Athenian Grill

Great Greek food, really love the pork souvlaki and the grilled vegetables. Pitas and hummus were pretty good too.

Best Greek food I’ve had in a long time (and I’ve had a lot of Greek food having lived in DC for several years). Gyros was perfect, but the lemon potatoes — mmmmmmmm! To top it off had the baklava, so rich but oh so good! Be sure to try the Himiti (feta and roasted red pepper spread) — one of my new favorites.

Delicious and super friendly service. Atmosphere was great and we’ll definitely be going back!

Oh this place. It is so good! I’m glad there is another location on this side of town, and with more seating!
The beef stew is what I ordered, and it was delicious. I’ve also tried the gyros and Greek salads and a few other dishes. Nothing has ever disappointed!

This is one of my favorite spots to eat in Lexington. Atmosphere is nice, service is great, and the food is amazing!!! I’m not a huge fan of gyros in general so I usually get the spanakopita and Greek salad as a side, which is to die for. The tzatziki sauce is some of the best I’ve ever had. A half order of tzatziki dip with sliced pita bread is plenty to share with a couple people.
The portions here are huge so you definitely get what you pay for. Come hungry, you won’t be disappointed!

LOVED the Veggie Plate! Service was great and very personable. I really enjoyed my experience and the food. I will be back my next time in Lexington.

AMAZING. Good quality Greek food at a good price. Every time I go I always get something different and I am never disappointed.
Everything is so clean and it’s very well lit. The staff is always delightful. Honestly you can’t lose when you go here.

I love this place. Clean, bright restaurant with a selection of delicious Greek specialties. The meatballs and the lamb are amazing. I like that you order at the counter and they bring it out to you, but you can have a beer and it feels a little nicer than your average order-​at-​the-​counter place.

Been waiting 20 minutes so far, people have already left the restaurant that ordered behind me.
Someone just comes out and asks me what I ordered. Wow! Restaurant is freezing, turn on the heat it’s 45 degrees outside.
Finally get my dish and I the meat was very dry. I ordered a gyro not beef jerky.
I look down and I find a hair. I returned the dish to show them. The older woman was very nice but the cashier not so much. She literally grunted when she had to give my money back and said Thank You in a very Smart A** way.
Will never return. Save yourself some money, try Sahara or Mr. Kabab.
Only reason for the 1 star is because momma was nice.

Absolutely delicious! Love this place. We had the soup of the day (white bean) and dolmathakia (grape leaf wraps) for appetizers. Lamb gyro and bacon wrapped shrimp (off menu special) with salad. As usual, everything was very fresh, colorful, and flavorful. My taste buds were on overdrive. Opa!

The dip we ordered as an appetizer was amazzzziing! It was called Htipiti if I can remember correctly (and I may not be).
My gyro was average, but I feel that was due to my own mistake of trying to impress my date by ordering something «more authentic» and choosing a meat that I knew wasn’t my favorite to begin with. I was disappointed that they were out of the lemon potatoes as this forced me to order French fries that were subpar also.
All in all, the service was great. The baklava was yummy and the candles and fresh flowers on the table created a nice little atmosphere. I will definitely give it another shot.

This is not a review of the restaurant itself but the catering that Athenian Grill offers, in this case for a wedding reception.
Both of us are transplants and as such most all of our wedding guests would be travelling in to town — and excellent opportunity to give our guest our local favorites. When planning the wedding, having Athenian Grill cater was one of our first and most exciting decisions.
We gave Ilias a challenge in catering our wedding for a very tight budget. We only had a few dishes we knew we «had» have and left the rest to his genius. We were definitely the better for this freedom. All of the food was fantastic. Ilias was easy to work with and his team managed the service flawlessly. Our guests were delighted with all of the different dishes, many of which they had never tried. Guests have been responding since the wedding about how wonderful the food was and how they are seeking out the Greek restaurants in their areas.
Some guests who also have weddings in the future told us we have set a new standard for reception offerings.
We are absolutely pleased and grateful for Ilias and Athenian Grill.
Thanks.

Let me start off by saying that my father is greek. I grew up heavily in greek culture, food and tradition. Tarpon Springs where I grew up had a famous restaurant called Pappas. Louis passed away and the place shut down. My Yiayia (grandmother) cooked at his restaurant making his famous greek salads. My standard for greek food is a bit high because she could cook like no other.
Price vs. Portion: 2 Stars
Meal for three people, including a tip $ 52.36
I had the Pastitiso Plate (9.50) and I will tell you that this dished tasted almost as good as my Yiayia made when I was a child. The bechamel sauce was fantastic and the noodles were perfect.
Potatoes were good.
Salad — I cannot call this a greek salad because it consisted of mostly various lettuces, one olive, very light feta cheese, no red onions, two pieces of cucumbers and two chunks of tomato. It was not dressed with olive oil, salt and oregano.
Friend ordered Chicken Souvlaki Meal — ($ 10.75)
It arrived with a side of rice, a salad and one skewer of chicken. One, very shabby looking skewer of chicken chunks. Literally it had 6 very small pieces on the skewer.
For that price compared to the amount of what he was given I was immediately turned off with ever stepping foot back in this place. Plain Basmati Rice and the same salad I received for $ 10.75?
The husband ordered a Gyro Combo — ($ 9.25)
It was light on the meat. We normally visit a local competitor for gyros (their platter is $ 6.99, not $ 9.25) and for the price they do not skimp. He was disappointed that the tzatziki sauce was plopped at the front of the gryo, not throughout the entire wrap. He had to unwrap it and spread it throughout to get an even consistency. He was not impressed.
Dolmathakia ($ 5.95) — was fantastic. I was very pleased.
Drinks ($ 2.50 each) — You’re higher than the majority of the places I’ve eaten at around Lexington.
You’ve modernized your greek salad to where it’s not a traditional greek salad. Maybe for Lexington, but definitely not at my Yiayia’s table.

We’re fans of Athenian Grill in Chevy Chase but something disappointing happened between that location opening and this location (Locust Hill Rd) opening.
Our food was tasty, the seasoning was great, the salad veggies were crisp and fresh, but something was missing in the execution and atmosphere here.
Both of our dishes included a greek salad, and one side (we both chose lemon potatoes). Both salads were overly dressed, very wet, and everything is served on one plate so the entrees and the potatoes soaked in salad dressing.
At this location, you order at the register, you’re given a table card with the name of a Greek island, and your food is brought to your table; a nice touch. The problem was there were only two other tables when we sat down and one had already been served. So they weren’t busy but our dishes didn’t come out at the same time. Most of the food here is already prepared, or it’s pre-​cooked, reheated, and plated. But they couldn’t send two similar entrees with the same salad and side at the same time.
5 stars for the ingredients and cooking, but only 2 stars for the execution, hence a 3 star rating. We were expecting Opa! based on past experiences but this time was a nopa.

First time here and came because I am a fan of Greek /​Mediterranean food. This experience today will have me coming back again in the near future. I ordered their cross fit special which included: 2 meat choices and 2 sides. I had the classic and Athenian meats with lemon roasted potatoes and Greek salad. Everything was so scrumptious. I requested a tzatziki dipping sauce which made my meal taste even more flavorful. This isn’t something they offer so request it, it’ll change your tastebuds. Also for checking in on here you’re given some very tasty cookies. The food was so good, my friends and I had emptied our plates completely.

Delicious Greek food! We were pleasantly surprised by how good our lunch was here. The restaurant itself has great atmosphere — light and airy with plenty of seating. Service was great — very helpful, polite and quick.
The classic gyro was huge and delicious. They use a great pita bread that is clearly high-​quality. The basmati rice was fluffy and tasted buttery. The meat stew was very tasty and they were nice enough to put it over veggies instead of rice or potatoes for my paleo husband. The stew came with a salad on the side and the salad was totally legit — no cheap iceberg lettuce here! It was a REAL Greek salad and it was pretty big. The green beans were too mushy for my taste though.
If the food is consistently this good, this will become a regular spot for us — loved it!

My wife and I popped in for a late lunch after getting back to town from a West Coast vacation. Guess we’re still on California time.
We live near the Athenian Grill and have wanted to stop by for a while. I’m glad we did. We both had the Athenian Gyro made with 100% lamb. Deeeee-​liscious. I had the roasted potatoes as a side my wife, the grilled veggies. Potatoes were a smidge salty (I’m on a low-​salt diet) but were amazing! Everything was fresh and tasty.

The only thing better than Athenian Grill is the new Athenian Grill location off Richmond Road. The new location is everything I hoped for and more. It’s spacious, more heavily staffed, and, best of all, the menu has been expanded to include several new items. The gyros are unbeatable (if you’re having a hard time choosing, go with the Athenian lamb gyro) and their lemon potatoes are still perfection.

A home run in taste. I have ate at the other two locations and this one is very nice with much more room. I think the selection is more also. If you enjoy Greek food this is a must try!

I love Athenian Grill. The food is always superb and the owner, Ilias Pappas, is a passionate guy who is very engaged in the daily operation of the restaurant. He treats every customer as if they are guests in his home.
The roasted red pepper hummus is great, and the chicken gyro with the delicious tzatziki is so very good. The souvlaki is becoming a personal favorite as well.
Run, don’t walk, to Athenian Grill and see what you’ve been missing.