Taverna

NYC's oppressive heat waves always make me crave Greek food.  Taverna, located in Gramercy, recently replaced the longstanding Lyric diner.  As someone that actively avoids diners, I was pretty stoked with the neighborhood upgrade.

Taverna has dozens of tables for sidewalk seating (for when the weather is below 90+ degrees).  Fair warning readers, the service was far from great.  After being ignored for 10 minutes, we had to call over our waitress to take our order.  We then had to flag her down to check on our food (I'm pretty sure it shouldn't take 30 minutes to prepare a Greek salad).  And this was when the restaurant was at least half empty.  

But the food was well worth tolerating the negligent service, as you can probably tell from the bright colors of the fresh ingredients in the Greek salad.  Every dish we ordered was a hit.  The menu was packed with so many enticing options I could easily go back every night this week and order something new.

What To Eat:

Even though it is meant to be a side, I decided to start with the Fasolakia, which is green beans stewed in a tomato sauce.  Taverna's green beans were the best green beans I've ever had at any Greek restaurant anywhere, including Greek restaurants in Greece.  The green beans were cooked to perfection, and tossed in a thick tomato sauce, with diced carrots (the diced carrots were a welcomed addition that I've never seen before in Fasolakia).  

For an entree, we devoured the Youvetsi Thalassinon, which is also known as Greek paella.  This savory orzo dish is practically overflowing with fresh scallops, shrimp, octopus, and mussels. The light orzo noodles are tossed in a buttery, feta tomato sauce.  This is a great choice if you are struggling to decide which seafood dish to go with (because Taverna offers quite a few).

Looking to take advantage of the break in the heat this weekend? Pull up a chair at on of Taverna's sidewalk tables,

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