With owner Toni Zervas energetically bouncing around the restaurant, helping customers find the right table (she lets you choose, though you'll get a good-natured ribbing if you take too long finding the perfect spot), taking their jackets, offering dining suggestions and answering any cuisine questions, Mythos Greek Taverna is like a one-woman show with an exquisite Grecian menu.
Zervas' animated spirit doesn't keep the slightly upscale restaurant from being a perfectly relaxing date spot, though. And that's a good thing, considering that the food takes a while to prepare. Even the complimentary bread is baked at the restaurant, so it's a few minutes getting to the table. But the tranquil ethnic music, dim lighting and light blue walls provide a comfortable atmosphere to pass the time if you've got some good company. The mouth-watering appetizer menu doesn't hurt either.
Oral descriptions for most items on the menu begin with, "It's like how they make it in Greektown...only better." Whether this is true or not is almost entirely irrelevant. The kolokytho keftedes (zucchini and cheese patties) with a side of skordalia (garlic and potato spread) from the appetizer menu are a flavorful house specialty and it shows. The pastichio is another favorite, and though $16 is probably the most you'll pay for a macaroni and beef dish in Ravenswood, it's well worth the price.
The massive Chicken Reganate is half a chicken, oven-baked Grecian style and rubbed with oregano and sea salts for a full-flavor experience. Some higher-end dishes include red snapper, lamb chop and New York strip. Everything takes an average of 30 minutes to prepare, as they pride themselves on the freshness of the food. Also, the place is BYOB, but don't forget the slight corkage fee.
Average cost: $31+
Centerstage Reviewer: Zach Freeman
