St John Greek Orthodox Church

This is a nice Greek Orthodox church in South Tampa. The service is quite traditional and mixes Greek and English. There is some food (super delicious!!!) and beverages served afterward in the community gathering area /​gymnasium. Most of the service is rigmarole and pageantry with minimal inspiring sermon and no bible passages or Christ teachings. But otherwise it’s a great group of peeps and a very nice priest.
They host a Greek Festival every year with food and dancing. The fundraiser will hopefully help to fix the roof which is leaking and damaging the ceiling and artwork in the dome.

My daughter actually attends the school that is joined to the church :)
This is where the yearly Greek Festival is held.
The church is gorgeous. Definitely something to check out while there.
The people are friendly there, lots of little shows to see like the Greek bands and dances. I think they even have lessons.
The food is amazing and is home cooked by a group of men at the church (the assistant pastor said his father is one of them). To die for, and authentic. You can enjoy a variety of entrees, deserts, drinks, you name it.
There’s a play section for the kiddies also.
Vendors are available, many offer items imported from Greece, same with foods.
I went on a Sat. Shortly after opening. It wasn’t overly crowded and parking was available, which is free.
Admission is cheap and food prices aren’t over the top. I’m not sure about alcohol prices.
All around great vibe and an awesome experience. It’s defiantly well worth the visit. Check it out the next time they have it!

This was the site of the Tampa Greek Festival, for 3 days last weekend, to benefit Life path Hospice. The outside of the church is old, ornate and has a very stately field to it. It was gloriously transformed for the Greek Festival.
First I was amazed that we were able to park with relative ease and quite close to the church. There was a myriad of tents and tarps for the many various stations they had to offer. In the front there was a band and a bar with regular cocktails, but they had the Zorba& the Zeus. They also had special Greek coffee, beer & wines. The band was quite good and oh no, I forgot to mention they had shots of Ouzo & a special hard cider!
The food was delectable and authentic. I love baklava, but found other pastries I had never heard of, that I also fell in over with. Just try a Greek Sundae!
The stuffed grape leaves and other sides and entrees were absolutely the bomb. At many festivals you end up with mediocre food and bevera8, not the case here. Everything we same was a true delight.
What a great and fun day, while benefiting such a worthy cause. This is an event Tampa has every year and it continues to grow and get better every year. Try it, you will over it & it is also a great family event.
What’s a girl to do? I wasn’t born Greek, but I’ve all things Greek.