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Cafe Greek Garden

3.2 (44 reviews)
ModerateGreek, Mediterranean
Closed 11:30 am - 9:30 pm

Cafe Greek Garden Photos

Business Info

CAFE GREEK GARDEN ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating
Good for groups

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Recommended Reviews - Cafe Greek Garden

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Dolmadakis
Catherine F.

It's not the heat, it's the humidity...the air has been so super-saturated all week it's felt like Guelph suddenly relocated to the Caribbean. Nothing to do but hide out in the air conditioning all day, venturing out to barbecue in the evening, when the moist air was cool enough to breathe without choking, but still too thick to allow mosquitoes to fly (I did see one learning the back stroke, though). Today, as I was finishing getting another perfect haircut from Kim at Malkim, the sky opened up with a mighty belch of thunder and hit the city with a bucket brigade of water. Suddenly, I felt adventurous. And hungry. Being near that end of town, I decided it was a good time to finally try out Cafe Greek Garden. I'd been meaning to for ages -- honestly -- but location and time constraints had always made the venture just not quite convenient. Today would have to be the day. After all, as president of the Garlic Fan Club, it's a given that I love good Greek food. (Someday I'll write a fitting tribute to Vasili's Greek Restaurant in Santa Cruz, with the terrific souvlaki and the wonderful garlicky skordalia and tzatziki, and Vasili himself, who would occasionally dance with a table in his teeth, and fill up a pot of chicken-garlic soup for me whenever I had a cold.) First, the decor. Elaborate frescoes in conjunction with both fake plants (which I hate) and some very healthy real ones (which I love) did, in fact, give the place a garden feel -- and the outdoor seating, while overlooking a quasi-industrial area and a busy road, looked comfortable and inviting...but very very wet. I opted for indoors and dry. The hostess greeted me with a no-nonsense manner and a heavy Greek accent. Promising! Even more promising when I heard Greek being spoken in the open kitchen, and when someone turned up the music, which was Greek, with traditional folk instruments (which I love -- I cannot stand Muzak'd synthetic "ethnic"-flavored pap). And even better when I heard someone dancing back there. Hurray, authentic! For a starter, I ordered the dolmadakia, the meat version of dolmades -- grape leaves stuffed with rice, lemon juice, olive oil, and spices; dolmades are one of my favorite finger-foods. The dolmadakia were a different beast -- more like meatballs wrapped in grape leaves, and served hot with copious amounts of an unappealing gelid pale translucent gravy-like substance. It wasn't bad, but could have used more garlic and definitely more lemon. I think I'll go for the skordalia (a potato and garlic dip, heavy on the garlic -- did I mention I love garlic?) next time. I don't know if it came as part of the dolmadakia, or is simply served with every meal, but I was also given bread with two dollops of dip: one beige, one pale pink. The pale pink one tasted vaguely of mayonnaise; I decided I didn't like it (it had that "church picnic" flavor), and moved on to the beige dip, which I had correctly surmised was hummus. Good hummus! Plenty of garlic and lemon to complement the chickpeas. Betcha it was homemade. It certainly tasted it. Now I'm a big fan of good souvlaki. I had some options, here: chicken, pork or lamb, and either on a skewer with Greek salad, roast potatoes, rice and tzatziki sauce (that's a lotta starch for me, boyo), or in a pita (served with their "famous Greek salad"). I opted for the latter, in lamb (more traditional, and my favorite red meat). While I'd been willing to be pleased with the dolmadakia, I had no trouble falling -- hard -- for the souvlaki. Yowza! The thick-cut lamb was so succulent and tender I was able to bite through it in a single bite with my incisors alone, and it was flawlessly flavored, with a delicious hint of char. (I must beg them for their secret! I've never had such tender lamb!) They kept the pita fillings simple: generous amounts of delicious tender meat, sliced tomatoes, and some truly excellent tzatziki (for the uninitiated: a creamy tart garlicky sauce made with Greek yogurt, lemon, shredded cucumbers and tons of garlic). The Greek salad was plentiful, and while it was made with iceberg lettuce (which I find worthless), and only had one Kalamata olive and a couple of tomato slices, it did have a generous heap of feta cheese on top. Having filled up on the dolmadakia, I abandoned the salad, after eating the tomatoes with the feta and the single olive. But I sopped up every drip of that tzatziki, and licked my fingers for good measure. I can see this place being terrific for large groups of friends, ordering the saganaki (read: flaming cheese -- totally awesome) and yelling OPA! when the mushroom-cloud of greasy flames launches from the skillet, drinking too much ouzo and staying out too late. (*Sigh.* I wish I could get my friends together for such an evening, here. Truth is, we aren't let off the leash that often. Maybe I can sneak away and borrow some friends from His Goatness.) Final bonus: ouzo candy came with the bill. And all of that food was only $16.

The gigantic seafood platter
Monica W.

I came here for the first time with my family and we really enjoyed the food and atmosphere. We came for dinner on a Tuesday, so it was relatively empty, but apparently, they can get pretty busy at lunch time. We started with the seafood platter, which was AMAZING. Extremely generous portions with perfectly fried calamari and an assortment of pita and dips. The hummus was my favourite. It was a little more garlicky than what I'm normally used it, but as a garlic fan, I really enjoyed it. For mains, we tried the lamb chops, halibut and pork tenderloin. I found the halibut to be slightly overlooked and dry, but the lamb chops and pork tenderloin were both delicious and we have no complaints. Service was quick and the staff were very friendly. The waitress cheerfully answered all of our curious questions (what's this? what's that?). Definitely a great family restaurant!

four slices of toasted bread topped with tomatoes and feta cheese
Melissa P.

The food is pretty good here, however overall I will say the place has its ups and downs. In terms of decor, I will say the patio is very nice with the billowy curtains. When it comes to the food I liked the bruschetta and the rice, potatoes and obviously the tzatziki. I had a lamb skewer and although the meat was well flavoured, it was kind of tough which ruined it alittle. Finally, the service was fairly slow even though the restaurant wasn't busy. Our waitress asked us if we wanted a refill on water and then never brought it. I would say I would go back to try more things if I'm craving Greek food, but I would say the restaurant is average everything considered.

Dinner for two. Massive.

As a Greek, this place really impressed me with its authentic home cooking. We ordered the Tiropitakia which I could have sworn were cooked by my mother herself - high praise. For the entree, we ordered the dinner for two, which was a massive place of the menu 's best offerings. The chicken souvlaki was the standout, tender and moist. Will definitely be back.

Lamb Chops.
Joy M.

Some of the best Greek food I've ever had. I went for lunch on a Saturday with friends. The service was unfortunately quite poor, and the ambiene is meh. Large portions, packed with intense flavour!

$10.95 for skewered chicken, salad and rice.   I wasn't quite satisfied withered lettuce ... it was ok otherwise.

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3 years ago

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3 years ago

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3 years ago

Great food. Quick lunch takeout. Adequate portions. I'll be going back for dinner, may change to 5 star after.

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3 years ago

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15 years ago

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11 years ago

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9 years ago

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14 years ago

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11 years ago

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9 years ago

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12 years ago

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11 years ago

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9 years ago

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11 years ago

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11 years ago

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11 years ago

This place is cheap and cheerful Greek food. Nothing ground breaking but it's done well and it's fast.

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9 years ago

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14 years ago

Great food, reasonably priced. I've had both the take out (many times) and ate in with a large group.

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14 years ago

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9 years ago

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10 years ago

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9 years ago

Restaurants could really make some improvements on food quality. Food is fair to good. Much better Greek places in Guelph to go to instead.

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12 years ago

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10 years ago

Food is great. So flavorful. The free bread and spreads to start is the only place that offers this. Staff are very friendly.

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Review Highlights - Cafe Greek Garden

For my main I ordered the seafood platter and was overwhelmed with ocean critters on my plate.

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The Greek Flame

The Greek Flame

2.2(9 reviews)
3.1 km
$$

This is the third time I've had food from Greek Flame, and every time the food is amazing! I've had…read morechicken souvlaki, shrimp souvlaki, and gyros pita, all of them taste like they came off the Danforth. We moved to guelph a few years ago and I used to drive past this plaza on my way to work. When Greek flame opened I was curious so we went in to eat and the interior of the restaurant is beautiful with nice wood tables and great lights. The kitchen can be seen (and smelled) through a window behind the cash/pickup counter. Outside there is a really nice patio, with small glass railings and a really nice garden surrounding the back of the area. The guys that I assume work and own the restaurant are always friendly abd get your order quick. They usually go back into the kitchen and start making the food after that. The food is what everyone cares about, and it is clear that they care a lot. If you get a souvlaki dinner, it comes with a ton of food. Rice, potatoes, meat, and a huge Greek salad. Before we moved, we lived in Toronto and grew up close to the Danforth. This Greek food is as good as any restaurant from home. It's delicious, clearly all home made, and feels like your eating in their family kitchen. I can't say enough.. Thanks, and eat there I'd love to see it full.

Happened to be driving by and decided to swing in. The restaurant appears new but everything about…read morethe experience makes me think it was a old place that never bothered to change. Had the lamb slouvaki and it was mushy and bland. No sense it was grilled. Would not be surprised at all to find out it was frozen and just reheated to order. Potatoes on the side had no seasoning and again I say - bland. tl;dr - bland and not worth visit.

Cafe Greek Garden - greek - Updated May 2026

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