Restaurant Review: Acropolis Greek Taverna – Archive
Written by Crow's Nest Staff, Oct 19, 2010, 0 Comments
Lenay Ruhl
Staff Writer
My first thought when I walked through the doors of Acropolis Greek Taverna was, ‘what is with all of the napkins? They’re everywhere.’
The Greek restaurant—or taverna as they call it—recently opened at 515 Central Ave. in downtown St. Petersburg. It’s taken the place of the well-received Italian restaurant Bella Brava, which has now moved to Beach Drive.
Upon entering the Greek taverna, we were greeted with loud, live music and a polite server, who seemed eager to please. “Would you like to sit inside or outside; upstairs or downstairs; table or a booth?” she asked. As she guided us to our booth on the first floor inside, I was careful not to slip on the napkins on the floor.
The restaurant offers a full menu with appetizers, salads, sandwiches and entrees. The prices average from $6 to $15. For a college student on a budget, this is a fairly decent price for a nice, sit-down restaurant.
For a mixed drink, you’ll pay about as much as you do for your meal. Most of the drinks cost around $9. But if you don’t want to order a special drink, go Greek all the way and order a Greek beer for $4. I tried Mythos, which our server said was the most popular. I also tried the Alpha. Both of these beers were light and went great with my entree.
Before bringing out our meal, they served bread with a garlic and spice-infused dipping sauce, which had exceptional flavor. I ordered the special of the evening, which was a steak/chicken kabob platter with roasted vegetables, orzo (rice-shaped pasta) and a Greek side salad for $13.
I have no complaints about the food; it had a lot of flavor. For those who like their meat rare, the steak and chicken may be a little dry. It was cooked just enough to easily pull off the kabob.
The live music was comfortably loud. We could converse during our meal. The music was just loud enough to prevent to table beside us from eavesdropping.
Throughout the evening the servers participated in zorba dancing, which is a type of traditional Greek dancing. They joined hands and created a line, dancing around the restaurant. As they danced, the music got faster.
Some servers ran throughout the restaurant and started throwing napkins at the different tables, yelling “opa.” This explains the napkins. They throw them at you whether you’re eating or not, and they fall onto your plate.
Speaking of plates… once the dancing is finished someone in the back of the restaurant breaks a stack of plates using a single plate, catching the remains in a trashcan. I’m assuming they break them into the trashcan for safety reasons. Napkins are one thing, but glass on the floor is probably not recommended here in the flip-flop and sunshine state.
When I searched online for the tradition of breaking plates, I read that it is actually banned in some Greek restaurants now. According to the Acropolis website, they break the plates because, “Worldwide, noise is believed to drive away evil, and the sound of the plates smashing against the stone or marble floors of Greek houses would be loud enough to scare off almost anything.”
Hopefully these smashing plates are not loud enough to scare off St. Petersburg.
“You don’t have to travel across the globe for inspired Mediterranean cuisine because we’ve brought the very best home to you,” the Acropolis Greek Taverna advertises. Acropolis offers Greek food at reasonable prices. With a cultural atmosphere complete with zorba dancing, falling napkins, live music and smashing plates, Acropolis is an unforgettable dining experience. Welcome to Greece, St. Petersburg.
