Vlora Bar & Restaurant

Never have I been more disappointed when dining that when I came to this restaurant. The place and the ambience is really cool and mellow, with a modern feel to it. I came here with three other people to eat on a Saturday evening. We ordered several of their cocktails, with me having their pear martini or «peartini». This turned out to be very good drinks and we were not disappointed by them.
We went ahead and ordered several appetizers including their meatballs and calamari. These were really good and after having them we felt confident that the main dishes were going to amaze us. Sadly, they did, but for all the wrong reasons. The food was bland and not very tasty. I myself had the shrimp couscous, which I found to be over cooked and over greasy. Everyone else in my group had similar complaints about their food.
For a restaurant that promotes a classy dining experience, the food here was even lower in quality that what we could get in a small mediterranean café. I would not recommend this place to anyone looking for a good dining experience in The Boston area.

Vlora has potential, but certainly should not be your first choice when dining in the area. It definitely benefits from its location and may get some traffic from people who could not get reservations at far better restaurants.
It’s inconspicuous on the corner of 5^th with a small sign and stairwell leading you down to a dark restaurant. There weren’t many people there, so we spent some time at the bar, which had a solid list of cocktails and wine.
The food was a bit on the pricey end for what you actually received (and for the taste). The meatballs were decent and so was the bread. The hummus was extremely disappointing and as a Mediterranean restaurant, you need to be able to do hummus. I would have preferred store bought hummus over what they served us. The spicy shrimp couscous was lacking shrimp and flavor and was a whole lot of couscous. The lamb was tasty and well-​seasoned, however, the portions were very small for the price. They were out of lobster rolls which was also disappointing.
The best part about the restaurant was our server, Mamadou. He was absolutely phenomenal, full of personality and spirit, very attentive, and provided our table with the best recommendations of the night — the Freakshow Wine and the Meatballs. Every waitier should go to Vlora to take notes from him.
Overall, I’d look to go to many other restaurants in the area before settling on Vlora again.

Interesting place and I don’t mean it in a good way — they still haven’t quite figured out what they want to be when they grow up. Convenient location in a heavily trafficked part of town, but the service was awful! Our server was clearly brand new… she knew NOTHING about the wine or the menu. The saving grace of the meal was the gyro… it was actually quite tasty! I hope they can start training their staff and make sure they know what each menu item is — wine, beer and food. My friend’s martini was horribly mixed as well… he ended up only drinking 2 sips and let the rest of it go.

Vlora is an example of a restaurant that reaps its benefits due to its location. It’s in a super convenient location and initially it seems like a great alternative to all the other restaurants in the area that have a long wait. I ordered a chicken gyro and had maybe 4 bites… I’ve had better (MUCH better) greek food. I think my fries were the highlight of this dining experience. To add to this, when my friend asked the waitress for beer recommendations, she was taken aback for a good minute and then stated that she didn’t like beer and walked away…
«Meh. I’ve experienced better.» is exactly how I feel about this place (foodwise and service-​wise). Well said, Unilocal,well said.

Just had the most unbelievable experience here tonight and not in a good way! There is Rib Eye steak on the menu that is $ 32 and no where close to to being a Rib Eye. It was horrible and when we tried to send it back the owner called us liars. The owner was extremely unprofessional and didn’t seem to care about losing customers or how many people we will tell not to eat there! Horrible experience!

Went with a large party that had bought over 5 appetizers and entrees for 11 and were gonna be paying a lot of money. The apps were great but when there was an issue with a meal not tasting good — opposed to switching it out the owner challenged it and said it was fine and became irate as of it was a personal insult, as if we were gonna say we were wrong and decided that it didn’t taste disgusting because he was arguing against us. For an owner he acted completely inappropriate, made a scene and ruined the entire meal for the rest of the table

Went in with a party of 11. Another person and I ordered the ribeye– what we got was not a ribeye and the meat was rancid.
After telling the waitress the owner came over and took the plates, then came back to tell me that he tasted both steaks and they were delicious. If you enjoy old rancid overcooked meat for $ 32– it is delicious. Lol.
When I told him he was rude he asked me to leave and proceeded to try and push me out of the restaurant. I told him to get his hands off me and he said he was calling the police. The police???
He followed me outside and started taking pictures of me yelling ‘crazy customer’. I returned the favor and took his picture as well. He truly did call the police on a customer who complained.
Worst experience In a restaurant ever. The menu isn’t even Mediterranean. This place won’t last long — stay away!!!

On Halloween night, my parents and I dined into Vlora Restaurant. The hostess greeted and seated us at a booth. Although the server was new, she came way too frequently to check on us. For drinks, my mom ordered Sangria, which had a great taste. For appetizers, we ordered Vegetable Moussaka, Grilled Octopus, Roasted Beets, Pumpkin Soup, and Roasted Half Chicken. All the dishes were light, delicious, and healthy. The Vegetable Moussaka — cheesy eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, potato, and tomato tower, served in a dill cucumber sauce. I felt that the eggplant was kind of raw and it could have cooked longer! The Grilled Octopus — chopped tender octopus tentacles mixed with diced cucumbers and tomatoes and tossed in a typical Greek salad dressing. The Roasted Beets — lightly spiced red and golden beets. It would have tasted better if the walnuts were candied. Their soup of the day was pumpkin soup, which was gingerly sweet. The Roasted Half Chicken — half chicken served with mashed potatoes and carrots. We liked how the mashed potatoes were garlicky but not too buttery /​heavy. We felt that the carrots were raw and could have been cooked longer.

Sat here for 25 mins and no one came to check on us let alone bring us menus … Need to hire more staff perhaps??? walked out of the place.

What happened to this place?
I first went to Vlora over five years ago when I was still in college. If you asked me then, I would’ve given this place at least 4 stars.
We went to Vlora last night for dinner. First of all, the place was dead. On a Saturday night. When we were first seated, there were a few other tables with people, but about a half an hour into us being seated, everyone disappeared. We were the only ones in the restaurant for the rest of the night except for the workers and a couple of stragglers at the bar.
It actually started off well. It is an intimate and romantic restaurant. Our server was prompt, our waters were constantly refilled and the food was decent. I had the penne ragu, which was flavorful — I’d order again if I were to return here. A bit overpriced for what it is ($ 16), but still good nevertheless.
My cocktail was a bit overpriced. I had a blueberry smash; at $ 11, I got more ice than actual drink.
I went to the website and Vlora describes itself as the «soul of Mediterranean cuisine.» I did not think this place felt Mediterranean with the exception of some of the appetizers and desserts. Most of the dinner entrees on the menu are standard at what you’d find at any American contemporary or seafood restaurant (steak, roasted half chicken, cheeseburger, cod, lobster roll). Overall, the menu is overpriced for what you are getting. I get this is Back Bay, but I could walk across the street and go to one of Boston’s finest steakhouses and get a great steak for not that much more. I think they need to reevaluate their menu if they want to attract more customers. It’s not a good sign when your restaurant in the heart of Back Bay barely has customers on a Saturday night.
The real reason I am giving this place even less stars is because of the end of the night. The service was prompt up until after dessert. We sat for a long time (maybe 20 minutes after finishing our dessert), and no one even acknowledged us. We couldn’t flag anyone down for the check because no one even bothered to walk by. They had seated us in a corner, which I was originally fine with. Finally, we went up to the bar to pay for our meal. If that is what we were supposed to do, we weren’t aware of it. I’ve never had to pay directly at the front register for food at a restaurant except IHOP and my local diner.
We probably won’t be back here again. I hate to say this, but I don’t see how Vlora is going to stay open that much longer. It is not what it used to be.

Ive been at vlora recently and had an amazing experience. I tasted the cod and tiramisu. Even though im a very very picky eater i thought the food tasted amazing and all my friends agreed.
The restaurant is nice and cosy. Stuff is fun and friendly. This is deff the place to go.

Really yummy and decent service. I would’ve loved to sit outside but we decided best to go inside with the three children we all had with us. :) We had nice table downstairs… everything we had was yummy (shrimp cocktail, lobster roll, feta and watermelon salad, grilled octopus, greek salad, etc.), the mojito was delicious… the only thing I didn’t think was amazing was the calamari… just not cooked great.
We enjoyed ourselves, fun atmosphere, great location…

Ooooooh dear. Oh Vlora. Sigh. I have lived and worked and gymmed in this 1-​block radius for over 7 years. I’ve seen the ladies at the top of the stairs offering menus and samples and trying to bring in customers for years. They’ve even come to my gym one block over to offer samples of food. The TV commercials made the place look decent… I figured that maybe one day there would come a time where I’d come and try this place.
Well, that day came. Sigh. I was here with a group, and I will start off by saying that the other people didn’t seem to dislike their experience as much as I did. Most of them got salads with shrimp on them, or a pizza. I ordered the meat-​free dish and sent it back as it was barely warm and was a 14 dollar pile of 2 dollars worth of vegetables with red tomato sauce. It was disgusting and cold. The «bread» was a thick version of white Wonder Bread. I’ve never complained about bread until today, simply because I didn’t think it was possible for me to be unimpressed with bread. Well, this is the first time I have not ravaged pre-​dinner bread. They didn’t have falafal or anything… I thought that was a Mediterranean food? Guess I was wrong…
The entire restaurant was freezing, and there was some sort of networking group taking over half of the bar area. It was loud I couldn’t hear people at the end of the table.
The service was confused and haphazard, though not unkind. Just sort of scattered and unpolished.
I just feel sad for this place. I got even sadder when I read all the filtered-​out reviews that are sooooo clearly written by family and friends. They’re just so glowing and read like brochures for a restaurant. I always cringe when I see soooo many attempts to flood a Unilocal page with false reviews. If you offer good food and good service, you shouldn’t have to flood your page with so much false praise.
It didn’t feel Mediterranean at all… it felt South Beach, especially since the music was loud and the service was aloof… I would imagine that’s what South Beach would be like.
My friends didn’t seem to have a problem with their meal, but I didn’t hear anyone exclaiming anything good either… I feel sort of guilty giving this place a bad review because I’m sure the owners are nice and such. But 3 stars would simply be me lying. So, 2 stars it is.

Such a cute place inside. Not to mention fabulous drinks and the yummy food. The espresso martini is my favorite but I will say they have a good selection of martinis, cocktails, wine and beer.
The stuffed meatballs are ridiculous! So good, I could’ve ate all three by myself! The lamb gyro was absolutely delicious as well.
Great place for lunch, dinner or drinks after work

First of all — I don’t think you realize how huge this place is until you walk in. It’s my understanding that the restaurant has been recently renovated and expanded, and oh my is it gigantic.
Dropped by for a late lunch on Saturday — the place was practically empty, but I’ve heard great things about the octopus, so had to try it. And I’m glad I did — the fatty, tender octopus was exceptionally delicious and went perfectly with the cucumbers, tomatoes, and the savory dressing. Highly recommended!
Additionally, had the $ 10 lunch special (sounds insanely cheap for the neighborhood, no?) of minestrone (scalding hot and served without bread but yummy) and the pulled pork sandwich with fries. Decent sandwich, but I wasn’t really expecting it to show up on an Albanian menu. Still, did not disappoint.
I’m told that this place doubles as a hot spot bar during the weekends, so may be worth checking it out!

Stopped by for lunch around noon and there were no other patrons dining, Only one other group of 4 people came in while I was there.
I got the $ 10 lunch special and it was a decent amount of food for the price. I got the Lamba Kofta Gyro and it was decent. I don’t order them often and I enjoyed it but it was a little heavier on the sauce than I would have liked.
Overall it was good but not enough for me to head out to Boston just to dine here.

The service here is ahhhhmazing. The hostess was great she even offered to store my oversized umbrella in their closet. The waiter made sure our glasses were always full. The waitress and waiter went above and beyond to explain the menu to me.
The location makes it difficult to drive to the restaurant. You could park on Boylston St. or Newbury St. but that’s if you’re lucky. We rode the train to copley and walked. You could also get off at back bay
The restaurant has a nice ambiance. Very intimate, music is not too loud, the lights are dim. But my butt, my poor but was so sore from sitting on their hard as rock seats. Oh my goodness new seats paahleeease!
It’s a Mediterranean restaurant, but we didn’t order anything Mediterranean… Except the baklava which was delish. Sooo good, sugar high excellence! We were sooo hungry and didn’t want to take the chance of ordering something and being disappointed I had the pizza, it was good but I felt it got soggy once it sat there for a while. My friend got a burger which she seemed to like. My other friend ordered hummus, and the salmon dish which she enjoyed. The lamb chop however I wouldn’t recommend. It was a slow night so we spent 3 hours just chatting it up and catching up, and they didn’t try to rush us out the restaurant. I would go back again! Try this place. Thumbs up for Vlora. You get a B!

My girlfriend and I found this place after mulling over what to eat for dinner. It seemed like a great location (right on Boylston) and included Greek/​Mediterranean food which was prolly what coerced us to try this place in the first place.
So first, the décor was nice, the fireplace was a nice touch, I did however notice that it wasn’t very packed for what would be considered «prime» dinner time in Boston.
Second, the menu was a little bit different from the one attached to the Unilocal page. I have to say there wasn’t as many authentic Greek/​Mediterranean dishes as I would have liked. There was a one page list of dishes like Greek Salad, calamari, burger, ya know … stuff I could’ve prolly gotten elsewhere without any high hopes.
So I played it safe and got the Burger, I mean, burgers are pretty safe right. THAT I actually did enjoy, but then again …$ 13 dollar burger? I would rather go to Boston Burger Company ;/​
The staff was friendly, they did forget the butter for our bread and seemed not as attentive as most waiters/​waitresses are, but that could prolly be because our waitress was training another co worker so gotta cut them so slack there.
I don’t think id come back again, only because I got very exited to try something new but it turned out to be mediocre, and who likes to be let down twice, not THIS girl!

If I could give a restaurant a negative 5 stars, this would be it. My friend and I decided to give a restaurant we had never tried a shot (even with its current iffy 3.5 star Unilocal rating). Call me an eternal optimist, but that eternal optimist was so damn wrong. And so utterly unhappy with this meal. I might even have to take on that eternal optimist part of me in a Fight Club-​style showdown for this.
The décor looks upscale-ish…or at least like that’s what it’s trying to achieve. The ambiance generally lacks warmth and is a bit like a poorly thought out layout with a lot of LED lights trying to cover up the lack of thought put into decorating.
The staff seemed friendly, but didn’t really seem like they knew what they were doing. We were given bread and what looked like cole slaw, but tasted like bland sliced carrots. Maybe they were supposed to be pickled, but my friend and I both agreed it just tasted like nothing. Regardless, I thought bread and chopped up carrots were a bit odd for a «eat this while you decide what you want to order» pairing. We had to ask for butter. Which is absurd. Since bread and butter is the most basic pairing you’re offered at any restaurant charging roughly $ 20+ per entrée.
We perused the menu, which is basically one long run-​on sentence of a menu. It’s not separated into sections (i.e. appetizers, entrees, etc.), so it’s just a mess to read. Overall, both the restaurant and its menu seem to have an identity crisis. For what is sold as Greek /​Mediterranean cuisine, they sure have an awful lot of lobster rolls and shrimp cocktails. It seemed more like neo-​american with a gyro and hummus thrown recklessly on the menu to make it seem somehow ethnic in flavor.
We went with what seemed the safest, since we felt stuck there at that point: pizza and a burger. Both were overly salty and meh at best. I’m pretty sure I would’ve enjoyed delivery from Domino’s more.
I later told a friend of mine I went to Vlora for dinner and his immediate reaction was, «FAIL. Worst restaurant in all of Back Bay.» And I hadn’t even told him how awful my meal was. So. while I would have loved to rave about a great new restaurant I just tried, all I can say is… FAIL.

The main reason we chose to eat here was for the nice patio seating on a sunny Sunday. Their menu seems a little limited, but the atmosphere was pretty nice. The hostess was nice enough to put us under two umbrellas so the 4 of us were shaded during our meal. It was fun because we got to people watch as we enjoyed our brunch.
We tried various offerings on the menu, and sad to say, the only thing that stood out was one of the salads (Greek salad with grilled chicken?). My friend ordered the pancakes, but they were really dry. I had a scramble with sausages and it was pretty bland. My other friend ordered a pasta and it was just… OK…
There’s a lot of restaurants around this area so I’m not sure if I would come back for the food. The service was top notch tho so that bumped them up to a 3.