Loi

I was really excited to visit this restaurant as I have often walked past and thought the menu looked great. For my mother’s birthday I thought of Loi and I brought my French mother to try ‘authentic’ Greek food as others had often referred to Loi’s cooking.
At first everything seemed great. The ambiance is beautiful and perfect for an intimate dinner (there are great private rooms for larger parties). We ended up going fairly early as we had tickets to a ballet performance later in the evening. The drinks were very good and there was a great variety/​selection to pick from. Our appetizers, Spanakopita and Htenia were amazing. The spanakopita was probably one of the best I have ever had.
The service started to tapper a bit after our appetizers. The waiters took away our drink glasses without asking if we would like another or something different. We only had the opportunity to ask for a glass of wine once our entrees came out. This was a bit annoying. Our dinners of Solomos Me Maratho and Arnaki Sto Fourno were also quite good. Although my mother thought the Salmon was a bit too oily for her liking. The lamb was melt in your mouth tender and perfectly seasoned to be delicious.
The service went from annoying to bad after our meal. My mother had ordered off the Theater menu and was supposed to get a dessert. In fact when she first ordered the waiter demanded she pick her dessert at the beginning instead of wait until later to pick. When it came time for dessert we asked about her dessert and he kept ignoring our requests for it to be brought out. My mother also asked for a shot along with her coffee to which our waiter not only cut her off and said no they didn’t have (later to bring it out and explain they did have it), he rudely told her he had to get someone else (the coffee server). The waiter refused to stop and listen to what she was asking for and we chalked it up to having a limited English vocabulary. It was quickly transparent it was not the limited vocabulary but more of an attitude problem.
Not letting it spoil our evening we drank the last of our drinks when a ‘waiter in training’ brought over some Greek yogurt with honey (not the dessert my mother had ordered). Much like the rest of the food, this was also delicious (this coming from someone who isn’t keen on yogurt). After we were finished our drinks and dessert then had to wait 15 minutes before we could catch a waiters attention to bring us a check. I then paid and expected to leave. I went to the restroom to freshen up before going to the ballet and upon my return to the table my mom advised that the waiter had come back to the table, taken the check, only to return to loudly advise her «tip was not included in the price.» Apparently, the waiter, with the attitude, had not checked behind the receipt or noticed the bump in the paper where I had left the cash tip (having been a waiter many years ago I often try to leave cash over leaving it on the receipt). My mother — who wasn’t paying for the meal — had to advise him that she knew and is why cash was behind the receipt. This was the rudest thing that has EVER happened in a restaurant to me or my mother — something she thankfully noted would have been more humiliating had the restaurant been crowded, thankfully it was not. I understand it is awful when waiters are not left a tip, especially when I assume they share the tip with the other help staff (who apart from this particular waiter was very friendly and accommodating), but it is rude to attempt to embarrass someone into giving a tip. And frankly, had this been done to me, I would have taken one of the twenties I left as part of the 25% tip (even though it was not worth that much) for trying to ‘shame’ me into tipping.
It is a shame that one person had to lower my rating of this restaurant especially given the great food and friendly other staff. My mother on the other hand refuses to ever return, regardless of the quality of the food, given that the waiter embarrassed her; and I cannot blame her. Overall, the food is worth the experience but protect yourself against a potentially embarrassing situation and don’t leave cash tips.

I really, really wanted to love Loi. After all, the location is great, the restaurant is beautiful, the staff is unbelievably nice… but the food is just NOT good and the prices are bordering on outrageous.
Here are my thoughts on the food (sorry in advance my thoughts are mostly negative here)…
Salates: Horiatiki Loi — This «salad» featured mushy tomatoes, a few cucumbers, and maybe 4 olives, for a ridiculous $ 14.
Kavourokeftedes — These crab cakes were the highlight of the meal! I highly recommend them.
Makaronia Me Kima — Pasta with meat sauce… how hard could it be? But this simply didn’t look appetizing, so I guess it was good the portion size was quite small.
Kotopoulo Lemonato — My husband ate this and seemed happy with it. I don’t eat chicken so I can’t comment on it.
Sparagia — The asparagus was a giant letdown. Mushy and tasteless.
The restaurant threw in two desserts, which was VERY kind of them. And they were quite tasty: Sokolatopita and Ekmek Kataifi. Dessert is apparently an arena where Loi really excels.
The Bottom Line: I doubt we’ll return to Loi. Portions are small, prices are high, and quality and authenticity is suspect.

In one word: EXQUISITE!
Maria’s food is incomparable! Having been born and raised in Greece, it is not a thing I say often, but I absolutely love the food here. The ambiance is amazing, beautiful, simple and elegant, the music is great! You will also probably have the chance to meet the chef herself! Maria is always there, and will make sure you have an amazing time with her hospitable, engaging and outgoing personality, she really makes it feel like home, no wonder she has a huge crowd of regulars who love going back every day, not only because of the delicious food, but also for the great lady herself!
The Greek salad is one of the best in New York, the fish is incredible, the lamb is crazy good, and my personal favorite: the steak! Absolutely delicious! Large selection of wines and cocktails, and don’t forget to taste the greek dessert, my personal favorite, the baclava and the ekmek, you will definitely keep coming back for more!
The Greek yogurt is honestly the best I’ve had, home made by Maria and her team, velvety. creamy, delicious! No fried food, everything is cooked with extra virgin olive oil, no butter (which is how the original Greek way is) no sugar, none of that nonsense in any of her food!
I absolutely recommend it, you will love the whole experience!

What a waste!
I came here once a few months ago for dinner and it was OK — shared the moussaka and a salad. It was good, not great. I figured I would give it another try and decided to order in on a Friday night at 7PM — a large salad, the lemon soup and a large chicken entrée. I have to say, I am a little worried about how their «small» sizes compare because the large was EXTREMELY tiny. For a 13 dollar salad that basically only has lettuce and feta, and a 26 dollar chicken entrée, I expect more than a few bites of food. Not only that, the lemon soup — which is usually one of my favorite Greek soups — was so bland that you would confuse it with cloudy water. Don’t waste you’re money. There are PLENTY of better take-​out restaurants that actually give you food when you order!
We’ll probably be ready for the actual main course of our dinner in a half hour. Will definitely choose somewhere I know I can actually count on!
Never again.
Thanks for nothing, Loi.

If I could, I would give Loi a –5! As a life-​long New Yorker I can not remember the last time I had such poor service, especially when one considers the very average quality of the food. We were «greeted» by a maitre d’ who, when we asked if we could have a different table, treated us in a demeaning and officious manner. Our drinks were «forgotten,» the bread service was outrageously bad, the presentation of the food, when it finally arrived after a seemingly endless wait, was unprofessional and slipshod. Loi had never been a top-​list for us, but we thought we’d try it again. What a mistake! Do yourself a favor and stay away. If Café Luxembourg, next door, has a long waiting list for a table, you’d do much better waiting there than patronizing Loi. Again a –5!
Oh yes, the water service was good.

We have been Maria Loi’s guest about 15 times in the approx. 2 years she has been in our neighborhood. Yesterday we were in for their first Brunch service. Every bite of Chef Loi’s food has always been extraordinary and brunch was no exception. I had the omelet w/​lamb bacon, feta & peppers– light and airy. The dinner fish in salt for 2 is always great, and any lamb we’ve had as well.
Among all the LC area choices, Loi is our favorite.

Really nice staff. Went for a birthday party, really bad service but they were as friendly as could be. All drinks had to be ordered twice, the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing. Good service is not being asked 5 times «how do you like the food» good service is bringing what you have asked for and not 20 min later.
I have been here before and the food was better the first time. I thought this was the best Greek food in the city, now just medium or just ok. Sorry to give this review because this chef is a really nice lady. Not rushing back.

Went for my 3^rd time 2 weeks ago
Had loved it
Was a bit disappointed this time
$ 160+ for not that much food
Wine overpriced by far
Portions seem to be getting smaller
Did not feel it was really that special or worth the price this time
Probably wont rush back

The waitstaff were really great. And this homey style restaurant near Lincoln Center (10 blocks is near to me) was a true surprise.
The food was great. Loved my greek wine. And the chef walked around making sure everyone was happy with their meal. She also clearly loved her customers and what she was doing.
My only negative was that when you showed the waitress your ‘yelp’ complimentary glass of wine, they did not seem to know anything about it.
But they checked into it, and gave us both our free drink. Which we enjoyed so much, of course we ordered another.

I came here for a private event and despite the large number of people, the food and service was an absolute delight. Everything was on queue and being that they were fully staffed, the servers at Loi looked relax and even smiled as they passed food around instead of having to rush through to bring the next tray out!
As for the restaurant, the design and ambiance is business oriented and it has plenty of private rooms which seems perfect for anyone who is looking to host a private event. The layout reminded me of a lounge that you’ll find at a hotel. Very relaxing and inviting. Every room was beautifully kept and well lit with tea candles even though they weren’t being utilized.
Best of all, the owner, Marie Loi also gave us a private tour of her kitchen and it was absolutely spotless. So spotless that even Chef Ramsey would be very proud!
Her kitchen was fully staffed which helps explain why all the mini appetizers served were so pipping hot and beautifully presented.
I haven’t dined here as of yet so I can’t really recommend them for dinner but instead for private parties, I think they definitely know what their doing. Let’s just say if they can cater for the White House, they can certainly cater to anyone!

3.5 stars
Went to Loi for a Unilocal elite event last night. I was able to sample lots of finger food and thought everything was quite tasty. The highlights for me included the octopus, the crab cake, and the greek salad wrapped in cucumber (like a sushi roll). The greek wine (white) was very delicious. I was able to meet the gentleman who created the wine himself. I also had the opportunity to meet the chef, Maria Loi, who seemed very warm. I think the décor was modern and classy. I am grateful for Unilocal for having this event and will be sure to tell my friends about my nice experience at Loi.

Just came from a Unilocal Elite event at Loi and overall, I had a great time. I’d say this place certainly deserves a 3.5, but, when it comes to Greek food I’m a tough critic (a couple years in Chicago’s Greek Town will do that to a girl). To be fair, we only had a small sampling of their food, all in the form of apps.
The lamb was very well seasoned, but, a bit oily for my taste. I loved the salmon canapes but would have preferred a greater salmon to filo ratio.
Similarly, the spanakopita and filo wrapped cheese were very well seasoned, but, too heavy on filo.
I loved the tiny salad roulettes — very clever. They looked like sushi rolls but were actually all of the components of Greek salad wrapped in a tiny cucumber wheel. Greek salad, no fork required — how convenient.
The octopus was good but again, a bit too oily for my taste. Meatballs good but on the salty side. The crab cakes were just about perfect.
The waitstaff were attentive, friendly, and gracious — a breath of fresh air for NYC. I also found the interior to be comfortable, well lit, and with a perfect noise level (not too loud, not too quiet).
I was definitely pleased with the unique Greek wine selection, particularly Eklektikon’s Oenosophist, straight out of Greece:
Overall Loi is a fine choice if you’re looking for Greek food on the upper west side. I am definitely interested in returning to this restaurant to sit down for a proper meal and see what the really have to offer.

From what was seemingly a nightmare at first, I enjoyed my experience here through the progression of the meal. The service started off very rough but the manager pulled through and also showed some great expertise of his wine selection. The amuse of olive leaves, fresh cheese and Maria’s homemade corn biscuits rocked.
My salmon tartare was fresh and uplifting. It had a nice aioli which I believe was made of dill a dash of lemon zest some fresh horseradish and one other thing I can’t put my finger on.
I had a bit of the Portuguese octopus which was also palatable but lacked consistency on the second piece which was texturally chewy. It’s expected sometimes but with great expectation and also accreditation one might feel the preparation of the protein of the dish would be sound through and through.
For my entrée I had the lamb boutaki. It was traditionally done with rosemary implanted near the bone. Nothing wrong with the dish, it was delicious but would have hoped for something with a wow factor.
Overall I got a good feeling here even amidst the little problematic bumps.
Would love to go back for a second look and try her sushi which sounds savory and divine.

Maybe I’ll chalk this up to a one-​off experience. But … we sit at the bar and ask to look at the menu … we get a bar menu, a restaurant menu, and a special Mother’s day prix fixe menu. We don’t feel like a big dinner so just ordered a few smaller dishes to split off the a la carte menus. The bartender takes our order, doesn’t write anything down (i know, quite common), then comes back a few min later to confirm (no big deal). He enters the order in the system and gives us a big basket of bread (ok).
He comes back again and confirms our order again. (must be new, sure no problem). Another round of bread comes, with the first basket still there. (carbs … yikes) Then the bartender comes back with the prix fixe menu and says this is a la carte now, not prix fixe. We still think our other dishes are coming though — maybe he meant that the other menus were not being served and we have to ONLY order from the prix fixe, but it’s instead a la carte? (huh?) Neither of us caught on to that if that was the case … when our food didn’t come after about 45 minutes, maybe an hour, we just gave up and left. Other people were coming in, ordering, and getting their plates while we were just sitting there eating bread.
One thing that i also noted was that, while we were there at least, the head chef spent more time bringing out dishes and behind the hostess stand than she did in the kitchen. Friendly yes, but someone should be supervising the kitchen if they’re indeed missing whole orders coming in.

I was invited to Loi for an alumni dinner while I was in New York about a month ago. The restaurant is relatively new (a little over a year, I believe?) and it’s kind of beautiful inside. It’s a swanky place for a little college simpleton like me, so I definitely needed a moment while waiting to check my coat to just take it in for a bit. The interior is elegant, and I was in a very excitable mood as indicated by how happy I was to see that they had a letter thanking them for a great time from the Obama family. I was ready to be blown away. We were seated in one of the private rooms (the Chef’s room, maybe? We could see our food being prepared as we ate). And of course, the bathrooms were very comfortable. (Although the doors are like… frosted glass. Which is kind of awkward, but I don’t think anyone can see anything.) I’m big on comfy bathrooms, so this was a big plus in my book. :)
Since we were having a special dinner event, the menus were already planned for us. We had family-​style appetizers that included gigantes (a tomato-​based bean stew) and pikilia — pita bread with 3 spreads that included caviar, hummus, and spicy feta. I wasn’t a huge fan of the gigantes, but the spreads were very tasty. (I’m not a big feta girl, but I loved the caviar and hummus ones.) To be quite honest, though, the flavors were quite similar. There were also some breads out that I fully took advantage of, and we all had small dishes of some of the greatest extra virgin olive oil I’ve ever had.
Then we had our salad course, listed as the horiatiki loi. I wasn’t really a fan of these, either, and it seemed simple enough. Cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, feta, and olives with some type of vinaigrette. I picked out a few of the ingredients (Greek food will be the death of me with my aversion to olives and feta!) but I just… didn’t like it. I was starving and I left most of my salad uneaten. That worried me.
We had a choice of 3 entrees: salmon, chicken, and the vegetarian moussaka. I opted for the kotopoulo (chicken) because I was feeling kind of wary of fennel and leek (how the salmon was prepared) that day. XD
I just have to say that I did not really like this. The chicken was veeeery moist, which I appreciated, from being braised and then roasted, but the flavor was just strange. I barely ate any of it, and remember, I was famished when I arrived for dinner. The kind of sparse carrots and potatoes didn’t taste that great either, and there wasn’t much of it. I was very surprised by how little of my entrée I wound up eating. I craved more pita and hummus…
The desserts saved the meal for me. Small individual portions were served family style and there were… maybe 3 or 4 types of desserts available? I liked the baklava, although I was craving a softer food at that point. (But it was so tasty.) My craving for softer sweets was SO satisfied by the karidopita, which was this walnutty sponge cake totally drenched in sweet syrup, so delicious. I think there was also something chocolately, maybe that flourless cake listed on her menu? Good.
Also, maybe because we had some swaggalicious hosts for our dinner, but Maria Loi was out and she was very kind to us. She handed me a business card as I left and asked me to come back whenever I liked.
All in all, I had a really nice time at Loi, but the food definitely disappointed me. I am not very used to Greek food, but I don’t think it was a matter of me disliking Greek flavors. I think the execution of the dishes was just slightly off, but the whole experience was still wonderful.

Came here for post-​concert dinner around 9pm. The place is very spacious with plenty of tables, we were seated in the back room at a round table with sofa chairs… very comfortable and cozy.
I absolutely LOVED their octopus. Super tender and it was plated with side of caramelized onions that really complimented the natural flavor of the octopus. Any restaurants that serves good octopus is a winner in my book!
For entrée, I had their lobster salad, which had green beans and boiled eggs… a lobster version of tuna nicoise basically… flavor was light and not delicious.
The highlight was that the chef; she came around few times to greet us and see how we were doing, she even gave up her dinner: lobster salad for us! (there was none left when I spoke to the waiter). That’s great customer service!
To top off the lovely meal, their baklava is divine! Not overly sweet, but flavor is just oozing from all the baklava goodness… can’t wait to go back!

Came here for a group dinner earlier this week, looking forward to some delicious Greek cuisine based on its nymag and Unilocal reviews. I arrived to the dinner meeting which was in curtained off room in the middle of the main dining room. The ambiance was nice but seated at the end of the table, I often had a hard time hearing the speaker due to outside noise.
That’s not what garnered a 2 star review. After settling into some tasty apps (dolma, hummus dips with pita, mussels). They were good but not good enough to keep us satiated for the next 2 hours… because that’s how long it took to get our entrees (fish and chicken… seriously). About 4 people in our group had to leave before the entrees were served. My fish was good but not great and I definitely did not think it was worth the 2 hour wait. I know service can be slower for a group dinner (we had about 15ppl) but if you can’t deliver good service, then you shouldn’t be holding meetings in your restaurant.
Unfortunately, the nice ambiance and decent (but somewhat lackluster) food couldn’t save this place from a 1-​star review.

Closed

Came here for the first time, and was surprised at how modern the inside looked. The space is big, and you will not feel cramped. You walk in and immediately to the right is the coat check and to the left the lounge/​bar area. Further in is where the main dining room is. There is plenty of staff that greet you with smiles.
On to the food. The grilled squid appetizer was overcooked, this probably would have been overlooked had it not been for the amazing squid dish at boulud sud not too far away. The eggplant appetizer made up for it, and it was actually quite amazing. This is pretty huge coming from me, since i dont like eggplant. The rest of the table agreed. I ordered the rib eye steak which was cooked on one side of the steak, and overdone on the other half. The seafood risotto dish was pretty good as was the lamb shank entrée. The scallop entrée was also overdone.
Overall the food was average, wish it was more consistent all the way through. There are better places out there, but i would venture to say it may be worth a try if you live near by. Probably will not be returning.

«In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.»
In theory: it’s great to have 11 Unilocal reviews with an average star rating of 4.5+. In practice: savvy Unilocalers look beyond reviews from orangeheads unless they have been prolific.
In theory: it’s great that the restaurant is owned by a celebrity chef who has written several books on the cuisine served. In practice: it’s unlikely that he/​she is the one doing the cooking, or possible even overseeing closely everything that comes out of the kitchen.
In theory: it’s great to have your glass refilled with water by servers who’re watching closely every time the glass is empty (ing). In practice: it’s fairly annoying to have an overzealous bus boy who’s refilling your glass after every few sips. Can we set a base-​line for refill? Or is the glass half-​empty too abstract and metaphorical to be a useful guideline?
In theory: free bread and desserts are great and help diffuse the cost of a meal for diners. In practice: they leave little impact if the bread has been re-​heated; the Shumali cake is extra sweet, the 16 layers of Baklava aren’t easily sliced through with a fork, and the Galaktoboureko is partially cold, detracting from the superb texture. (The Ekmek Kataifi was the one delicious exception)
In theory: Spanakopita is supposed to have a flaky exterior that contrasts well with the spinach and feta filling inside. In practice: the excellent filling (one of the best in the city) was marred by a pastry crust that added nothing to the taste.
There were positive experiences that merited a repeat visit to confirm the surprisingly uneven meal. The Papoutsakia (baby eggplant stuffed with tomatoes and caramelized onions, topped with smoked feta mousse) could well be the best eggplant appetizer I’ve had in a Greek restaurant, The braised rooster in winesauce with Hilopites (home-​made Pasta) was excellent, followed by the Lemon roasted chicken with Horta (surprisingly not dry despite the critical reviews). I preferred these two to the baked prawns (also good) and the scallops. But, the appetizers are the weak link in the menu with the saganaki (Tiri Fournisto) rubbery in texture and cold within a minute, the grilled shrimp in Kataifi fairly bland, and the cheese croquetters (Tirokeftedes) only made interesting by the fig and apricot compote.
It’s difficult to miss the fact that the servers seem stressed. Which is surprising for the chef/​owner is actually quite a warm person, once she is convinced that you’re really up for conversation. She genuinely likes the neighborhood and will find the UWS quite forgiving — as is abundantly clear from the ridiculously popular Café Luxembourg next door. The price points are high, but should you skimp on alcohol, the meal isn’t too unfriendly on the wallet.