Samos Restaurant

The only less than pleasurable experience about Samos is the waiting area. If you chose to dine here on a Friday or Saturday night, you may want to practice a yoga position called the ‘Samos Sardine’ in order to fit yourself into the cramped waiting area.  If you fold your arms and interlace your fingers behind your neck while tucking your shoulders into your ears and sucking in your gut until your navel is firmly against your spine.

Samos is BYOB and a good way to kill some of the wait time is to put your name on the list, head out to find a nearby liquor store and take your time when browsing drink selections. The 2.00 per drinking adult fee is worth avoiding a game of human Tetris as more people try to awkwardly fit themselves in the waiting area. They do not take reservations so the wait is unavoidable, but worth it.

The seating area for two is also quite compact. Make sure to keep your knees and elbows in as some of the waiting crowd may spill over. As we were waiting for our check, the closeness of the neighboring tables invited friendly chit chat with the other diners. We felt Samos could use one or two more staff to help expedite the seating and cashing out and those on duty were zipping around as fast as humanly possible.

What we ordered:

Sampler Trio – You can choose three Greek spreads. We chose the tzatziki and two portions melitzanosalata. I enjoyed scooping them with the warm pita, but a spoon is provided for those with a sense of propriety. If you enjoy hummus and are hesitant to branch out, the trio sampler is the way to go. The yogurt-based tzatziki had a wonderful impression of garlic. The melitzanosalata was made with pureed roasted eggplant mixed with garlic, olive oil, and a lemon twist. Our favorite was the melitzanosalata, which is why it was 2/3 of our trio. If you like hummus, you may be asking for extra pita to swab up every trace.

Samos Special Salad (large) – We ordered the large salad and it was enough for us both. Lettuce, red onion, black olives (with the pit), firm and juicy tomato wedges, cucumber slices, substantial hunks of feta cheese, and pepperoncinis. The house dressing was homemade Greek-style vinaigrette and I could taste hints of lemon and garlic. The salad was topped with a single skewer of five pieces of grilled, seasoned chicken. We were slightly disappointed since that’s the same amount that comes with the small order and we had to split the small amount of tastiness. In the end, there was enough salad to fill our plates three times apiece.

Our drink – Voga Pinot Grigio. The light, sweet flavor went well with the zesty Greek flavors.

Will we go again? Definitely. The spanakopita is already in my sights.