A nice, tucked away Greek restaurant…read more
My wife and I dined (for the first time) at Stella's this past Sunday evening, Aug. 16. Our reservation was for 6:30pm. When we walked in, we immediately noticed it was unusually warm it was. We were seated in a corner and given menus by the manager. I inquired if their AC was out. He told me it was not, and that the unuausal heat was due to the temporary removal of their awning over the door, which was letting miore light (and heat in ) than normal, and that it would start getting cooler very soon.
I had my doubts about this claim, as the sun was aready fairly low on the horizon, but we decided to stick it out. However, as time ticked by, and the kitchen became more and more active, the hotter it became. Eventually, the heat became so uncomfortable (I wold guess abut 80 degrees), that we decided to pack up our meals and leave.
Outside it was refreshingly cooler.
But onto the food and service.
We ordered the dolmades as an appetizer. They were small, bland, and were otherwise nothing to write home about.
We also decided to split the Greek Salad. It was excellent!
My wife ordered the chicken. She said it was very tasty.
I ordered the lamb chops. However, when our food arrived, I was served some pork skewers. instead. When I brought this to the waiter's attention, he apologized, and departed with the pork skewers. It appears that the waiter simply screwed up the order, because when it eventually did arrive (15-20 miutes later), my wife had already eaten most of her food.
I wolfed down 3 of the lamb chops (which were quite good), had the remainder of our food packed up (because of the heat), and departed.
Food-wise, it was an oveall solid B. Service was a C-.
Most notable about the occasion, however, was the horrible heat. We were seated in a corner, which was the fartherst away from any of the fans and AC vents. However, that (in my opinion) doesn't come close to explaining the magnitude of the problem. Three possibilities exist in my book: (1) the manager was lying about the AC being operational; (2) the manager/owner had increased the thermostat to reduce his electrical expenses; and/or (3) the AC compressor was out and/or the coolant was gone.
In order to truly enjoy any meal, the temperature must be a comfortable one. Our experience was the antithesis of comfortable, and so while the food was generally good, it was not so outstanding as to merit our returning again and risking the possibility of yet another insufferably "hot" experience.
Time to cool my jets.
