Taverna Agora
Raleigh, NC 27612
Phone: (919) 881-8333
- Price:
- $$$
- Hours:
- Daily 4:30pm-12am, Bar open until 2am
Editorial Review for Taverna Agora – by Kristine Forrest
The Scene
The first sharp sound of shattering glass draws startled glances from diners--until a jubilant bartender shouts "opa!" and breaks yet another dish behind the bar. It's all part of the fun at this quirky Greek eatery--the noise, the energy, the sheer delight of capitalizing on a culture. Beyond the rowdy bar area, Taverna Agora's dining room reflects a mixture of down-home dining (blue checkered table cloths, lacy curtains) with a cozy romantic charm (a long trellis entwined with grape vines and tiny white lights). Service sparkles with delightful enthusiasm.
The Food
Taverna Agora's culinary strengths appear in the details. For starters, the fried calamari is nondescript, but the accompanying tomato relish and creamy tzatziki make it soar with fresh flavor. The kokinisto arni, a braised lamb shank, is tender and steeped in tomato wine sauce. The garides ke midia fournou is a seafood dish loaded with shrimp and mussels, but it's the garlic tomato basil sauce that gives the entree its flair. Desserts are the only disappointment; baklava is slightly too sweet and dense.
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Insider Tips
Where to SitCall ahead to reserve a table under the unique grapevine trellis, or outside on the patio.
Look GoodAlthough the staff prefers to break plates in celebration themselves, they'll occasionally allow a customer at the bar to do it. You'll surely impress your date.
Know Before You GoThe Greek coffee is delicious (and thick). It's best to down the small cup of potent java in one or two gulps.
User Reviews for Taverna Agora
10/07/2008 Posted by MillerHighLife
The restaurant itself is beautiful, but the moment you step in the door you know it's all for show. We werekept waiting at the door for at least 15minutes while the restaurant was nearly empty. When the hostess finally arrived at the door, she did not even apologize for keeping us waiting so long. They advertised belly dancers and Greek music. The music was blasting from the speakers and the CD kept skipping every few minutes. There were NO bellydancers anywhere. The server we had was new and unknowledgable, but friendly. However, when we found a piece of plastic in our food the owner/manager was completely rude and unhelpful. Bill was so obnoxious!! Right in front of us, he actually yelled at the poor server for the mistake (it clearly wasn't her fault). This was completely unprofessional. Bill singlehandedly ruined our meal and our evening. My family and I will NEVER go back to this place...hopefully you won't either. And to the servers --You really don't have to put up with that kind of abuse!!! You should find a job where they will value your efforts and reward you for them not belittle you in front of the guests (or anywhere else).
Pros: Beautiful Building-nice flowers
Cons: VERY RUDE MANAGER/OWNER
08/19/2008 Posted by 4golfers
We had 7pm reservations & when we arrived, TA was nearly empty except for 2 large parties. The ambiance was pleasant, but things quickly went downhill. Our harried, & inexperienced waiter couldn't talk wines(Mainly Greek vintners) took our drink orders, and delivered 2 beers in bottle, no glasses. We asked for glasses, and later a 2nd beer, again no fresh glass. Both bottles were carried with his hands OVER the openings, one (luckily) was still uncapped. Waiter did not take empty bottles off the table until we literally handed them to him. We had to ask to order appetizers, then silverware, then for Pita for the dip. Waiter asked if we wanted more bread, then realized he never gave us any! 2 ordered the Filet Mignon & 1 arrived looking , the other was 1/2 the height & 2x length looking just like a RibEye, the other cut on the menu. Tthe owner came over & angrily said "That is what happens when you cook a Filet to MW, it shrinks (I have NEVER seen a filet go from 2" think to 3/4" thick & elongate). It was a RibEye, & he would not concede they made a mistake. The server came back and said "Did you want dessert?" like he would rather we not. We asked for a dessert menu, and as he was leaving another server walked by with a dessert tray so she passed our order along to the waiter. No coffee or after dinner drinks were offered. The waiter told us there was no belly dancer, and she had not been coming there for some time now. I should mention that toward the end of the evening I saw 2 HUGE r0a(hes about 1 1/2 - 2" long on the north wall by the paintings (in Florida they call them "Palmetto"). I was too disgusted to tell my fellow diners as dinner had already been such a dismal failure, I couldn't bear for them to know we had taken them to a r0a(h haven. The bill for the four of us was over $150 for this nightmare. We will NEVER go back there.
Pros: Food is reasonably good
Cons: Poorly trained staff, terrible service, complaints handled poorly by management
