Picked up lunch from Athena the other day and was pleased with my meal. I ordered the sampler. It had chicken, lamb, salad and hummus. The amount of food was plentiful and the flavor was exceptional for this area. Will definitely eat here again.
Excellent Mediterranean cuisine packed full of flavor. While it may be a little spendthrift, the portions are large. I highly recommend the Grecian dip and Athen's sampler (see photo). Gyros & shawarma are a good choice, and the greek coffee is so good!
It has always been good. I like the kabobs and gyros...miss the tiramisu. Not sure why it was removed from the menu after a management change several years ago.
Angela Seymour Bacarisse
+4.5
we stop very time we are driving by Monroe. Great food. Our pre-teen likes the food, too! Hummus is so creamy and good. Only 2.5 miles off of I-20, a perfect stop.
Love this place! The food is amazing!! I especially like the gyro platter. It's a ton of delicious gyro meat, pita bread, and rice with a feta salad and the best hummus ever! Go try them out and you'll see for yourself.
Food, atmosphere, and staff were excellent. Great restaurant for a city with few great restaurants. I will definitely dine with Athena again.
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Wow! I read all the reviews not only on this site but yelp and a few others. I was optimistically guarded about this place but I have lived here three years and was ready to look for something new.
The place looked closed but was just empty ( at 630pm on a Thursday). The waitress was obviously not expecting anyone but immediately snapped too and was very attentive as soon as she saw us walk through the door.
Being some what new to Greek food we asked for recommendations. The waitress was not so helpful at first. She obviously didn't know the menu (and maybe never eaten at the restaurant?). I asked specifically about the grape leaves, as they where well described on the menu, and asked about a half order so we could sample it verses the whole order of six. She was more than accommodating and seemed interested in us trying something new - we will call it a social experiment I guess.
We settled on the Athena's Combination Extravaganza for two. It was more food than the both of us could eat! I am not sure what other peoples experience was but the food was HOT (temperature), seasoned well ( really wish the waitress would have know what was on the chicken - love to reproduce that in my kitchen ) and the hummus was GOOD!
The two of us paid ~ $35 plus tip for a small appetizer, two teas ( try some unsweetened lebanese tea with just one packet of sugar - OMG ! ) and enough food to take home some for lunch the next day.
There was one big down sides- the menu pictures on here need to be updated - expect to pay between $5-10 more for all the dinner menu. Do not be afraid of the higher price - it's worth it!
I love the food there I love the atmosphere was great the food to taste so good and I love How everything was there I will come back again.
Quite tasty. Decided to try this restaurant after church today. I LOVE pasta so the Chicken Schwarma Pasta was my choice since I wasn't quite sure how I'd like the lamb. The dish was absolutely wonderful and I enjoyed every bite, but needed a carry out box. My son got the combo lamb and chicken pasta. I tried the lamb and will order that the next time we go. We certainly will go back.
I might say we were the only ones there so we received excellent service.
Atmosphere and Food are Great. This is what Mediterranean restaurants are really like.
Food is made fresh (not fast) and service is very casual.
Good Gyros. I've eaten here a couple of times and enjoyed both visits. The gyro plate is really good and they load you up with the meat and pita bread, as you make your own. The grape leaves appetizer and the hummus are also pretty good. The only things I disliked on my visits is that they kind of give you too large of a portion of the sald to make up for the portion of the entre on some dishes, and that if you sit by the fountain inside it drowns out your conversation. But it was a good experience overall.
Went to Athena yesterday and I was really impressed. I had the gyro while my boyfriend had the filet mignon. I could have licked my plate clean by how good it is. Definitely will go there again sometime soon
One of the top two places to eat in Monroe! Food is always fresh, authentic, huge portions at very reasonable prices. One of the few places to get a legit salad and not fried meat in the South! Could eat here daily!
Lebanese and Like it!!!!. I am Lebanese and I usually don't like Lebanese restaurants since I am used to grandmas home made food... However Athena's serve very delicious food they can compete with grandma.... I bet grandma wont like that! in addition to that delicious food the sweet workers and the nice music and the calm luxurious Atmosphere right next to Athena's Statue and the fountains in the middle and the best quality wines they serve I thought I am gonna get broke after the dinner with my sweet girlfriend and I was surprised with the cheap prices... I like it!!!!
Great Date Night. I finally got my husband to go and try it.. I love greek food but he's not had very good experiences with it. He LOVED the Catfish and my gyro plate was amazing.. Even the rice was delicious. I think it's one of the 1st times he actually took food home to finish later.. We are definitely going back!
Fantastic! Food was fresh, authentic and excellent. Atmosphere is quiet, maybe even a somewhat romantic. service was a bit slow, but this was because they were actually making my food, not defrosting it.
My new favorite restaurant! So good!! We had the appetizer sampler for 4 and it was too much food for us although it waas so good I wanted to keep eating! Yummy!!
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Go for the food, stay for the dancers. I had occasion to have a date night with my little girl this past Friday night and since I knew the belly dancers were dancing we arrived for a later dinner. I have not eaten at Athena in over a year because the last time I ate there I thought the food was stale and poor quality. I was pleasantly surprised at this visit!
We ordered the falafel appetizer and though it looked funny to me (the shape was more flat than I am accustomed to seeing) it was very good and my girl (2 yrs old) even enjoyed them! Our main dishes came out and both were cooked well and the rice that came with them was very tasty. My main dish came with a salad too and that was surprisingly tasty! Since we were waiting for the belly dancers we decided to order dessert and I had the double chocolate cheesecake and my girl had the ice cream. The cheesecake was soooo good!
The belly dancers started a little later than we had hoped but they were very pretty and fun to watch. They were also gracious enough to dance with my little girl who was all about the dancers! I was disappointed that they danced one dance and then took a 5-10 min break before coming out to dance one more but I was glad we got to see 2 dances before we absolutely had to leave to get my girl to bed. She told her Daddy all about the dancers and I am pretty sure he will go with us next time!
Delicious food and prompt, friendly service. We recently had dinner at Athena's and we were very, very pleased with the food and with the service we received. My husband and I shared the Athena's Combination Extraordinaire and our son had the Gyros Plate. Everything was melt-in-your-mouth delicious! I also suggest trying the Lebanese iced tea for a refreshing change of beverage. We have dined at this restaurant several times and each experience has been wonderful and pleasant. The prices are reasonable for both lunch and dinner. It's a nice and refreshing change from the old standby restaurants out by the mall and along the interstate in West Monroe. Nice, quiet and relaxed atmosphere with little or no waiting. We will definitely keep going back.
Athenas has a great menu with alot of variety in foods. The service is great and they are improving all the time including serving alcohol, hookah with a hookah room, and soon will have an American menu as well. The food is very well prepared and taste great. As a regular customer I recommend this restaraunt as a great place to come eat if your with your family, with a date, or even pick up and eat by itself. I give it an A+ in my book of restaurants!
Just left Athena and had an amazing lunch. I got the Athens Sampler and enough food for two people. It came with a feta salad, chicken shawarma (which was awesome), gyro meat (again, amazing), and hummus. All of that ran about $13 w/tax & tip. I will definitely be coming back.
I went for lunch today and the food was delicious we had shrimp scampi and that was the best we've eaten no one can do it like they do plus they have the most beautiful resteraunt in town I will defenitly be back soon!!! And so should you:-)
Good food. I went to athenas again today it is my favorite place to go. They have great food and good atmosphere, i had the fried cheese for an appitizer and mediterranean ck, i love there salad so i repalced that for my rice.
Love it!!. This is one of my absolutely favorite places to eat in town. Lucky for me as it is the only Greek and Lebanese in the area! The service and food have always been great and the prices are reasonable. =)
Romantic AND Great for the whole family. Athena - The place to eat on a budget but yet you want fine dining!
Athena is a one of a kind restaurant. Their food is amazing. The atmosphere is calming. The people are very friendly and will tend to your needs and wants well.
Louisiana Urban Critic
+4.5
At last - Athena is back!!!!. I absolutely adore Greek and Lebanese food and my cohort and I decided to venture back to Athena today - after a stay away. I was refreshingly surprised that the new owners have done such a wonderful job breathing new life into this wonderful cuisine. Many kudos to the fabulous change! The food was absolutely wonderful - we sampled falafels, Baba Ganoush, and enjoyed the Athen's sampler. I cannot wait to go back! A wonderful experience.
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