Athena Restaurant in Monroe

I want to start by noting that I ordered my food to go. I dont care what restaurant it is, if you order your food to go it is not nearly as good. That being said, the food was subpar. I felt my chicken was a bit dry and the hummus was a bit runny. The hummus did have a good flavor though and I loved the feta salad. The waitress was very polite and welcoming. There wasnt anyone in the restaurant because I was having a very late lunch, but I was surprised not to see anyone even on a Sunday.I would like to go again and eat on location. I will update my review accordingly.

Ordered pick-up. A guy was at the window for 15 minutes+ during lunch time. I wish they would have told him to pull forward because I was boxed in... Fortunately, the car behind me moved so I could go in and get my order.Ordered the Appetizer Sampler. Lots of meat! They do not skimp on this. As for the rest, sub-par. To me, it was not advertised for what you received. Need more pitas for the meat, the hummus is lacking flavor, loved the tzakki sauce.... Said 10 things, however I do not count pita, tzakki, and hummus as 3 since they come with everything. Even if I did, only had 9. Not worth the price.

Amazing place. The salad tastes soo good. I eat the lamb chops every time I visit. They are HEAVENLY. Must visit place in monroe.

Food was good as always. Server was friendly. Fast service.

I never really had Mediterranean food before this year, so we tried it out... Dude, its SOO good here! We got gyros and an order of fried cheese, and everything was amazing!

It really pains me to give them a 2 star. Poor service and food was not worth the time it took to place the order. Everyone loves to be hung up on, but I was determined to get my falafel, so I went inside to order. With the drive-through, you call in I guess because their gate intercom doesnt work. The better part of $20 and 1 sandwich thrown away. Sorry for any grammatical or spelling errors but Ive put too much effort into this already.

This restaurant is a long time favorite of ours. They have amazing food and even better service. I recommend the sampler. Enjoy!

It was my first time !Food was amazing!The server was amazing!I love itI will return to taste more delicious green food!!💕

We came to Athena’s tonight to order some dessert tonight.It was magnificent!! We got the baklava and the pistachio ice cream which was to die for. The service at the restaurant was Phenomenal! We had a very kind ,beautiful girl named Rana as our server. Her social skills were astonishing. Very confident young lady with a bubbly personality she made us feel comforting. We will most definitely be coming back!! Amazing family business!!

Dangerous floors, epoxy floors very slippery from high humidity.Food was good there is a full bar and draft beer

Service was a bit slow, didnt get a chance to get coffee refilled until our food came out. The lamb was hard and overcooked, the shrimp salad was adequate, house dressing is salty and spicy at the same time.Coffee cost is ridiculous $2.49 per small cup. Cmon man.Apparently I dont like Greek food. Never enjoyed it and most likely will never try it again.

Nice attentive staff, but unfortunately the food was a disappointment. Hummus was thin and bland. The gyro meat was dry shriveled up tiny strips, nearly jerky-like, and portion size was so small that I wouldnt be able to line naan with it! Im guessing it was old gyro, sitting in a warmer too long.I chose the lunch sampler plate which included a generous serving of chicken shawarma, but sadly it was loaded with salt and overpowered any shawarma flavors.I generally give eateries two tries, but I dont know if I can bring myself to try this restaurant a second time knowing that I can produce a better tasting meal purchasing hummus, frozen gyro, and naan from a grocery store and make my own tzatziki.Looks like when I have a craving for delicious Greek fare Ill continue to drive to Athena in Shreveport. Had such high hopes for our local Greek restaurant...

Great place for omnivores couples.AuThentic greek, the real deal.

We really enjoyed our meal. The food was good. The salad dressing was so good we bought some to bring home.

Athenas is always top notch. Fresh ingredients. Delicious meals. Good service. Photos show the fried cheese appetizer and the sampler plate.

Dont order the grilled vegetable plate, its literally frozen steamed vegetables, not grilled fresh vegetables(that you typically get at any good Mediterranean place)- a total let down! Needs to be labeled steam vegetable plate.

Very good experience, but i was expecting for $15.75, the vegetarian plate shouldve have been better. It was extremely low on food. Lol. I know times are hard, but salad and dolmades are not expensive, nor the hummus. Still really good though, just extremely over priced.

lamb and salad are good.

We went during a not so busy time and it took 30 minutes for our drinks! They had seated and waited on others before us! We were looking so forward to the food but got a little frustrated and left. I will go back and try again as I really want to try the food.

We had a delicious lunch here. The food was prepared well, portions were ample, and the service was friendly. Will definitely be back.

First visit. Great staff -- courteous, attentive, professional. Small intimate dining room. I had Combo Mediterranean pasta with chicken & gyro. It was cooked perfectly in a light creamy sauce.

Smaller than their last location. Same great food and service. Recommend the combo plate which comes with Gyro meat, chicken schwarma, Greek salad, and hummus.

Love this place! There’s nowhere else like this in Monroe, but that’s okay because the food is fantastic. I’ve eaten at plenty of franchise/chain pseudo-Mediterranean places and they just never compare to family run places like this.

I eat here weekly and have for over 3 years now and it is the best Greek food I have ever had!!! Don’t like hummus??? You definitely haven’t had this hummus because you can’t look me in the eyes and try to say you don’t like their hummus!!!

Dont let the pictures fool you. The place is not as elegant and clean as you see in the reviews. The service was horrible. Waitress was not knowledge about the menu. My food had blonde hair in it, and have black hair, so I know it wasnt mine. The owner, who I was told was in the kitchen and too busy to come out and speak to me made no effort to rectify the situation. I should of known this was not a good establishment when I walked in. The place looked abandoned and unkept. But I was in the mood for Greek food. The food was cold and not well plated. My first negative review ever so it had to be bad for me to post. I cannot recommend this establishment during these times when I realize businesses need locals to support them. Negative!

Excellent never had Greek food before.. Was very pleased

Our dinner and service was phenomenal. I had the vegetarian plate, he had the 3 lamb shanks plate, and the babaganouch. We were the only ones in there tonight since it was an hour til closing but we had such a wonderful experience! Sad that they are no longer in the bigger building on 18th street, but Im glad they did relocate and reopen.

Food was amazing. The meat was seasoned well and not dried out like most places. I will definitely be back soon. It was worth every dollar we spent.

Went on a Friday night around 8, very few customers surprisingly. Food was delicious and the service was top notch! Will definitely go back to try the rest of the menu.

Loved my waitress she went above and beyond only to drive an hour home to find the falafel was not even legitimate it was a batter made chick pea concoction that was soaking in grade C level tahini - the hummus was a B- grade. Well there is $20 I will never recapture.... who is the chef... he needs to be properly trained on the taste of the mediterranean .... I trashed it all minus the salad which was limp and SOAKED DRENCHED in oil, oh I almost forgot the wheat bread was not light and satisfying it settled rough in the belly and gave off a scent off butter or gee - ps I told them that I am a full vegan!

I had read the reviews and thought I would give it a chance. When I give a review I really try to be honest. I have to say we were very disappointed. We ordered and the food came out so quick I was shocked, it was a beautiful presentation. My husband had the moussaka but I can say Im 99% sure it was warmed up in a microwave. We could tell because parts of it were cold and parts of it was piping hot. I had two different kinds of meat with rice and salad, my husbands came with rice and salad also. A few pieces of the meat were hot and the rest cold, both of our rice was cold and the salad taste like it didnt have any dressing on it. My chicken was so salty it was hard to eat, I had to put it in the pita bread and load it with hummus otherwise I couldnt eat it. Our waitress was very nice. It was ran by youngsters who all liked to gather together behind the bar and on their cell phones, I didnt see a older adult anywhere in site. After that experience I dont think we will be back sorry to say😞 It was around 6:30, prime dinner time. It was also very dirty, the floor and the bathroom

Food was outstanding but came out in a weird order. My dining companion and i split an order of vegetarian grape leaves as an appetizer, i ordered the gyro/chicken shawarma plate as my entree, and my friend ordered the Mediterranean pizza app as an entree. Each item came out separately, as if we were sharing each one. Not really a problem as such, but definitely a little odd. Ill definitely be back!

Food has always been tasty and fresh, service always very good. The lunch sample platter is very good, and they have free Wi-Fi so it’s a great place to get some work done if you need to.

We come in and sat to order then waitress bring appetizers it was good then we eat our food it was so good it is so fresh and hot we are enjoy . l will come back again

This is a great restaurant! A brief visit down from New York and was pleasantly surprised by the food, service and decor. Highly recommended. Had the lunch special lamb and the grape leaf appetizer.

Nice menu, nice atmosphere, plenty of parking, service quick although only a couple other customers when we were there. Restaurant was quite busy with takeout order pickups. Food very good and authentic tasting. Served warm pita upon arrival.

One of my favorite restaurants in the area. I think it is the only place in the area to get good Mediterranean food. Love the lamb gyros and chicken schwarma platter. If you still have room the apple pie with ice cream is a great way to finish the meal.

Update: It hard for me to strongly recommend this place, since they have stopped offering a glass of water, but instead give out bottles of water and charge $1.99 for them.Old review:We dont have a lot of Greek or Lebanese food, so I am happy that we have this option. Some may be overly critical, but it is a local business in a smaller town like ours selling some great food.The swarma, gyro and kebab lunch plates are great. They come with plenty of peta and hummus too. Portions are massive.They do sell baklava, but I feel like they make it in frequently, as it doesnt always have that crisp filo and becomes soggy.

I love this restaurant! The only Greek/ Lebanese restaurant in town, but one of the best in the state! Get the gyro/ shwarma combination plate. It is delicious. They even have a drive up window at the bar to pick up call in orders.

First time leaving a review anywhere. Just went there for lunch. There was one waitress and two tables including me. After 45 mins I had a drink and some hummus that tasted like canned chickpeas were thrown in a blender then plated.The waitress spent the time outside talking to a friend in a car. I just payed and left to find a better restaurant.The place is really nice with background music and I cant speak to the other food but the service and hummus are garbage. Shame there isnt an alternative here.

I love Athenas restaurant. It is very elegant and quiet. You always get great service and the food is really good. I always order the chicken shawarma. They bring flat bread to the table and I use it to eat my hummus with. The pricing is very reasonable.

I am torn between a one star for service or a five star for food. Had a stay over in Monroe and our hotel handed us a brochure of places to see and eat. We picked Athenas. I would have given a higher star except the service was bad. If you are looking for good quality food, highly recommend. If your looking for good quality service, dont go. If your looking for a service staff who never checks on their table and spends the entire time on their cell phone, I would definitely recommend it. The poor service in a nice environment and good food is why your getting a one star.

We enjoyed the service as well as the food. Atmosphere is very serene and peaceful. We could actually have a conversation without having to yell. Food was flavorful and well done. Definitely will recommend to others.

Food was delicious as usual. One of my favorite places. Consistently great food and service. The staff was very nice and attentive. My "go to" meal is the combination chicken shawarma and gyros plate. So good!

Food overpriced and steak was bad(overcooked, not tasty), small portions, and the hummus and sauces tasted like they were from a can. I really really wanted to like it. Beer prices were ok.Ive been to many authentic restaurants around the country and this was a huge disappointment.

I took my date to this place last night. We both ordered the vegetarian plate and absolutely loved it. Our waitress was very nice too. I made a marijuana joke to her and she slipped a small bag under my plate when she brought it out. That really impressed my date! After we ate and got two teas to go (which are amazing, not too sweet and not too blandwe tried some of the waitresss product and it surpassed our expectations as well. Great atmosphere, great staff and amazing food. 5/5

There were only two tables and it took a long time to get our food. I ordered a fish plate that comes with rice and salad. I got my rice and salad 8 minutes before I got my fish. I was hungry and tired of waiting so I ate my rice and salad, so when my fish came I didnt have anything to eat with it. The cream sauce on the fish was very bland and room temperature. The fish was warm but poorly seasoned. My friend ordered a vegetarian plate and got her plate a few minutes after my fish came. 5 minutes later her bread came. Which is strange since all they do is warm the bread in the microwave. This is my first time back since they moved to a new location and I have no interest in going back.

I grew up in Monroe so i remember these guys from way back but i was never a fan growing up of Mediterranean food since Ive moved to San Antonio Ive developed an appreciation and so i thought Id try it and its good. I enjoyed the the combination pasta (gyros and roasted chickenand the salad was good and the tea was epic :)

Every time I visit home this is a must eat at place for me. Love the food, service, ambiance (especially the fountain), location, and price. Works great for a relaxed dinner date with the wife. Cant wait for the next time Im in town!

Excellent atmosphere! There is a water fountain with a 6-foot statue of Athena under a painted sky dome, surrounded by (fakemarble columns. Windows are stained glass. The atmosphere was better than the food, which was a bit salty and bland. An excellent date restaurant.