Maria’s Taverna

Meh. There are better Greek places in kits that also have better service. One of my party ordered a small pizza and they neglected to tell us it takes 25 – 30 min for pizza. The pizza was bland and unimpressive. The chicken Slovaki dinner was ok, however like i said there are definitely better Greek places in kits. I won’t be returning here.

Roasted lamb shoulder!!! Trust me you won’t regret it. Everything else I had was questionable, but the lamb won my heart. If you don’t like lamb, pick a different Greek place. Service was fair, nothing special.

Oh my, do yourself a favor and order the lamb shoulder. It is perfectly succulent and they do something magical to their potatoes. I was in town for the week for some meetings, and my Greek co-​worker asked our Greek boss for a restaurant recommendation. Thankfully, he pointed us in the direction of Maria’s. It was easily our best meal of the week, possibly the best meal of my life.

In fairness, the food here is pretty tasty and the prices are on par with many other local Greek places. My issue, however, is the service. We have ordered delivery from here 3 times. The first time, we had no real issues, other than a really slow delivery time. The second time, we waited an hour and then got a call from the restaurant stating that the delivery driver had been in a fender bender, so they were remaking the food and sending it out with a different driver. When the new driver came, he apologized that the kitchen had lost our order. We are reasonable and if they had called and just said this rather than making up an accident, that would have been fine. Now, we feel lied to.
We were reticent to order from them again, but since we enjoyed the food, decided to give them another shot. This time, the food came swiftly, but they gave us the appetizer version of our entrees, but charged us for the entrée version. While the food is great, we’re never going back due to poor service and errors.

I had walked past this place many times over the last 3 months. I finally stopped by after my chores today. I couldn’t figure out where to start. I eyed one other guest eating the baked Spaghetti so I ordered that but was also craving the chicken souvlaki. So I had both. The chicken was tasty. Very juicy and flavorful and the spaghetti also was great. I wouldn’t hesitate going back in anytime. Greg whom I met and his brother were very hospitable and he shared some insights into his families restaurant! I dig that the whole family is part of this place and they keep it going together.
Opa!

Had a really good night here. Those who ordered the lamb raved, the saganaki preparation was excellent, everyone was pleased with the food. Service was great, a small place that has a lively family vibe. Try Maria’s desert, really yummy.

I give Maria’s a 4 out of 5 because the food was amazing, the service was fast and I didn’t have to wait to get my next drink. Overall, Maria’s is great for casual dinning and was a good value for the money.

Service here is atrocious, the food is good but it’s not worth the terribly rude and unhelpful staff. If they make mistakes they are rude and decline to help, they are rude on the phone and do not care about their customers. I highly recommend you find another Greek restaurant if you are thinking about coming here

I have been ordering from Marias for years. I would order more often but every time I call I feel un– welcomed… They just make you feel like delivering a pizza is a huge hassle for them. Their pizza is great and maybe it’s gone to their heads lol.

My number one place for eating Greek food. We usually go to Stephos when we want cheap Greek food. But when it’s a special occasion. we come here. The family has run this business since I was a kid, and I’ve been back at least 3 times this summer and still see the same mom and pop cooking in the back. This place is known for their slow roasted lamb platters. This place can be pricey but totally worth it. I’m a huge Fan of Greek food, having been to the majority of restaurants located in the lower mainland. Even during the annual Greek festival on Broadway we held off on buying the roasted lamb there to come eat here. Guaranteed Best Greek Food around.
(Ps. Service is usually a bit slow so we usually call in advance. Just because it takes time to cook a perfect lamb shoulder)

Just had the kleftiko entre and tzatziki dip. Both were great. Best tzatziki dip I have ever had. Nice portion and it had finely shredded cucumber in it. Don’t leave this place without trying it! The slow roasted lamb was fabulous… very tender and great flavor. The meal was large enough for two of us to share. It was accompanied by delicious Greek salad and roasted potatoes along with rice. Very tasty. Had a table by open window overlooking the sidewalk. Nice music.

This was the most disappointing delivery experience of my life. We ordered 2 chicken skewers and a large greek salad ($ 45.00). The food arrived in a paper bag that had been tipped over in the delivery car. Oil had leaked everywhere and somehow the delivery driver pretended he had no idea until I pointed it out. As we talked, oil leaked all over the floor. This continued throughout my house. Thanks.
The food was OK, but the portions were pathetic. For $ 45, I would hope for a little more. Don’t count on any leftovers.
RIPOFF.

Just had the Maria platter for two, was excellent, will definitely come back. Highly recommend. Great location, good service for the most part.

Great great food. Moderate to expensive. Prices are inconsistent at times. I mean, sometimes they kill u with «on the side» charges and other times they don’t. Their tadziki is great!!!
They deliver which is great. I think they charge but I cannot Remember. The restaurant is cute and small but can get noisy when it’s busy. Not much for specials. Probably my favorite in Kits.

Food was good, but really slow, not-​so-​friendly service. We waited about a half hour for our appetizers to arrive. Literally two minutes later, our entrees arrived. Usually the appetizers arrive well before your entrees and not with it. And when it came time to pack up our left overs, that took another 10 minutes just to get their attention. Their male servers were not very friendly either. They were quite curt even. Not sure if I will be going back.

Arriving here in a group of 20 with the UBC Musical Theatre Troupe, you can guess it took a while to grab everyone’s orders and get the food out. I ordered a Bowl of Pita Bread, a Kalamari, and a Tarama (fish roe dip with lemon oil). Once the food arrived, I was starving, and dove right into the kalamari (spelled calamari in many other places). The deep fried squid was juicy and went very well with the lemon and tzatziki sauce. The Tarama was an interesting dip and you definitely need to have this with the pita. The pita bread itself was crispy on the outside with grill lines and fluffy on the inside which is what pita should be. I managed to finish the tarama and pita but I ended up having to take half the calamari home. I suspect an average person on a budget could easily get away with ordering just the tarama and pita bread. Overall the appy quality was good and in my case could easily be enough for a meal. Compared to Stepho’s and Candia, I’d say the quality is about the same with a higher price, but the service here is phenomenal.

I was busy all day spring cleaning. Getting rid of the crap that insidiously builds up when you’re not paying attention. Anyways, I friend asked me out for dinner, and since I was home all day working I said yes.
My friend read my Kerkis Greek Taverna review and he wanted to try it out. When we got there I was surprised to discover the Kerkis is closed! Their business closed Dec 28^th so they are gone! Anyways, unperturbed we ended up driving around the area and we ended up at another Greek restaurant: Maria’s Taverna!
Overall, it was a pretty good experience. We shared an appetizer: fried squid. I had the lamb shoulder as my main course (that comes with Greek salad, potatoes, and rice. You get a pretty good size platter of food for $ 20! And the lamb is super tender and tasty! Just the right amount of fat!
We ended up sharing a baklava for dessert. It was good but to me the walnuts were a bit too chunky. They should have chopped them a bit more. Next time I have a hankering for Greek I’ll know where to come!

Delicious greek food with plenty of flavor, spices and overall a great experience.
My husband and I were in the area for a day trip and decided to try Maria’s. I have to be honest, the prices were a little jolting at first and I was hesitating spending $ 20 a plate for a quick lunch but I was pleasantly surprised. I had the veggie «pie»…basically spinach and feta in filo pastry dough with a side of rice, greek cucumber and tomatoe salad and the most delicious potatoes I have ever had! I’ve had plenty of greek food ranging from the Pacific nothwest to California… man were these potatoes good!
I don’t understand the comments regarding the nonchalant server, we had a great experience today and our server was nothing but pleasant. He wasn’t too laid back nor was he too pushy.
We will definitely return to Maria’s for another great culinary experience.

Known for their lamb shoulder.
family business for 26 years, pretty astounding.
Truly authentic.
also do catering on same day, if that helps those last-​minute peeps.
metered parking in front.
open all day and evening.

I had a feeling this place was going to be good, thanks to my trust in some familiar Elite’s. My feeling was right, thanks guys :)
This is a quaint, medium sized greek restaurat that has been in Kits for 25 years. The inside is characteristically decorated in white walls, greek photos and accessories. The two large skylights in the ceiling make it feel more open and bright, it is a pleasant atmosphere with traditional greek music. The table settings are homey and comfortable, but nice.
My first impression of our server was that she was not that welcoming or friendly, but she warmed up throughout the evening and was efficient, timely and courteous. Everything was brought out quickly, nothing was forgotten, we were checked in upon shortly after receiving each dish and we felt well taken care of.
We shared the hummus, which was right up there with the best I’ve had; smooth and creamy, but still some tiny bits of chick peas to give it enough texture, and the taste was smooth and luscious as well, not bitter at all. The saganaki was done well, perfectly cooked and served with lemon. They use goat feta, and we did not find it to be too salty. As per the recommendations, we had the chicken souvlaki which was great. A large plate with a reasonably sized portion of tender, most chicken; also, rice (average), lemon potatoes (delicious), tzatziki (very good) and greek salad (average but nice and fresh). At $ 16.95 for the souvlaki this is not a cheap meal, but it is on par for similar restaurants and reasonable for the quantity and quality. The rest of the prices were average. The Ek Mek (dessert, house special) was very good.
Customers were couples of all ages, a few small groups and several people getting take out; it is a nice place for a casual date or catch up. This is a great find, and we will be returning.
30-​Days of Unilocal 2012 — ¹¹⁄₃₁