Yanni's Mediterranean & Opa Bar
I've been to Yanni's on multiple occasions but recently it was the first time for dinner. The restaurant is very well done, but I think it used to be a garage of some sort, like so many other establishments along Route 66. It feels like a Mediterranean restaurant meets old school mechanic shop, one of the dining areas can become a patio when they open the white garage door that faces Central Ave. The dominate colors of the restaurant are blue and white. The restaurant is clean and the restrooms are small, but clean as well.
The bar offered a great variety of wine, spirits, and a fairly decent beer selection both on tap and in bottles. They only have a handful of beers on tap, but they were decent choices (read more than Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Light). My companions and I begun the evening with a round of adult beverages and Saganaki Flaming Greek Kaseri Cheese. This cheese dish was really interesting due to how it was served, texture, and taste. The server brought the appetizer over on two dishes: one loaded with bread and the other was the cheese covered in Ouzo, the Greek anise flavored liquor. She then proceeded to light the Ouzo with a Bic cigarette lighter. The put the lighter down and with one hand held a butter knife while holding the plate with the other. She then moved the flaming cheese around to allow the Ouzo burn off to caramelize the cheese and form a crust all around the sliced round piece of cheese that was about a quarter of an inch thick. When the Ouzo began to run out she then squeezed half a lemon onto the cheese. This added a tart citrus flavor to the cheese as well as cooling the cheese post Ouzo cooking. We cut the cheese, yes we cut the cheese, into small pieces and then ate it with the crackers and bread. In concept, this was a simple appetizer, cheese and carbs, but the Ouzo cooking added great texture and showmanship, in this case show(wo)manship.
We then had salads with after our appetizer. We had the Greek salad with different dressings. The salad was good, but not great. This is a great salad if you love huge blocks of Feta cheese. The dressing was OK. The dressing was light in flavor and not very viscous for Greek dressing. The ingredients were fresh and colorful, but the texture could have been better. When I say this, the lettuce could have been more cool and crisp, not that the lettuce was bad, but it could have been better.
For the main course, we ordered the Lamb chops and the Combo Greek platter. The Lamb chops were excellent. I ordered my lamb rare and they came rare. The texture and flavors of this dish were great; there were a lot of different layers in the lamb: oregano, garlic, and lemon. At first, I was a little sceptical about the combination of these flavors, but the combination resulted in many great flavors at once. The Greek combination platter was a generous serving that seemed like the Greek kitchen sink. It was a cross section of so many Greek favorites like dolmas, chicken, roast potatoes, and so much more.
All in all this was a good experience. I would rate this as three and a half stars out of five. Better than average, but the certain parts were good, but not worth of four or more stars.
http://www.yannisandopabar.com/
The bar offered a great variety of wine, spirits, and a fairly decent beer selection both on tap and in bottles. They only have a handful of beers on tap, but they were decent choices (read more than Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Light). My companions and I begun the evening with a round of adult beverages and Saganaki Flaming Greek Kaseri Cheese. This cheese dish was really interesting due to how it was served, texture, and taste. The server brought the appetizer over on two dishes: one loaded with bread and the other was the cheese covered in Ouzo, the Greek anise flavored liquor. She then proceeded to light the Ouzo with a Bic cigarette lighter. The put the lighter down and with one hand held a butter knife while holding the plate with the other. She then moved the flaming cheese around to allow the Ouzo burn off to caramelize the cheese and form a crust all around the sliced round piece of cheese that was about a quarter of an inch thick. When the Ouzo began to run out she then squeezed half a lemon onto the cheese. This added a tart citrus flavor to the cheese as well as cooling the cheese post Ouzo cooking. We cut the cheese, yes we cut the cheese, into small pieces and then ate it with the crackers and bread. In concept, this was a simple appetizer, cheese and carbs, but the Ouzo cooking added great texture and showmanship, in this case show(wo)manship.
We then had salads with after our appetizer. We had the Greek salad with different dressings. The salad was good, but not great. This is a great salad if you love huge blocks of Feta cheese. The dressing was OK. The dressing was light in flavor and not very viscous for Greek dressing. The ingredients were fresh and colorful, but the texture could have been better. When I say this, the lettuce could have been more cool and crisp, not that the lettuce was bad, but it could have been better.
For the main course, we ordered the Lamb chops and the Combo Greek platter. The Lamb chops were excellent. I ordered my lamb rare and they came rare. The texture and flavors of this dish were great; there were a lot of different layers in the lamb: oregano, garlic, and lemon. At first, I was a little sceptical about the combination of these flavors, but the combination resulted in many great flavors at once. The Greek combination platter was a generous serving that seemed like the Greek kitchen sink. It was a cross section of so many Greek favorites like dolmas, chicken, roast potatoes, and so much more.
All in all this was a good experience. I would rate this as three and a half stars out of five. Better than average, but the certain parts were good, but not worth of four or more stars.
http://www.yannisandopabar.com/
Labels: Yanni's
posted by Erick at
7:24 PM
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