Christos

Opa!

It was my sister-in-law Ali's birthday over the weekend. To celebrate, we told her to pick a place near where she lives, since we always make her drive to our neck of the woods. She picked Christos in Minnetonka. It is a Greek restaurant.

I was excited, we never really go out for Greek food. We arrived and were greeted by a host who I am thinking possibly owns this branch (it is a chain, there is one in Minneapolis as well) and he was definitely Greek. We were seated at a nice long table back in a corner.

I think our waitress was a little new, we kept asking her questions and she was not 100% certain of the answers and seemed a little nervous at times, but other than that she was really great. Nate and I decided to go for the full Greek experience, he ordered a Greek beer called Keo and I convinced Ali and my mother-in-law that we should order a bottle of Greek wine called Aphrodite.

Nate and I decided to order something called the Iliad which was a sampling of different Greek food, which came with the following: Spanakopita, Mousaka, Koupepia, Gyros and Loukaniko with country pilaf, oven-roasted potatoes and Tzatziki. It was encouraged to be a meal for two, we also each got a salad. My in-laws also chose to split that meal. Ali ordered Souvlaki which was skewered pieces of pork tenderloin, marinated and broiled, served over pita with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, Tzatziki and fries. For an appetizer we chose the Taverna Platter which had a couple of kinds of hummus, feta cheese and this weird octopus thing (I'm not even kidding, but it was sort of marinated, just tasted like fish).

The hummus was super tasty, I liked both kinds. The fresh pita bread we got was fantastic.

Appetizer

The Iliad was a TON of food, I don't know how we ate as much as we did. I liked about half of what was on the plate, but that still was enough. The gyros meat was the best, the sausage was good but spicy. The mousaka was also really good, I didn't think I'd like it, but I really did. I have decided I don't like grape leaves! And I have a hard time with spanakopita, it's a texture thing mostly.

Picture tipped, whoops - but here is the Iliad

Finally we also chose desserts. Since it was Ali's birthday, she got a complimentary dessert, so she chose baklava. Nate and I decided to split Milopita, which was an apple dessert with cream cheese and ricotta cheese in a pastry type shell. It was warm and gooey and wonderful!

Overall, the food was great, the prices were a bit steep, but it was a slightly upscale kind of place, the service was great and you definitely got alot for your money. There were leftovers to take home! I was a little disappointed in the wine, it was pretty weak, and didn't enhance the flavors of the food all that much. But that was the only low point of the evening. Everything else was fantastic. It's not a convenient place for us, so I don't think we'll be back soon just based on that, but I would recommend it!

Oh, a side note, we got to watch them set up for a bachlorette party and then the beginning of the party too - looked like a bunch of Greek women having fun, reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding! Too funny.