Evvia Estiatorio

I cannot even put into words how much I enjoy my dining experience I come to this restaurant. The food, service, and dinning setting are all cohesive and make for a great restaurant. My family loves this restaurant but it is so hard to get a reservation yet alone a walking- but we got lucky coming in on a weekday. Even at 5PM, most of the tables were filled already showing just how popular this place is.

The food is absolutely incredible. We started with the lamb riblets which were beyond my expectations. I don't know how they cook the lamb here but it was crispy on the outside and so smooth on the inside. I highly recommend trying it! My go to entree is the moussaka but I am sure all the other dishes taste just as good (maybe even better). We ended our night with baklava and a special greek yogurt cheesecake they had as a special for the night.

I can't wait to return soon!!

I haven't been here for ages but I remembered it being excellent. I wanted my fiancé to experience this.

Octopus appetizer -- oh so tender ! Nicely grilled with an awesome lemon oregano sauce. My fiancée whole normally does not eat seafood loved it!

Prawns in a tomato and olive sauce -- prawns were fresh served either the head but the tail is completely shelled .

Special arugula salad with creamy feta cheese , strawberries, and toasted pistachios. Very refreshing and the cheese was sooo creamy!

Grilled rib eye -- oh my god, so juicy and grilled to perfection. Normally I order medium rare but here medium is perfectly pink throughout.

Grilled lamb chops -- just as I remembered. Perfectly seasoned with herbs and olive oil.

Both meat entrees came with crispy thick potato fries. Normally I don't like think fries but these were exceptional!

Our server suggested we try their famous dessert Galaktoboureko which is a traditional phyllo wrapped vanilla bean semolina custard with pistachio ice cream. So delicious! He even put a candle on to celebrate that life is good!

Overall an amazing meal!

Amazing food, service and ambiance. The wait staff kept the glasses full and checked on us several times during the course of our meal.

There's a fireplace and open kitchen. It is very cozy. There is also outdoor seating for the full sidewalk cafe feel.

We ordered grilled fish, wood fired oven baked mushrooms. Everything was spectacular. Flavorful and cook just right.

I took my friend for a Valentine dinner. It did not disappoint.

Reservations are needed.

Haiku: Evvia Estiatorio

Craving crispy smelts
We ordered family-style plates
Top, superb service.
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Evvia checks all the boxes in terms of phenomenal food, superb service, and a casual, warm ambiance. It seems that every dish we ordered were crowd pleasers and satiated our bellies.

Fabulous dishes we ordered:
- Pikilia: all three Greek spreads with grilled pita and pickled vegetables.
- Marithes Tiganites: Bite-size crispy smelts were tasty and easy to pop into our mouths. The garlic and potato dip sauce was crack. It's as if I had the garlic sauce with the little fried smelts.
- Octapodaki tou Yiogou: traditional grilled octopus was tender and perfectly cooked. The lemon juice on the thick cuts of octopus made it fresh and light to eat.
- Arnisia Paidakia: Rib-cut, mesquite-grilled lamb chops were tender and juicy. The taste of the lamb wasn't overpowering.

Evvia sets the bar for supreme service. Their inviting hospitality and warm conversations made us feel at home. They spent the time to explain the menu and specials and even folded the napkins whenever we left the table. They're like mind readers--consistently checked up on us and topped off our drinks, cleared the tables when we finished dishes, and gave us new plates when they noticed ours were dirty.

Love this place! Nice sit-down restaurant with an upscale and inviting interior. Food is on point.

Loved their Octapodaki appetizer. Perfectly soft and not overdone. It was beautiful in its simplicity; marinated lightly yet so tasty.

Their Mediterranean sea bass was perfectly seasoned. Amazing texture; skin slightly crisp yet hiding its scrumptious meat inside. Eating a whole fish is a delicate process if you want to avoid accidental swallowing of fish bones, but this dish was incredibly delicious so take your time. They even offered to debone the fish and remove the main skeleton running through the middle...now that's service!

The waiter, who should win a trophy for his world class customer service, was very attentive towards all guests. He even offered to have the bar craft a special cocktail for me and it was delicious! I may have drank it too quickly, not realizing the alcohol content, but it was definitely one of the tastiest cocktails I've had.

Eating here was a very nice experience and I would love to return for special occasions. Although a little pricier than most restaurants, the service and ambiance reflects that and this restaurant deserves its high ratings on Yelp.

Came by for dinner the other night and it was a world class experience. Evvia is a Palo Alto staple known for their lamb chops, octopus, and galaktoboureko dessert. The restaurant is featured in the Michelin guide.

Dining is available indoors with a view of the open kitchen or outdoors in the covered and heated patio. Checked in with the host upon arrival and our reserved table was ready for seating at our specified slot.

Staff are cordial wearing their own white dress shirt and an Evvia vest for warmth.

Started off with the Manitaria tou Fournou featuring field mushrooms,
Kefalograviera, thyme & Evvia dressing and they were world class. These came out of the oven hot and the server even helped served some of these on our plate. Flavoring and textures were excellent!

Moved on to the spanakotiropita featuring phyllo stuffed with spinach, leeks, feta, dill & herbs and these were super light and fluffy! Excellent! These also came out hot out of the oven super fresh!

The saghanaki with pan fried Kefalograviera with oregano & lemon was great as it was a sharp cheese on a hot grill plate.

The kolokithokeftethes with crispy zucchini cakes with cucumber & mint yogurt were lightly fried and filled with tasty zucchini!

The Arnisia Plevrakia were also tasty! The grilled lamb riblets with lemon & oregano were perfectly grilled and they were super soft and tender topped with Evvia sauce.

Ended the meal with their famous galaktoboureko featuring traditional phyllo wrapped vanilla bean semolina custard with pistachio ice cream and it was a light and fluffy way to finish off dinner.

~$60/head after tax and gratuity for dinner.

Second time visiting Evvia and I had a great experience.
Ordered zucchini cake and octopus as an appetizer and chicken breast as main course.
The food was excellent as always and the service was good as well. I took a table outside but they had the heather on, which made my dinner very pleasant.
Today I brought my parents and we tried the mushroom appetizer, which was amazing.
Great spot and great food/service

Very fun, fancier, Palo Alto restaurant. We came here for our anniversary and were very pleased.

I may be biased but felt like we ordered perfectly - we started with the Classic Greek Salad, got the Crispy Zucchini Cakes, Prawns, Braised Lamb and finished with the Baklava. Every item was perfectly cooked, plated to perfection and had delicious flavor. If I had to choose one to not order again it would be the Greek salad - very good but not the most special. The yogurt dip that comes with it is unique and delicious. The lamb is a classic and very well done. The prawns did have a little bit of a kick to them but we loved it. Delicious with the roasted tomatoes. Whatever you do don't leave without getting the baklava. Fantastic and the perfect way to finish off the meal!

Smaller portions than most places so I would recommend ordering multiple items. We liked ordering 1 main entree with the two "mezethes" (small plates style) for the two of us. Can't go wrong, everything looked fantastic. Don't let yourself fill up on too much of the yummy bread.

The lamb chops was undoubtedly the highlight of the dinner! I'm not a huge fan of lamb in general but enjoyed it so much. It was cooked perfectly and paired with the delicious sauce with some unique cheesy aroma.

The grilled whole seabass was a lighter dish (portion is generous though). The flavor was subtle but still savory.

The appetizers didn't impress us as much as the entrees did. I was looking forward to the grilled octopus and zucchini cakes but they were mediocre in my view.

They accommodated our reservation change on the day of Valentine when we called which was much appreciated.

This meal can't get any better! It's the best I've had so far.

Started with Evvia salad and octopus.

Salad's dressing brought out vegetable's freshness. All its content brought each other's best and made it a perfect combination!

And OMG- octopus is to die for! My best friend and I were surprised! Typically, are chewy. This one melts in your mouth like butter. $19.00 justifies its tasty and tenderness. It's like it was slow cooked for hours. Whoever monitors it is on the dot!

I had lamb and my best friend- ravioli. Both were quite palatable! Too bad I was driving. I'll get alcohol next time!

Their staff were all friendly and welcoming. My best friend and I were busy catching up, hence didn't get to talk to the staff attending us. Couple next to our table however, really tried to get to know their waiter. It's just so nice there was a real conversation. It makes it more personal which makes the visit more like homey.

It's busy and yet ambiance is classy. It's a bit pricey, but it's so worth it! We'll go visit again.