Fourno’s Pizzeria & Bar

Best bar on the Ave by far, great friendly owner who provides speedy and quality service. Great drinks. Fournos lemonade is the best drink I’ve had so far and no other mixed drink can compare. Good chill music and every Thursday is EDM night where the bar gets packed and great place to meet people. Great prices and wide selection of drinks. Great location as well as it is conveniently located next to memos which is ²⁴⁄₇ for when you’re hungry as well as a ²⁴⁄₇ café called Café De L’Amour. Lots of TV’s as well for viewing shows and newly installed Xbox for playing games as well as a pool table that can change into a beer pong table. Aesthetically pleasing as they have murals on the wall and perfectly lit

Douche Bag Central. The food sucks and the music is worse.

Yummy gyros friendly service and good atmosphere. This is one place I go to almost every time I am in the U district.

This was on the list for Pub Crawl, part of Foster Business Week. Might I say, although the place was packed, the bartenders were fast and friendly. I got a Fourno’s Lemonade — very strong but quite good. I would get it again.

TWO WORDS: HELL. NO.
Well, let me just start by saying that I didn’t come here for the food. Apparently their late-​night dealio is becoming the douchiest club in the University District. Seriously, as we were approaching I saw two cop cars with flashing lights parked outside. As we got closer, we saw the cops talking to people coming OUT of Fourno’s. And as we were entering this not-​so-​lovely venue, Fourno’s ‘security’ was escorting 5 large men out. Apparently a fight broke out or SOMETHING. Anyway, it was ridiculosuly crowded and janky-​looking on the inside. Black lights do NOT save you from needing to stay clean, okay? Pretty sure sexually transmitted infections were being exchanged on the dance floor between a mix of people who looked like they stepped straight out of Jersey Shore, frat guys, and your typical club-​rat skanky girl. Congratulations, Fourno’s. You sure know how to reel ‘em in.

Fourno’s has changed things up a bit since the last time I was here.
No more flaming cheese, for one. Also the prices are a bit higher. Still a decent place for a quick bite if you’re in the neighborhood. We were recently there on a Saturday at about 6:30 pm and were one of only two groups in the place. The food was still good, just not rock-​bottom cheap. I think they took a lot of things off the menu, as I didn’t see as many variations of pizza and gyros. The gyros all have 3 or 4 fries stuck in the top, so plan on it.
Greek salad still great with lots of feta. The small size is now $ 6, but it was enough for four of us to share as an appetizer.
I’d much rather go here than to Memo’s Mexican up the street. There are never any people in there! The other notable place on the block is Pam’s Caribbean, and of course the Grand Illusion Cinema.

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.
I used to live right up on 15^th in the U-​District right when they started building Fournos. I was super excited to check it out because I lived in Athens for 2 years and was very familiar with Greek food (I literally ate gyros EVERY FRICKIN DAY LIKE A MADMAN).
When they opened, I was their first customer. I met the owners (two american greeks) and talked to them about their store. I found out I used to live really close to where their family lives in Athens, so we debated about the best gyro shops in the area. The guys were way cool. I also asked them why they named it «Fournos,» because that word means «Bakery» in Greece. They explained that it was a play on words from their last name «Fournakis».
Now… the Gyros. First off, outside of Monstiraki (the touristy place in Athens) you will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER see a gyro made of that GARBAGE lamb/​beef mixture mystery meat. This meat is non-​existent at Fournos. They make them out of what real Greek gyros are made of: Chicken or Pork. Their Tzatziki is great and they actually put fries inside the gyro. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE FRIES IN YOUR GYRO, YOU ARE NOT EATING A REAL GREEK GYRO!!! Seriously, that is the only way you will ever have a gyro in Athens, and since these are real Athenian gyros, they have fries in them. You might think it’s weird at first, but trust me, it is amazing.
Since I moved back to Seattle, I have brought a few friends I met in Athens to Fournos. Every single one of them was impressed by the authenticity of the gyros (and they were all gyro freaks like me).
Now, the price… The price used to be $ 4.00 for a Chicken Gyro, which was unheard of. The price has jumped to $ 5.50, but still, that is a great price for how amazing the food is.
In conclusion, if you want a real gyro, GO TO FOURNOS. Don’t get feta in your Gyro (this is an abomination/​americanization). Get a Horiatiki Salata (because greek salads should never have lettuce in them).

What’s not to love?
+ They’ve got delicious food at incredible prices. (Especially the gyros!)
+ The owners (2 young Greek brothers) are nice and remember my name even when I haven’t been there for months.
+ They have a full bar.
Fourno’s is a great sit-​down restaurant on the Ave and, as I recently saw, a great place to go for some pre-​game pitchers (or whenever else you want a drink or several).

Amazing food. Amazing staff. The prices are unbeatable for the quality of food you get. Order the souvlaki, lamb or chicken with a greek salad. The meal is perfect for dinner or a quick bite to eat.
Also if you need a cocktail to finish off your meal go with an Upside-​Down Pineapple Cake. If the food doesn’t bring you back time and time again the Upside-​Down Pineapple Cake Shot will.
I hear they also have some pretty fun dance nights.

Garbage. There’s so many GOOD Greek places in the Seattle area, don’t waste your time.
My first trip was this past weekend and the best adjectives that come to mind are mediocre, shady, bland and annoying.
When I walked in there was a chalk menu stating Gyro’s $ 6. Being a fan of lamb gyros I settled up to a table and placed my order of «a lamb gyro.» (This detail comes into play in the near future, enjoy the foreshadowing) The bartender/​waiter asked if I’d like the salad or fries with it, so I assumed since I my order was clearly just a gyro that it came with it. Salad sounded better so my order was placed.
Waiting for the arrival of the meal I took in the surroundings. Really cheesy paint w/​an occasional tacky pseudo statue face on the wall. meh. I do give them props for having bathrooms clean for the Ave standards.
When it came out there was something odd w/​my gyro. While it was stuffed with french fries (whiskey tango foxtrot are fries doing IN a gyro?!) And it was seriously lacking tzatziki, the staple. Also, the pita was much more like a doughy thick slab of naan.
The bartender/​waiter was flirting w/​the college co eds at the bar so of course wasn’t interested in doing the regular waiter thing of asking how everything is. At the end of the meal when the check came he charged $ 7 for the gyro and additional for the salads. After explaining that no additional salads were order the bill was settled.
So because he did correct his shady mistake for the salad and the frozen lamb was tolerable the review was bumped to 2 stars.

There are two kinds of Greek restaurant cliches: The first version, the most common in the US, involves blue and white signage with pseudo-​Greek lettering, tourism bureau posters adorning the wall, grungy diner-​style tables and cheap brown glassware, and large quantities of excessively greasy food.
The second version, which I encountered mostly as a college student in Germany, features minimalist décor, cheap diner-​style tables covered by stain-​resistant tablecloths, and garishly dressed men with loud cologne and a gregarious nature giving you too much information about who got drunk there the night before, who apologize for not having any ouzo by giving you free shots of metaxa and Coca Cola.
Though I could do without the loud cologne and the too much information, I much prefer the latter version, and that’s exactly what you find at Fourno’s. Low prices and a relatively attractive interior make it all the better. The food quality was just above average, but that’s pretty good for Seattle, which has a paucity of decent Greek restaurants, and higher prices are no guarantee of better results than this. To be fair, decent Greek restaurants are relatively rare anywhere, except maybe in Chicago, and I would hope, say, Greece.
You’ll want to come here and get the saganaki. I had the falafel, which was a little funny, mostly devoid of greenery and stuffed with a few french fries, but it’s the U-​District and that’s probably considered clever here. The spanakopita was surprisingly nice, in tiropita style rather than served as a big ass pie, possibly too uniform to be made by anything but a machine, but I’m not going to complain if it tastes good. The lamb eaters in our group seemed pretty happy with their souvlaki.

On my quest for cheap, yet healthy eats in Seattle, the Unilocal IPhone Application brought us here. We’d read from the 3 reviews that the food was tasty and reasonable and I’d read that I could get a salad here so I was all over it.
As we walked in, we were greeted instantly and taken to a table in the back. Now, as far as décor goes– they are definitely trying and while it’s a bit cheesy with the roses and the white curtains, it was clean and tidy which is more than I can say about the lot of the Greek restaurants on the ave.
Menus and water came shortly after we were seated and as we read through our options, we realized that either a.) the folks here were playing a cruel, cruel joke on us handing us menus with 1980s prices, or b.) we’d just stumbled upon the Ave’s best kept secret.
I’m very happy to report that ‘b’ was the case!
I had a large Greek salad ($ 6), to which I added chicken ($ 2). I should have ordered the small ($ 4), as the large would have been enough for two. The BF had a lamb gyro with fries and feta for $ 6. We shared the hummus plate ($ 4) which boasted the best hummus I’ve ever had in my life! It was so fresh, I don’t think I can ever buy it again with out remembering how tasty and creamy it was here.
Also, I should note that the presentation here is particularly nice. They really do take a lot of pride their establishment. The food and the service are well thought out.
We ate more than we should have and after all was said and done, it was about $ 20 before tip. We probably could have gotten out of here for around $ 15, which in my book will make this a regular on my lunch circulation.
Go here for tasty inexpensive fare– you’ll definitely get your money’s worth!

The initial appearance of the establishment is a bit offsetting, it’s a takeout counter at first, then a bar and finally a dark seating area that serves as a restaurant with a dance floor that looks like it’d be perfect for a bar mitzvah/​small wedding reception.
Overall the food here is damn good and really cheap. Big heaping gyro with hot fries, a candlelit table for you and your hunny and great service. The Socrates pizza is also a highlight. If it wasn’t for the crappy parking situation in the U-​District, I could see myself frequenting here a lot more often.
Sadly, no red sauce (see Greek Souvlaki — SLC)

The basic concept behind Fourno’s isn’t bad: serve up Greek street food as bar food in a casual late night setting. Unfortunately, Fourno’s execution of this idea is awkward and almost completely lacking in taste. Problem number one is the mediocre food. My SO and I eat a lot of Gryos and know frozen meat when we taste it — Fourno’s was so tough and tasteless it may well have been delivered to the freezer weeks before our arrival. The sandwiches were also lacking in the fresh cool taste associated with gyros — partially due to the lack of veggies (no lettuce or cucumber) and partially due to bland tzatziki sauce. The food problems were exacerbated by a loungy atmosphere that SCREAMED cheese — weird black lights, corny electro music, and gaudy wall decorations. Despite the very friendly service (which, due to the relatively empty nature of the place, screamed «we need business!») I’m sure we will never go back. If your’e up in this neck of the woods looking for food late night, just go up a few doors to the newly opened 24 hour Memo’s for delicious Mexican.