Eleni's Greek Taverna, The Sokos Family in the Former Kate's Irish Pub Space in Springfield

[Kibbee Nayee]

Eleni's is not yet open, but the signage is mostly in place and a look through the front door reveals "Eleni's" etched in the glass that separate's the entrance area from the dining room.

A quick Web search reveals no other Eleni's this side of Crete or Washington State.

What Springfield needs like a hole in the head is another family-run Greek restaurant. I'm looking forward to see what Eleni's will do to distinguish itself from Delia's or Saratoga Family Restaurant or Springfield Restaurant or even Malik's. The concept is ubiquitous, sort of like opening a Pho shop in Falls Church.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Now open....and as the titular Mayor of Springfield Dining, I hereby decree that if you dine in Springfield at all or ever again, make sure it's at Eleni's.

A bit of backstory....Delia's is a Springfield institution, and Cathy Sokos has been Delia's stalwart on the waitstaff for years, basically running the front of the house. On my last visit to Delia's a month or so ago, I was surprised not to see her, and I heard from my dining companion that there had been a family feud and a falling out at Delia's.

Fast forward to today, as I was wandering through Springfield and saw the "Now Open" sign on Eleni's. I walked in, and Cathy greeted me.  Her brother is in the kitchen and her daughter is....Eleni Sokos!

My lunch today was two appetizers -- grilled octopus and Greek meatballs (Keftedes). They were delicious. I can't wait to rip into the whole menu, but I'm sensing that this is a place with the home-y feel of Delia's and the quality of Nostos. It is a restaurant that is single-family owned and operated, dishing out meals from a family heritage, and working hard to win loyalty and admiration from its patrons. Count me in.

[DonRocks]

Now open....and as the titular Mayor of Springfield Dining, I hereby decree that if you dine in Springfield at all or ever again, make sure it's at Eleni's.

They have a nice website, too.

[lonewolfcub]

Had dinner there Friday night. Two families with several kids in the group and the experience was great. Yes, the food and menu is very similar to Delias. Portions are very generous.

Had the Beef Kokkinestro and it was very good. Most entrees are in the 10-18 range for dinner.

The restaurant is next to Fishers Hardware in the space where Kate's Irish Pub used to be. If you go to their website or plug in the address, it doesn't really direct you there.

Overall - it's in the upper tier of dining in Springfield IMO.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Overall - it's in the upper tier of dining in Springfield IMO. 

Some people would call this statement faint praise, but you just placed Eleni's in the same quality strata as Monty's, Gamasot, and depending on how you draw the boundaries, Osteria Marzano.

That's where I would place it, for sure.

[mdt]

I went there soon after their opening and it seems that they were still getting their settled. Dishes like moussaka were tasty, but warm on the outside and cold on the inside. Maybe it's time for another try.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Despite the vastness of the menu here, I enjoyed a really delicious dinner last night with a colleague by sticking to five appetizers between us. This, this place can also stand tall as a Greek Mezze restaurant.

• Grilled Octopus -- As good as any I've had in the area, served room temperature, with a nice acid bite from a splash of red wine vinegar.
• Cheese Saganaki -- The flaming cheese dish of Greece, doused with a squeeze of lemon, very good.
• Loukaniko -- Greek sausages with fresh herbs, grilled and cut into bite-sized pieces. Very flavorful.
• Keftedes -- Greek meatballs, nice lamb flavor, hearty and delicious.
• Zucchini Fritters -- Zucchini chopped and mixed with Feta, formed into golfball-sized logs and fried, on top of Tzatziki. Nice.

Throw in a couple of so-so Greek wines by the glass, and endless plates of fresh pita, and all was well with the world.

[lonewolfcub]

Love the Zucchini Fritters!

[Kibbee Nayee]

Had lunch with a friend who is in decining health, so my attention was riveted on him today....leading me to not catch the name of the delicious lunch special I had. It was braised lamb over rice, and it was excellent. After finishing it off, I took bread from the basket to sop up the juices. I would return for dinner and get the same dish, but Lady KN has other plans....

[weezy]

Met some friends here for lunch on Saturday.  We got the mixed dips to share -- hummus, a feta dip and the eggplant dip -- which were all nicely done and plated well, but I probably wouldn't pick the feta dip again.  Nothing was wrong with it, but it wasn't a standout.  The hummus was very light and creamy, as if it had been whipped, and the eggplant dip was very good, also.  A few more pita wedges would have been nice.  For mains, we all got gyros or souvlaki (chicken or pork, depending), and all were nice and fresh and tasty.  I had a pork souvlaki and liked it, but it would have been better with the same amount of pork just cut into smaller cubes, as there was not a good bite-to-bite ratio of pork to other sandwich fillings.  Portions are generous.   The real standout, though, was the french fries.  Fresh, handcut, crispy dark brown -- everyone ended up taking their unfinished fries home to reheat and keep on eating.  Really, when was the last time you took  lefotver  fries home?  I mean, they were that good.

[LauraB]

We went to Eleni's yesterday late morning for an early lunch, late breakfast. This was after we had tried to go to the Springfield Silver Diner, but found the line to be really long.  We should have stayed at Silver Diner.  Our visit to Eleni's was extremely disappointing.  We ordered the hummus and pita to start.  The hummus was the worst I've ever had.  If there was anything other than chickpeas in it, I'd be stunned.  There was no flavor other than chickpeas.  The pita was very pedestrian -- like something you'd purchase at a chain grocery store in a plastic bag. MrB ordered the Greek Omelet and it was very badly cooked --very brown on the outside, no fluffiness, all of the internal ingredients stuffed into a very small pouch.  It also came with 'Greek potatoes' that he described as 'horrible.'  I ordered the Spanakopita.  The waitress pointed out that they had a special of Spanakopita with 'homemade dough.'  She recommended that I order that, rather than the usual menu item which is made with phyllo dough.  Against my better judgment, I followed her recommendation.  To my chagrin, I should have followed my instincts.  This was the worst spanakopita I've ever been served.  The dough was really thick and under-cooked.  I scraped the spinach innards out of the dough and ate those, which weren't all that good.  My side was also the 'Greek Potatoes,' which I also found to be undercooked.  It's really saying something when you don't want to eat potatoes!  And, in case you think it can't get worse, the service was unbelievably slow.  We sat and sat and sat before the hummus was delivered, and then sat some more for the entrees.  

This was our second (and certainly, last!) visit to Eleni's.  Our first was many months ago and we left very underwhelmed.  We decided to give it another try yesterday and it failed again.