Rating:

If you are looking for great Greek food in a friendly, casual, neighborhood atmosphere, you have to check out Vios. It is the best Greek food I’ve had in Seattle. It is also very kid-friendly (they have a playpen in the back corner), but it is not the place for a romantic, low-light dinner.

When Lauren and I got back from Greece last summer, we ached for a restaurant serving real, tasty, Greek food. Not an “opah!”, American-style restaurant, but a place with great feta and souvlaki. Turns out that Thomas Soukakos (owner of Vios) was just about ready to answer our prayers.

If you have the fortune to be in the neighborhood at lunchtime, the seared tuna sandwich is awesome. For dinner, start with the warm eggplant salad (only available in winter time), or one of the seasonal salads. Last night we had a grilled haloumi (cheese) and frisee salad with pomegranate seeds. For entrees, the chicken souvlaki a solid choice, though you can’t go wrong with anything on the (often rotating) menu. Just be sure to save room for a scoop of chocolate gelato!

UPDATE (4/1/2006): My friends Tom and Joann were visiting for the weekend and we had 100% mouth watering dishes, including a full round of gelato and these fabulous scallops:

UPDATE (10/21/2006): Lately I’ve been waking up on the weekends craving Vios’ eggplant and halumi sandwich. I’ve had 3 since we’ve been back from Italy! 🙂

Vios Café and Marketplace
903 19th Ave E
Seattle, WA 98112
206-329-3236

Tue-Sat 8:30AM-9:00PM
(Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)