To Greece...

Ahhh...November, the month of my birth. A festive time of year for myself and a few other great ladies who also celebrate their birthdays. On this particular Friday my friend Dionne and I stumbled upon the most unbelievable deal. Too good to pass up, we made our plans to meet and venture deep into Whitestone Queens. Ninety minutes and three buses later we arrived at our destination. Tasty Grill located at 14-22 150th street, Whitestone NY is nestled in a quaint part of Queens that made us feel we were in a Long Island town.

At the front of restaurant is a grill area that's flanked by a counter for diners and to the right of that, a drinks and salad refrigerator. We made our way past it all and followed our host to the seating in the back. The furniture's bright reds, blues and whites caught our attention and so did the large families gathered for dinner. We settled for a table in the corner of the room so we could enjoy the art on the walls. Old and new photos of cities and artifacts of Greece were everywhere and we got a bit lost in their beauty.
 Finally taking our eyes off the surroundings, we looked at the menu to made our selections. This Greek establishment's menu was a bit on the diner side of food so we asked our waitress to help us choose the more Greek foods on the list.

Avgolemono Soup and Friend Calamari  were chosen for the appetizer round and the Greek Burger, Gyro Trio Platter served with Grilled Vegetables won the vote for entrees.

The soup was a winner. Bits of chicken, carrots and perfectly cooked orzo danced happily in a thick chicken broth. The Calamari was disappointing however. It was definitely not the freshest seafood and quite under seasoned. We put it to the side and ate the warm pita slices and the tossed salad (Romaine lettuce, red onions, feta cheese, tomatoes and cured olives).

Our dinners were served and I was delighted to see that my burger was cooked to a perfect medium-well. It was served with feta cheese, onions, tomato, tzatziki sauce and shoe string french fries. The Gyro platter did not disappoint. Succulent shaved beef, pork nuggets and chicken strips crowded the plate. We caught a whiff of all spice as the plate was set before us. The grilled vegetables (Eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers and mushrooms) were well received but believe it or not the star of the night was the pita bread so a third basket was ordered.

We ate, laughed, sipped on our iced tea, toasted  to our birth month and enjoyed the native Greek that was spoken by the patron at a nearby table. It was a good night. We paid the bill and left to start our long journey home.
Tasty Grill  made for a nice outing and the neighborhood was charming as well. Credit was given for good service, tasty food (the pita was awesome!) and a great environment but deducted for less than fresh calamari. We then gave Tasty Grill a B. Recommended for a family night.