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It’s open
Service was friendly and prompt. Sit down with charming little paper table cloths with a map of magna graecia in it.
They brought extra tsatziki on request which helped the toast points to slide down.
DĂ©cor is little changed from former place, pleasant blue and white, no my melody jr.
A big winner, I will be going back for the mixed grill ($28) and moussakas ($14) in the evening soon.
You just made my day, Viking! Their 1st location (in Bloomfield on the Montclair border) is where I got hooked on Greek food! The owners are from Karpathos, and when they first opened, someone posted on CH and said he’d never seen some of these dishes other than on his grandmother’s table. On the island of Karpathos. So I had to try it and I fell in love with gigantes, octopus, and makarounes! When I left NNJ I was bummed not to have Stamna within reach (and still pop in when I’m up there), so I’m thrilled to see them so much closer!!
And btw, the owners of Apella are from… Karpathos. 
Glad you enjoyed. While I have no reason to wish them ill, I think they will have a tough go with that location. It’s obviously not very high profile, and obviously the last two places, both Greek, were unable to make a go of it. They were one of the first of the Greek establishments to open in the area, however they were never got much traction.
At $ 9.00 for a gyro I believe that puts them at the top of the list for the area, although you do get chips with this. I’ll give it a shot sometime soon, although it’s going to be hard to top my affection for both Greet Eats. and the G Spot in Ocean Twp.
I can’t remember exactly, but I think Apella is a little more for gyros with fries at lunch.
The difference between Apella/Stamna and G Spot/G Eats is the sit down service. The latter are more carry your tray to your seat type places.
Finally I agree that that location is like a restaurant black hole. Many things go in there only to disappear forever shortly thereafter.
It was empty at 12 when I got there, but by the time I left there were 3-4 tables going.
They are nice people, and had good food, so please give them a try.
In Greece you never get lettuce in a gyro but they always ask if you want chips (French fries) in it.
Yeah I’m used to tomato onion and tsatziki from Chicago and Detroit.
Lettuce must be an NYC/Jersey thing.
In Greece sometimes they will put the lemon potatoes and onion in it, that’s pretty good too.
This was first time for Stamna, so I wanted to see how they served it. Next time I will order onions and tomatoes only and see how that goes.
FYI there is a coupon for this spot in the “community coupons” booklet that gets sent out to Middletown and surrounding towns.
Just had lunch at Stamna. Tried the mixed grill and the fried cheese balls. It seems to be on the higher side of the price point. Big points for the homemade “chips”. Negative points for tzatziki and pita to accompany the mixed grill being an extra charge. The food quality might be a step above the other sit down restaurant in the area, but I think it’s the small restaurant feel and service that really shine here.
It’s great to have so many options close enough to each other and for us diners to be able to choose.
Csj, can you elaborate on the mixed grill? I’m interested in trying this spot.
{{facepalm}} …here we go again.
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Lmao! I challenge JR to eat the entire mixed grill at Stamna while standing on his head and singing “Born to Run”.
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I found a good picture from yelp representative of what we were served:
I was a little underwhelmed by the amount of gyro on the plate.
I didn’t weigh the meat, but it definitely seems like the other place presents it in a much showier fashion, and I beleive it is more meat, as you JR so intimately know.
Quality was great, but a good portion of the plate was grilled chicken. When you average out serving size, I have a feeling that this is a pricier plate of food.
Wryjkkgdseyuifsawrhitee {{sorry just threw up on keyboard}}
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Did you have any loukanikos (sausage) at Stamna? I’m asking bc I’ve always loved it at the NNJ location but it’s the one item where I might give Apella top billing. You can’t go wrong at either, though…just don’t forget to squeeze lemon on it!
Yes, the mixed grill had a sausage link on it. It was very good. I think the kitchen put some vinegar on it to cut the fat.
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