Uncle George’s Greek Tavern

I can’t believe this place closed! I used to live nearby from 1991 – 94 and remember the first time I had the Kokoretsi with a small serving of wine — one of the best meals I’ve ever had. It was always a neighborhood favorite, and one of the first places I’d take out of town guests to get a real taste of NYC. I remember the service being quick and attentive. The atmosphere was classic New York café: hustling, bustling but with old world charm. I will really miss not having Uncle George’s to come back to on trips to NYC. What a loss…

Stuffed peppers (stuffed with rice) with lemon potatoes… nice, light and tasty meal for 8.75 after tax! A real deal given that I got a loaf of warm bread, olive oil and vinegar while I waited, and the service was very good. And I sat at a table in the corner… floor to ceiling windows so I felt I was outside.
And it’s open 24-​hours!
Second visit was not as good as the first, but was solid.

I gave Uncle George’s a number of chances to impress me and they failed every time. I expect my meals to be freshly cooked but each order I’ve had here tasted like it was simply reheated. My souvlaki was bland, dry, and not warm enough. This was the case twice. I also tried their lamb and pork dishes and I had the same feeling of disappointment.
They recently renovated the place but it still looks and feel the same as before the renovation. It appears they just put on a new coat of paint. I’ve been to most of the other Greek restaurants in the neighborhood and this place was the least friendly. They operate more like a diner and not as a customer oriented restaurant.

I was recommended this place for its authenticity. I guess it could be but it’s not my kind of place.
The setting is like a diner, which is inferior to other nice, modern restaurants around Astoria. The service was OK but disorganized. Multiple waiters ask us if we’d ordered, and it got confusing because we’d ordered appetizer before ordering the meal. Then two waiters bickered over who got our table (Shouldn’t they have a system and not rely on the customers for this kind of thing??)
The food was not as cheap as the look of the place led me to believe. The menu is protein-​heavy, which is fine because their specialty is meat. I was disappointed I didn’t get to try the rabbit stew (they were out). I probably won’t come back.

Wanted to go to a Greek restaurant and checked out a few of them before coming here but all of them had a wait time of at last 30 minutes. This is a big restaurant and didn’t have to wait. Our waiter was charming and exhausted, I guess. I asked him what is the most popular food to eat here and he told me «Everything is popular». So I stuck with Baked Lamb and my wife with Fish. The lamb came out great, it was perfectly baked. Well, it was not the food for me as I didn’t like the taste of it, but again, it’s just me. My wife got the fish and they put in way too much lemon, it was actually sour to eat that. Didn’t like both the food we ordered, but I’m not Greek so wouldn’t know if that’s how you eat them.

I can only imagine the high ratings for this place come from people who haven’t eaten at better Greek restaurants in Queens.
For dinner I had three items I expect such a place to do well and often, each one of them the first-​listed item in each of its categores:
Salad of lettuce, tomato, olives, and feta
Roast whole snapper
Lemon potatoes
All were extremely disappointing. The salad was iceberg-​type lettuce, shredded, with a few pale hard tomatoes and four runty olives. My four wedges of potato were somewhat undercooked. But worst of all, the snapper was dry. Overcooked! Very sad.
This place has been around for decades, but their standard dishes fall short in basic, obvious ways. The salad is the big tip off – maaaaaybe the fish was unlucky, but the salad showed this place will serve low quality ingredients, lamely assembled.

My last review was three stars for 4am, but for lunch, Uncle George’s is four stars. Much better service, both in terms of speed and menu knowledge. We even got a smile, which isn’t normal for Greeks!
A very authentic, and quite delicious experience!

If you EVER feel like an amazing home cooked Greek meal, this is the spot. I’ve been to so many places and nobody even comes close.
Tip: Can use your credit card to pay, but tip is cash only, so keep some of those stripper onesies stashed in your back pocket before you go in.

Very good Greek food experience for a person who has been in Greece but does not know much about it and its food. We had some starters like fried calamari, taramosalada and tzatziki with warm bread. I had Kokotetsi (offal roll) which was very good and also my wife and sister in law were very satisfied with their food.
I am giving 4 stars and not 5 because of very noisy construction works, but I know it is not their fault.

Get the daily special. Try their pastitsio, stuffed eggplant, or bifteki.
Friendly service, good food, old-​school style, so people who prefer the glitzy bougie New York hangouts may not appreciate the quiet atmosphere.

Hit or miss. Open 24 hours and good if you need to grab something quick.
Stick with one of the staple Greek items. Considering where it’s located, there’s a lot of better and more authentic places to eat.

Best Gyro in Astoria Hands down! great place to take the family or just a good go to on a week night. Great service, very laid back waiters and amazing food! I couldn’t ask for a better go to GYRO place.

After a bit of drinking with a friend, we decided to check this place out. Kudos to the «A» on the door for cleanliness (honestly I think our decision to stop by hinged solely on that… as well as the super cheap menu).
We split a side of hummus as well as a lamb gyro with a side of fries. The bread that came with the hummus was pretty stale and dry; my friend used about half a bottle of oil and red wine vinegar to moisten her piece of bread up (hyperbole)! The hummus was really bland too. I love chick peas, and the hummus just tasted like chick peas; nothing wrong with that, but I typically look forward to having hummus with a bit of flavor to it (the oil and vinegar did help a bit).
I did like the lamb gyro. It was moist and tasty, but other than that it was not much to rave over. The fries were really bland as well, it was as if they did not even bother to salt them before serving them.
The place is really cheap and you will get a table pretty quickly (it was near empty there around 10ish), but I’d pay a little bit extra if I could get some tastier food.

I came here last night with my family, who neither appreciate nor understand food. I’ll keep this short because if you’re looking at this and considering to come to Uncle Georges, just stop reading the reviews and go elsewhere. Astoria is full of high quality Greek restaurants, and this is certainly not one of them. If you’re like my parents and really into cheap, convenient places, then by all means head here and cut down some of the wait time to my list of much more enjoyable dining spots.
Food = average. Portions are very large though, which I guess is a good or bad thing depending on the person. I walked out feeling gross and overly stuffed though, so that’s not for me. Like I said earlier, it’s very cheap, so that’s a plus for a lot of people. Personally, I believe in spending money on food, so if your approach to food is anything like that, don’t bother considering Uncle Georges for your foodie adventures.
Service = meh. The people are friendly but so so slow. They filled our water glasses once during the entire meal, and considering it was about 90 degrees outside, we walked in feeling thirsty. We also tried to get their attention for over 30 minutes before they noticed we wanted the check, which wasn’t the worst thing since we were having a good time, but if we’d had somewhere to be in the near future, there’s no way we would’ve made it on time.
Overall verdict: Eh.

We started coming here in 1990 and I have to say hat Uncle George’s is still fantastic! We had a «light» lunch of just the rotissorie baby lamb and the rotissorie pork and both were great. Don’t miss the lemon potatoes!

Not a fan of this place. I visited a friend in Astoria one night for some dinner. I really wanted a gyro. Being in Astoria, we figured that any Greek place in the neighborhood could at least competently make a gyro.
WRONG. What I received was a stalish pita with 4 or 5 strips of cold gyro meat in it. The fries were also cold. The meal had come out 5 – 10 min after we had ordered, so this was no surprise. But still, I expected a Greek restaurant in Astoria to AT LEAST have a passable gyro. Maybe I ordered the wrong menu item? Maybe the taverna has a different specialty that I’m not aware of? Either way, I won’t be coming back to find out.

IF IT’S OPEN 24 HOURS, THEN WHY ARE THERE LOCKS ON THE DOOR?
Uncle George’s has been one of my favorite Greek places for the past 25 years. It doesn’t matter the time of day nor what you’re wearing, you’re guaranteed to be welcomed and squeezed into any available table that has an open seat. Whether its on a private table for two along the glass or one of the long tables running through the middle of the restaurant, if you can find a seat here during rush hour I suggest that you take it or you may find yourself waiting for a while to get that «intimate table.» Sure the waiters may look a bit rough around the edges and might be showing off a bit too much chest hair, but don’t let that dissuade you from staying, you’re about to find out what people may love it or hate it, but everyone agrees that Uncle George’s serves up authentic Greek fare.
As you walk in you see tables with red or blue picnic-​style tablecloths and consider the décor to be drab, but that all goes away as you are lead to your table and the smell of deliciousness fills your nose. The spit that stands in the front kitchen as you are walking in displays more than just gyro meat. Depending on the day you can find chicken, roast lamb, or even suckling pig twisting on the open rotisserie. The meat is never dry and always moist as you may have found at other places afraid to showcase their trademark edibles.
Quick inspection of the menu shows you why Uncle George’s is a favorite for regulars and brings them back several days of the week. While there are various fish and meat dishes that are served everyday, this place offers various specials daily that have locals coming back on specific days of the week if you’re looking for a particular dish. For example, while Spanakorizo (spinach and rice pilaf) may be available daily at other places on a daily basis it seems only to be available here on Wednesdays and Sundays. Because this place draws such large crowds, you may find yourself shutout if you get there too late in the day. So if you want to get a special, it helps to get there earlier in the evening or else you’ll just have to try again next week.
For appetizers, I always start with the grilled octopus and a Greek salad with feta cheese. The octopus has the perfect amount char and soaks up the oil and red wine vinegar to add the perfect amount of tartness to every bite. Before ordering the Dolmas (stuffed grape leaves) as a topping for your Greek salad, you should know that these are unlike ones typically served on salads. The Dolmas that you find at most places are served chilled and stuffed with onions and rice. However, these are served hot and are stuffed with onions, rice, AND meat. I find them to be absolutely divine, but the surprise of getting the unexpected may be a turnoff for the uninformed.
As mentioned before, you can’t go wrong with any of the entrees. Various fresh fish are offered on a daily basis and everyone raves about the Roast Leg of Lamb. The lamb falls from the bone and requires no more than your fork to tear off pieces of meat. These are best served with their oven-​roasted lemon potatoes or the previously mentioned Spanakorizo (which is blended with fresh tomatoes), when available. But one of the main reasons to come here to is to have traditional dishes that you would be hard-​pressed to find without going to Greece. This dish is not for the faint of heart, as its main ingredients are lamb’s liver, lungs, heart and intestines. The filling meats are sliced and seasoned with lemon, olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper and are threaded onto a long skewer and wrapped with the intestine to hold them together. To the uninitiated this must sound absolutely disgusting and admittedly it is an acquired taste, but to those that have savored the unctuousness of organ meat know much better why this traditional Easter appetizer is served here year round.
When is the best time of day to come here? It’s definitely best to go here on non-​peak hours. This restaurant is open 24 hours so the best time to go before the crowds start coming in for the day. That means get there on Sundays before everyone starts getting out of church at noon and get there during the week before the dinner crowd shows up for the night. Order a kilo of wine and enjoy a true Greek Tavern experience without bringing your passport.

I think I’m just simply sentimental about this place. My cuz lives in Astoria, and this is pretty much his local. They do care if you come back, and they take care of locals pretty well… we had great, attentive service… and you should come here at an off peak time, like 2pm.
The roasted baby lamb is delicious, and the tzatziki… well, you have to try it to believe it; just be careful… no dates after this starter… the garlic density per milliliter of yoghurt is one of the highest in the world… just wished they’d drop the dill.
The saganaki is always good, and impressive when ordered (flambeed in front of your very eyes, then generously sprinkled with lemon juice).
Their house white is palatable, but should be served a bit colder (make sure you ask your server).
Will I come back to Uncle George ! For sure. If only because they are super nice, and the food is pretty good.

Uncle George’s is so famous — but honestly — it’s not the BEST of the Astoria old-​school Greek joints.
We enjoy the fish here, and the taramasalata and hummus are very good as well. The best tzatziki!!!
It’s the «real deal» but they get very busy and often really don;t care if you come back or not — they have tons of business (regulars and tourists alike).
The greek salad is also very good here — fresh, crisp lettuce.
Solid, classic greek food — in a hustle-​bustle atmosphere.
Oh — do not get a gyro here — there are way better places (and cheaper) for that! Get grilled fish (see what’s fresh that day) and dips with pita.

When I dined at Uncle George’s, I was met with slow, lackluster service and overpriced, oily food.
The entire experience was generally one, big disappointment.