Avaton Estiatorio

This place looks permanently closed. So disappointed no notice on their website or on their door.

I went to this restaurant with my friends during Restaurant week and had the worst experience. Waited more than 1 and a half hours for food and it never came out. Diners at other tables also had similar experiences, while the rest had food, including the gentlemen next to us. I was surprised when I heard our waitress talking to our diners next to us who had the food because I thought she was a different person! She was so friendly and accommodating to them, because they got food and she was working for tips? The only thing we were informed about was that the kitchen «lost our orders» and I heard them say the same thing to other tables affected. There was no apology — they acted like everything was fine! It seemed the staff at the restaurant did not know how to manage Restaurant week and worse off, did not take accountability even though there was a bunch of tables with starving people.

This place was the worst experience I’ve had in all the time I’ve lived in NY. If it was possible, I’d give it 0 stars. My friends and I made reservations in early February, during Restaurant week. The place looked really nice in the main floor and noticed it wasn’t crowded so we were surprised when the hostess directed us upstairs, which was dark, ugly and next to the bathrooms. We then asked to be seated downstairs instead but the waitress didn’t seem too happy about it. Following this, we ordered food and waited for close to an hour, only to be told that our order disappeared and never made it to the kitchen. We placed the order again but never got our food.
The waitress was unapologetic and refused to accommodate to our requests. We spent the whole time eating the bread/​olives, while watching everyone else around us get their food. We left and received no apology from the hostess nor manager. We are never coming back!

Made a reservation for a birthday dinner– Friday 6 pm. Got confirmation. Arrived on time. Place closed! No further info. No sign. No answer on phone. Scrambled to go else where.
Then got 2 thank you for dining e mails next day.
5 days later still no answer and no explanation. This placed closed for good? If not what happened?

Came back recently with a few friends on an early Friday evening. We were told to wait to be seated… while there were half a dozen empty tables which could accommodate us. After being ignored by the usually-​friendly hostess and spoken down to by a manager (who had horrendous breath), we left. He was speaking slowly in a condescending tone and going on about a number of people with reservations (who were very late).
I reluctantly came back two weeks later on a Friday early evening with a friend who wanted to come here. The restaurant was completely dead with not an employee nor customer in sight. We left. Won’t be back.

The worst experience that I have ever had at a resturaunt. Reserved a table for resturaunt week, ordered food and NOTHING came out for an hour and 45 mins. Waitress was unapologetic and unaccomidating. Only positive was décor and free bread/​olives. We left and received no apology from the hostess nor manager. Never coming back!

Came here to try out during Restaurant Week for dinner with my good friend.
the restaurnat did not have many tables as we predicted, which is good so we dont have to wait too long for our food and drinks.
We quikcly placed the order and a drink.
The bread came quickly, but the drink and food never did after 30 minutes, and we look around, still half the room have the food and half the room filled with customers. We asked 2 servers when our food will be coming. Each course came so long after each other, luck we ate the bread. I was so hungry, and were just waiting. Staffs were not as attentive.
Food was fine. Ambien was fine, drink was good.
I would recommend you but just don’t go too hungry because you will def end up ‘hangry”.

With NYC Restaurant Week in full swing the list of places to try has been slowly growing. When a friend wanted to belated birthday dine me, I scanned my wish list for a vegetarian option with some Mediterranean influence. She liked Greek, I’m Greek; therefore Greek it is! Avaton in ancient Greek literally means the place where no one enters. For a flash of a second I worried that its namesake might be prophetic in some way, but was quickly proven very wrong.
It’s a labyrinth inside despite appearing deceivingly small from the outside. The hostess walked us through its twists and turns, passing the happy hour crowd by the bar, the catches of the day on ice beds and the toilets (very important) into the main dining room. The lighting was low and very atmospheric. All around us were large groups of people. There was a designated area along the periphery for parties of 2. That’s where we were led. I didn’t mind the vantage point, which allowed me to bring out my inner European habit of people watching. What I did mind was the jerky table base which had my friend spill her drink and nearly knock all our food over a few times. Our attentive server, Harris, delegated someone to come steady it for us, which worked for a little bit. What the high end restaurant gods were trying to tell us was «Get your boobs and elbows away from the table top, ladies!» Heard…
I ordered the most fall off the bone lamb shank you will ever try outside of your Greek mother’s kitchen. Lamb Yiouvetsi is a MUST. Instead of the krithari or orzo bed it’s typically served on, their take rested on a bed of root veggies and cauliflower. A silky, fatty feast for my lamb loving soul. The critical points in our meal were the grilled octopus, which was a little tough (i.e. overcooked), and my friend’s salmon, which needed salt. However, the lamb, for me, neutralized all of that. Washed down with my bourbon based Autumn Leaves, I left with a food bump and a renewed love for my childhood favorite, yiouvetsi.

If there was a 3 ½ rating that would be my choice. The food to me overall decent but i wasnt blown away by it. My fish tasted fishy but i think the other dishes mustve been great since my friends enjoyed it. They got the salmon and lamb. I think this would be a great HH spot since they have specials everyday. Its worth checking out. Also, i felt the service was very good.

I love this restaurant: great food, staff and ambiance. Dimly lit and quiet, perfect for great conversation.
We tried a bunch of appetizers but my favorite was the OCTOPUS. It was fresh, soft but not mushy, and perfectly seasoned with capers, roasted red peppers, red onions and some other crunchy vegetable I couldn’t identify.
For the main course, the lamb chops were delicious. My friend who doesn’t usually like lamb chops throughly enjoyed them. They were a little bit overcooked for my taste but didn’t have that gamey taste that lamb usually has. I just wish the sides it came with were a little bit better. The lemon potatoes were just too sour without anything else to take off the bite.
I would skip the taramosalata, it was just a salty dip without any other flavors popping out. I’d also skip the crunchy avocado salad. I believe the crunch was supposed to come out of the pita chips added but became soggy after the dressing was added. I was basically just eating tomatoes and avocados, nothing spectacular.
I loved the $ 6 happy hour cabernet. It was bold without being dry. Thanks to our waiter who still gave us one round without sitting at the bar!
Overall very pleasant experience!

I used Open Table to book this restaurant as I was wanting Greek dining near my hotel. The menu looked interesting. It started well. The hospitality was good upon arrival. Then an intro to the fresh fish. I was reluctant to try but I thought this was their specialty so went for it.
Moral of the story: 5 prawns = 90 dollars.
Unacceptable. To add insult to injury, they were mediocre, at best. I cannot help but feel totally taken!

We has lunch. My husband got the prix fixed lunch $ 33 and I had the seared salmon$ 26.
Calamari came first with tartar. It was well breaded but quite good.
I had salmon with beet salad. Both were excellent. My husband had sea bass with spinach also very good.
Dessert was a twist on a traditional Greek dessert, semolina cake. I found it too sweet but my husband liked it.
Overall this is a good Greek restaurant that we would go to again.

I live next door so I had my hopes up.
$ 4 oysters — ordered a dozen and was pretty disappointed that they tasted less than mediocre given 48 bones for these. Sent them back with 5 untouched which they continued to charge us for later, entirely.
My fish was good and priced well but three of us had the Dover sole coming in at a whopping $ 52/​fish. No mention of this amazing deal prior so the bill looked amusing at first being 600 for 5 without tip yet. Then just felt ripped off
We were the only people here in the room out back. Kitchen looked like a bomb went off when I glanced inside as I left.
My bet is This place has short fuse on it.
Definitely not a fit for the neighborhood its in. Meat packing maybe, Murray hill — not gonna fly. Gonna have to rethink their approach if they want repeat customer in the hood.

The moment you walk in there the Greek hospitality positively overwhelms you!
Great traditional Greek recipes with a fresh, original twist.
For just a while I felt I was transported back to Greece!

I came here for restaurant week with a friend and enjoyed myself! Since it was our first time, a staff member gave us a rundown of their seafood spread. The fresh fish is on display right before you get to the dining area. We were given a very thorough rundown which I thought was pretty unique. For my appetizer, I had the lamb and beef meatballs. It was sooooooo good. The sauce wasn’t it over the top, in a good way, for me. I wish there were more than three meatballs. My entrée was a pasta dish. I wish I remembered the name. I will update my review when I go again! I will definitely be back. The staff was extremely nice. I love good service and this restaurant definitely has good service.

I asked for a gin & tonic and a Stella and was surprised to find the drinks were $ 23. Turns out the bartender served me Beefeater Gin instead of off the rack gin. Typically a bartender should ask the customer before serving premium liquor.
But the worst part was after my friend and I finished our two drinks. The bar cleared out. It was only 10pm. We were the only ones left there. We were chatting and had a couple rounds of waters until the bartender asked if he can get us anything else. We politely said no, we’re fine. Then he coldly explained to us that «this bar area is typically for people who are ordering.»
That was rude. Whether we order one drink and a couple waters or 10 drinks, we are customers and should be treated as such. I’m telling everybody not to come here.

It wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible.
Pros: The décor is really nice. They participated for the NYC restaurant week and they had good portion sizes. I had the calamari for the appetizer, this Shepard’s pie sort of thing for my entrée, and the walnut cake for my dessert. The dishes for the food was really pretty. They also had free bread with olive oil and olive oils on the side for us which was nice of them.
Cons: The service took a long time even though there weren’t too many people in the restaurant. The walnut cake was a bit dry and needed something additional to it.

To my dismay, this place looked a lot better than it actually was…
Service was extremely slow and food was mediocre. It took them 3 hours to serve a 3-​course brunch. To make things worse, we sat there for at least 30 minutes in between courses with no water. That’s some great service, not really.
I ordered the Octopus Square Pasta, Fresh Catch of the Day, and the Walnut Cake. The only edible dish was the Octopus Square Pasta, although it was slightly too salty. The «fresh» catch was so fishy, it made me question how fresh it really was. I had to squeeze 3 lemon wedges to cover the fishiness. The walnut cake… it was nothing more than a heart attack because it was SO SO sweet.
Definitely won’t recommend this place, and for sure never coming back.

Ate here today and had a great experience. The design and layout is very nice. They had a good selection of fresh fish to choose from. The staff was extremely friendly and helpful. Prices for some of the fish seemed a little high, but the quality was very good, so I was okay with paying a premium. Also, they did a phenomenal job cooking and removing the bones from the fish, which made the dining experience easier and more enjoyable. At the end of dinner we got a nice complementary glass of desert wine, which was a nice gesture
The only suggestion would be to have some additional wines by the glass to choose from. I recommend this restaurant and would come back again.

Stumbled upon this awesome Greek spot while going to another bar for drinks! Have been here 6 times in a span of just 10 days since they opened like a month ago!!!
Been here for Lunch, dinner and just for drinks and tapas! I must say, this place will do great because of the service, the food and the ambiance! Happy Hour is until close ! What more can you expect from an upscale chic restaurant like Avaton. I have tried all of thier Tapas menu at the bar! Garden chips are a must try! Cheese Fondue is another item that I would highly recommend!
Don’t forget to check out the Raw bar the have! Owner Dmitri and the manager are very hospitable and makes sure to take care of all their customers!!!