I was just out with a friend who lives in Red Bank and we were discussing where to go before a show at the Basie later this month. I said I’d love to give Greek Spot the business and told her about the comments here…she said she lives a block from there and they’ve been getting takeout since they opened but haven’t eaten IN the restaurant yet–and they love the food. So there’s yet another take.
2 Likes
(in best robot voice)
DANGER…DANGER…WARNING WILL ROBINSON
So we picked up take out last night from the Red Bank location for the first time. We both ordered the chicken souvlaki platter, which is the same price in Red Bank as it is in Ocean. The problem is we received two skewers of chicken from Red Bank last night, when in Ocean they generally give you three. I am truly hoping this was a “mistake” by Red Bank but my gut tells me it’s not.
Listen I have much love and respect for their food, quality and price(s) but I"m becoming big time cynical of this business plan of opening two locations with the same name but two different pricing structures and / or serving sizes. All they needed to do was use a different trade name in Red Bank and they could do whatever they want, but if this is the way they are going to operate for someone like me who is pretty much half way between the two, I will just continue to support the Ocean location if this trend continue.
Again, I’m hoping it was just a mistake I did NOT call to inquire if it was. So take this as a warning, but not a complete condemnation of their practices.
5 Likes
I think you’re spot on. I haven’t been to the ocean location but it appears the better value is in that spot. Im pretty sure rent is more in rb so I guess we take it in stride.
I wish it was closer to me, but it is a hike to get to ocean from my neck of the woods, navesink. I’m rooting for the red bank venue. I’m glad it isn’t another Italian joint 
3 Likes
To prove there were no hard feelings after our first take out experience today I gave dine in a shot for lunch. (Son is home for the Holiday and he wanted. Gyro for lunch)
We walked in the front entrance and the girl at the counter instructed us to go upstairs, there was already a party of 12 up there. We stood up there about 2-3 minutes without being greeted by anyone so we just picked a table and sat, after about another 10mins of sitting and not being addressed by anyone, no menus nothing…my daughter got up and flagged someone down. From this point forward the service was fine.
My son and I ordered two gyro platters, wife got the beet salad and daughter ordered the appetizer order of spanikopita, we also ordered the humus platter as an app.
The humus platter and pita were delicious! As were our other dishes, the gyro platter was a ridiculous amount of food, I made a gyro and still had half the meat leftover. The platter included one side and at $15. (compared to $8. For a plain gyro) it was a big meal, as stated I took half home. Both the ladies enjoyed theirs as well.
I really likes the dining area and was amazed at the size of the place including the back dining room,the place is HUGE. All in all I really do wish them luck, they probably did about 20 take out orders during the hour we were there and besides the big party two more tables came in as well. Nice flow for a Saturday lunch.
8 Likes
Stopped in for lunch today. Placed our order and went upstairs. On my way up, heard a group who ordered before us complaining with someone saying, “Is this really $3.50”?. Didn’t think much of it but went upstairs.
I looked over the receipt after we sat. Justin paid and hardly ever checks, but I always give it a once-over. Sure enough, his bottle of Coke was $3.50. Isn’t that a little high? Most places get $2-2.50. Not even bottomless fountain sodas are usually that high. We didn’t complain but I wonder if the people complaining downstairs got an answer to their question.
(Food was delicious again)
1 Like
Did you get some Mazi?!?
We had the spicy feta (again) so kinda. 
1 Like
I was headed to a show at the Basie on Sunday, so tried calling to make a reservation for four of us for dinner. I called around 12:30 on Friday and heard “Greek Spot Red Bank, please hold.” Which I did. After FOUR MINUTES (there’s a timer on the phone), I hung up and chalked it up to their being crazy busy at lunchtime. I called back a full half hour later, and after the exact same thing and a FIVE minute wait, I hung up again. Waited until 5 to try again, and this time it was a 20-second conversation, and we were set with a reservation. STRIKE 1, as far as the rest of this goes. If I wasn’t already a fan, they would have lost me after the second call.
Our friends bailed on dinner, so the two of us walked in and we were welcomed immediately by a guy who truly didn’t care when I said that I had a reservation for 4, but now we were 2…literally waved it off, so I figured they weren’t that busy. I’ll also note that the owner (the bearded man) saw me and waved hello, as did one other staff member–possibly his wife–and while they recognize my face from the Ocean location, they certainly don’t know me. It was ~5:30 because we wanted to take our time and get to the Basie around 7 to meet our friends. Little did I know that we were going to have to continually flag people down for things like menus, coffee, and even the check. SIGH.
I didn’t realize that it was Greek Easter until the menus arrived; they were single sheets of paper with lists of dishes and prices, but no explanations like the regular menus. Thankfully I know my way around most of that menu, but what’s the difference between Lamb Rotisserie and Lamb Souvlaki (or Kebabs…I can’t remember now)? I guessed correctly which Greek word was the spicy feta, and explained a few other things to my friend as we waited. And waited. For someone to take our order. My friend finally caught the eye of the other host(ess) who came over and was about to take our order when the ONE waiter in the room arrived at the table. In the meantime, the place was filling up with a huge party (we assumed they were family because of the non-stop greetings and plates that started coming out). Filling up as in, that main room got FULL. We were in a booth on the back wall and I could hear others behind me, so the joint was jumping, which genuinely makes me happy, but…
My friend and I both ended up ordering the Lamb Rotisserie ($24) after hearing it was a leg of lamb cooked for Greek Easter. YAY! We also got the spicy feta, which came with pita and olives, and my friend ordered coffee. A little too quickly, two VERY um, shall we say, rustic looking plates were put in front of us. In my head, I apologized to the lamb leg, as it was SUCH a hack job I couldn’t believe it. It was a lot of meat (easily over 1/2 lb each) with some lemon potatoes. That’s it. Giant hacked up chunks of lamb + potatoes. We dove in and both commented on how tender it was, but then I did something I don’t think I do even once a year…I reached for the salt. There was absolutely no seasoning on the lamb. Was that intentional? I have no idea, but a little salt helped, and the potatoes were tasty as usual. It just wasn’t pretty on the plate. At some point my friend went to the ladies room and commented that the plates on the table behind ours looked delicious. I saw them–the Youvetsi (shank), pastichio, etc. They looked like plates from a restaurant kitchen, not like something Uncle Billy cooked over the fire out in the woods.
After sitting for far too long, we again flagged down the hostess and asked if we could get our leftovers wrapped. Then we had to ask for the check, which I finally took up to the counter in the dining room and handed off en route to the ladies room.
I got two lunches out of the remaining lamb, so no complaints about the quantity for that price, but as you can see, I’m sorely disappointed by the lack of service and the presentation of the food. Sorry to say it, but I’m not in a rush to dine in there again any time soon. The Ocean location is right up the road for me.
3 Likes
In the area by happenstance , was dinner time So we gave it a try tonite around 6:30 with wife, no reservations, but seated immediately. Tables were at 75-80%. Ordered house salad to share which was quite large for 2 and could have been shared by 4. Wife ordered the shrimp and scallops. I ordered the lamb shank . We shared the baklava for dessert. All was good . Our server Ivan was attentive and very pleasant. No complaints. As we were leaving we saw a flaming dish being served. I asked the staff “ What ‘dat?”…they said it was “cheese”
Looked good if not very dramatic lol.
Next person in ?..try the flaming cheese
5 Likes
So glad you had a good meal there! Their food is very good… And the flaming cheese is Saganaki and it’s one of @seal ‘s favorites.
3 Likes
Why the hell didn’t we order any flaming cheese when we went! Lol
I think I will have to go tomorrow for lunch and order all my dishes flaming.
4 Likes
In fact, at my house we light all our cheese on fire, not just Halloumi. Grilled cheese night is pretty spectacular. 
5 Likes
So I forgot to post this earlier but we ordered to go from Red Bank earlier this week. While the food quality is certainly on par with Ocean, we again all ordered the chicken skewers (yeah I don’t know the Greek name for it) and once again all 3 orders only came with 2 skewers of chicken vs. 3 from the Ocean location at the same price. Even the half lemon chicken seemed to be a smaller bird than you get from Ocean.
I don’t know how things are going in Red Bank and I will continue to patronize them when in the area, but I really do not like this business plan. If you are going to keep the same name everything between your two locations should be identical, the only place that gets a pass on this is Manhattan, and I’m sorry but Red Bank ain’t Manhattan.
Anyway…the food was good just not as generous!
4 Likes
Recently had dinner here before a show at the Basie (for those who don’t know, the NJ Transit lot is free on weekends, and the perfect midpoint between the Greek Spot and the Basie…). Happy to say it was filling up just before 6pm on a Saturday (we had a res), but sad to say that they STILL haven’t figured out their hospitality and service issues. Getting those out of the way first:
Entered via the side (driveway), which is where the hostess stand is…except that she was MIA for a little too long. She finally came back and was nice enough, but I don’t really want to hear her complaints about how busy it is (it wasn’t in the form of an apology to us if we’d been waiting). We then did the 'follow me to the service counter at the kitchen while I count out menus, hand them off to a kid who doesn’t know where to seat us, and then did the parade through to the 3rd dining area. Just annoying. It’s SO easy to remedy this. We were finally seated at a small 4-top quite literally in a far corner, and suffice it to say, spent the entire meal flagging people down as needed–and yes, we started out our order by saying we had to be at the Basie for an 8pm show. We made it, but it’s frustrating to have to stay on top of servers. Sad to say, but I’ve felt this there before–if you’re not Greek, I think you’re treated differently. EVERY time I’ve been there, I’ve witnessed family/friends getting much more attention at their table.
BUT THE FOOD. Thankfully the food was as good as usual! The 4 of us ordered a mess 'o meze: the spicy feta (possibly my favorite), octopus, grilled calamari (YUM), gigantes, fried eggplant slices, loukanikos (sausage–don’t forget the lemon on it!), the jumbo grilled shrimp, and a couple of others that I’m forgetting. We never received additional pita (offered), the lemon we requested with our water came out halfway through the meal, but we left stuffed and happy—for $30pp (with tip). I need to remember that going there will always involve s l o w service, but I do love their food and am happy to see them so busy.
9 Likes
Enjoyed a meal here today. We landed a parking spot in front and had nearly the entire downstairs to ourselves.
Ordered the lamb and beef gyro platter with seasoned cheese fries and the shrimp and scallop platter with the spinach rice. Excellent sauce on the seafood. Gyro meat was super tender and a generous portion. The warmed pita with olives while we enjoyed some wine started us off nicely and the piece of baklava we took home was delicious. The spinach rice was very flavorful and a full platter portion that also came home with us. We have enough gyro meat for two more meals.
$60 with tip for two. Service was terrific.
As fans of the Ocean location we’re pleased that Red Bank is closer and a more inviting space. Looking forward to trying more menu items next visit.
7 Likes
I’m glad you had a good meal. I am a big fan of this spot.
Do they ever have any specials? I cant remember. I definitely haven’t ordered one if they do.
1 Like
Yes, although we ordered from the standard menus, there is a specials sheet with a dozen or so options. Honestly the specials once you read the description read similar to the reg menu but had a tiny tweak and a tweaked price.
1 Like
I concur, Rooster
Finally had the opportunity to order the grilled octopus appetizer. So tender and well prepared in oil and balsamic. Along with lemon potatoes, grilled chicken skewers, spanakopita and lamb meatballs another delicious meal. First time noticing tables across from the double entry doors will feel the cold and their dessert menu could use a bit of expanding. $55.00 and a fav place of late.
5 Likes
Really gotta get here for dinner, but another excellent lunch had to suffice for now.
Delicious Haloumi cheese wrap with spicy feta slathered inside. I really enjoy the sponginess of this cheese, and the grill marks add more flavor. Justin had moussaka, which came with choice of soup or salad (he chose a lentil soup). A large portion for lunch, he had leftovers.
For an app, we had the cold roasted beets with goat cheese. Had a drizzle of a balsamic-like vinegar (sweet) and was served over a Greek salad. Could have been a meal itself. And guess what, we discovered Justin doesn’t like beets today 
. I devoured the whole thing with ease. That ball in the middle was solid goat cheese.
Prices remain a steal, at least for lunch.
9 Likes
