeping, personnel, etc. She thrives in the restaurant business and very sincerely appreciates all of their patrons & is gracious for their business.

Ensuring quality & consistency is a must. Andy & Jennifer run the restaurant as a team. Their 3 children, each other and Papapavlo’s is all that matters to the Pappas’.

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20 reviews of Papapavlo’s Bistro & Bar

No registration required
Place rating: 5
Stockton, CA
We had our wedding reception here and everyone still talks about the food. The food was great! the staff was perfect! So helpful just wonderful. We eat there often so I knew it was great but having a big group made me nervous. Everyone was served fast the good was wonderful.
Place rating: 5
Stockton, CA
This is the finest restaurant Stockton has to offer. The food is fantastic. The Greek salad Lamb chops, The pastas, steaks fish and lobster are out of this world. The atmosphere is great the service is wonderful and the owners are equally wonderful. Great bar great selection and great restaurant. Try it you’ll like it.
Place rating: 5
Valley Springs, CA
We went there last night for our anniversary. It came highly recommend by several people. We were greeted by a waiter before we even made it in the restaurant. He then was inside to greet us again. As he noticed on the reservation that it was our anniversary he very happily congratulated us. It just happened he was our waiter when we were seated. I feel bad that I can’t remember his name! He was a big guy that was funny and nice. My husband had the calamari steak and loved that it was so fresh. I had the chicken Mediterranean pasta. Very yummy… HUGE portion! I ate and ate and I swear it looked like I ate nothing! Haha! Service on every angle was great.
Place rating: 2
Stockton, CA
The food was a hit and miss. My wife ordered the chicken marsala. It was tender and the sauce was very good. I ordered the pork tenderloin medallions. To say that maybe one should cook your pork well done would be an understatement. The meat was massacred, cooked so far past well that i didn’t finish it. We were given pita bread just after seating but no bread plate, no olive oil, no balsamic vinegar, just pita bread and our fingers. My dinner was to have mashed potatoes and the chicken came with rice. we wanted the starches switched but there was an up charge for that. Now it is the same amount of food, we were not asking for more just switch them. So instead we switched them ourselves on bread plates. Had to ask for bread plates now as we didn’t get them with our bread. Couldn’t tell you the specials for the night because our server never offered them to us. We only found out that there were specials because we could hear them offered to other patrons. Elsa was our server but to call it serving is a massive overstatement. She took our order and picked up the credit card at the end. All the other work was done by her attentive helpers. Elsa one star, helpers 4 stars. Elsa couldn’t even bring the credit card back, one of her helpers did. To recap Elsa performance, she took our order and picked up the bill. THAT’S ALL.
Place rating: 3
Stockton, CA
One of the waiters, I noticed found every excuse to talk to my buddy Zach. He even touched his back while telling him «your food will be on your way soon» then 5 minutes later he asked ONLY him «how’s ur food buddy», without even taking me into consideration. Anyways, I ordered a really great chopped gyro salad and I would totally recommend it to anyone who loves lamb meat. Dessert menu was pretty sucky, however I am a fan of bringing the whole dessert platter to customers that way they get a visual of them (I feel like every restaurant should do that). The atmosphere is superb, staff is friendly (especially to my buddy Zach) anyway, good experience, very pricy though
Place rating: 4
Burlingame, CA
Came here for a grad party lunch. Was very good service and food. We say outside and they were very attentive with service the whole time. I had the Beef brochette which came with rice pilaf and string beans/​carrots. The flat bread is addicting. Next time I’ll try the Mediterranean chicken pesto pasta.
Place rating: 4
Milpitas, CA
Fancy atmosphere in a large place. I ate with a fairly large group of people, service was great.
I love the hummus here! If they let you, ask for another basket of pita bread when you sit down because this warm, soft bread goes fast.
The baklava cheesecake is a big treat if you order thus for yourself. I think it’s meant to be shared. It’s a flaky pastry layer on top of creamy cheesecake and a dense crust.
Place rating: 2
Newport Beach, CA
Had high expectations for this place based on recommendations.
Arrived during happy hour and sat at the bar. Bartender was inattentive. I waited for quite awhile before she got me a water, then I waited for even longer and she never asked for my order. I didn’t want to leave based on the rave recommendations I had received, so I returned to the hostess and asked for a table.
Service at a table was somewhat better but still slower than it should be.
Had the gyro plate with hummus instead of rice. Meat and veggies were barely warm. Hummus was blah. Huge portion of gyro meat that was just fair. And tzatziki sauce tasted like nothing.
Inside was very loud.
I definitely will not return.
Place rating: 3
Oakland, CA
2.5 giving them the benefit of the doubt! It was prom night & the day before Mothers Day. Slow service but good food.
Place rating: 5
Stockton, CA
Delicious Greek food. We have been there a dozen times or more. Food is always warm and delicious! Great service
Highly recommend
Probably nicest restaurant in Stockton
Place rating: 5
Stockton, CA
CALAMARI STEAK APPETIZER.
Order it.
Savor it.
Go back for it.
Why? Only because it is hands down THEE best calamari I have ever had. Now I’ve had calamari at every restaurant that has it on the menu as an appetizer and I can truly say I have never tasted anything like this. The way the flavors marry from buttery, savory, to lemony with texture from the red cabbage and the crisp from the calamari being breaded and pan fried… it’s ridiculously amazing.
The other entrées are quite good as well. The ribeye is always cooked the right way and the salmon was tender and flaky. The pita bread… oh the hot, steamy, soft, fresh pita bread. Its delicious with the balsamic vinegar mixed with olive oil and salt & pepper. My last dinner here, a manager was on the floor and took care of everyone as the waitors did their thing. He kept up our drinks and they were never less than half full entire time being there. Love this place!
Place rating: 5
Chicago, IL
After a close friend of mine failed me three times on restaurants, he finally redeem himself. Our waitress Ashley, and her assistant (can’t remember his name) but he was young and handsome, and both were a absolute joy, personable, and gave good recommendations.
The food was A1 and the atmosphere was very relaxing. I will recommend this place to everyone who has an open pallet!
Thanks Ashley, and the handsome young man. See you real soon!!!
Check out my pics below…
Place rating: 5
Stockton, CA
Recently booked a room here for a staff dinner.
1. The reservations were easy and the hostess that helped us was awesome.
2. We got there and we’re informed our room was ready but allowed us to wait in the bar and relax with a few drinks.
3. Service was awesome our waitress and bus boy was were great on top of things brought wine before we asked for refill
4. Food was awesome all went home full and happy
They never leave me disappointed I am always happy with what we get. I love taking people here.
Place rating: 1
Stockton, CA
Came here with family.
Dry chicken without flavor. Entire family
Who came
Out of town hated/​complained about their meals. To say it was a bad night would be an understatement. I liked the baklava.
Place rating: 3
Stockton, CA
Food here isn’t too bad. It’s not one of my usual restaurants when I go into Lincoln Center to eat. I found myself here for a Letip of Stockton meeting that I received an invitation to. I went with the Chicken Brochette is was cooked very well. Rice was decent (it’s always hard to judge rice). Chicken was cooked nicely to a point to where it tore well when cutting in with it. The vegetables served as a nice side accompanying the dish. It just sucked that the food was luke warm. The service was alright here. They kept the drinks coming and let everyone run the meeting.
It’s hard to judge the staff and the cost of the food when I didn’t have to pay and the the staff didn’t really have to wait on each individual person. I’m going to have to come here and try out the pasta which I’ve heard great things about. I’ll update my review next time I eat here, but from my experience last time I ate here, this place isn’t bad. Really beautiful restaurant on the inside. Worth a visit to once in awhile.
Place rating: 4
East Bay, CA
I can’t speak for the prices here other than the fact that it’s definitely more pricey. I was brought here for an interview dinner, so I didn’t have to pay (yay!)! …but that being said, the food here is super good!
We had a small little group of 3, and since the place was packed, they asked if we’d mind outdoor seating (with the assurance that it was actually a whole lot warmer there than inside). They’re definitely not wrong, and We were right next to a heat lamp and it kept us warm and toasty!
Service was attentive without being intrusive, and our servers were really good about explaining different dishes and/​or offering their recommendations. We ordered a small hummus to have with the pita bread, and it was really tasty!
I opted for the pistachio-​encrusted salmon, which came with a Greek salad and roasted vegetables. Twas delicious, and I’ve also heard great things about Seafood Pasta + Mediterranean Chicken Pasta. I was told to be sure to leave room for dessert, since they had all kinds of awesome treats available. I happen to have a separate stomach reserved for dessert, so this definitely wasn’t a problem! I got the baklava cheesecake, and would definitely recommend that (…unless you’re not a fan of baklava or cheesecake, in which case… well, bye)!
Place rating: 5
Stockton, CA
Nice place to eat. Service is great. Food was good. It was my first time, but I will be coming back. :) I had the Pistachio crusted Salmon and it was absolutely delish! Food presentation was marvelous. Pita bread with dipping sauce was so good. Highly Recommend.
Place rating: 3
Stockton, CA
Papapavio’s is okay.
First of all they have an item which I regretfully ordered, the Gyro Pizza, that was poorly presented and did not taste good. It’s a personal pie thin crust that had overpowered oregano sauce and the dough was hard. The kicker was gyro meat piled on top like a topping. It also tasted bland. I recommend cooking the Gyro with the pizza and let the juices cook together. I’m from Jersey, north side across the Hudson River from New York, and I have seen this been done before. Maybe even add the tzatziki sauce on top to add extra flavor.
Second, they give free hot pita bread. The is great right?! Wrong if you don’t get a side of tzatziki or humus which is an additional cost. Can’t it be like butter at other restaurants. Better yet just serve butter.
Highlights
Grilled Artichoke was on point. Good amount of remoulade to dip and seasoned nicely. Not much to say except it did get a little messy as the oil dropped towards my forearm every time i bit into. I did not mind licking my arm.
Roma Tomato Bruschetta was simple and delicious. The dice cut tomato is juicy and did not soggy up the bread. The garlic is potent with every bite.
Wine portion is huge for the price. My wife ordered a glass and it was filled half way. They do drink specials every Monday and have a decent happy hour.
The Meat Entrée’s looked delicious and may come back for that but never again for the pizza.
Place rating: 5
Stockton, CA
Well, It’s been a very long time since I’ve dined at Papapavlo’s. Got an invite from a friend and immediately said, «yes»! We did not have a reservation on a Saturday nite but were immediately seated near the bar, a table for two, perfect!
I ordered the blackened mahi mahi… it was cooked to perfection, no glaze, no sauce to mask anything… just perfect. I relished every bite! The fish rested on a mound of fresh green beans and peppers cooked al dente… so delicious, yum! I have to say, there was very little left on my plate… just a few lone green beans that I just did not have room for. I don’t think there is another restaurant in town that knows how to cook fish the way Papapavlo’s does… I don’t know why I keep trying to find one!
Oh, and the service, impeccable. The waitress was training a new server and both were just the right amount of attentive.
Place rating: 5
Stockton, CA
This has always been a favorite Restraunt of ours. My husband and I have two little ones at home and we can’t always get out for a date night. So we usually get take out and enjoy at home. The food and service has always been wonderful.
I’ve never Unilocaled or even reviewed a place before but I felt that after tonight’s experience that I needed to give a positive review.
As usual we grabbed take out (spent about $ 70 with tip) and headed home. After tucking the little ones in for bed we started unpacking our meal and setting the table. We ordered the Mediterranean pasta (large), seafood pasta (large), gyro pizza, and the grilled artichokes. This is when we found all of the mistakes;
1) missing dipping sauce for artichokes
2) we paid for the large orders of pastas and received the small portion.
3) I had requested that the Mediterranean pasta sans sun dried tomatoes but it was full of them.
So I decided to call and speak to the manager. He quickly apologized profusely and insisted on remaking our dinner and DELIVERING it to our door fresh, hot, and fast. We live right next to UOP and it was date night with two little ones in bed so we accepted his offer to deliver.
As promised the meal arrived and it was amazing. Everything was correct, the portions were very generous and as a sweet surprise he had gifted us two of their delicious turtle cupcakes!
Papapavlo’s continues to be one of our favorite places here in Stockton and tonight’s events only solidified our love for them! Mistakes happen — it’s how the staff handles the problems that count. We will continue to be faithful patrons and as always we purchase gift certificates for all of our friends and family. We try to recommend them as often as we can.
Thank you Papapavlo’s and Staff!