Pithari: Little Greece

Pithari, a Greek restaurant, opened up in Highland Park a few years ago. It has been a popular place to eat ever since, and I completely understand why. 

When you walk in, the first thing you see is the design. It has two parts: an "indoor" area and an "outdoor" area. The indoor room is near the kitchen, while the outdoor room is a large room enclosed completely by glass windows. The cool thing about these windows is that they are designed so that in the summer you can remove the glass and have a semi-open space. The window room is also designed like a faux terrace. It has a fake roof over the doorway between the two rooms, with fake vines, and the ceiling is painted a sky blue (as in the picture). I felt like I was in a mini version of Greece!

Today when I went, I was just as excited as I always am. Lena, Eve, and I walked in at about one o'clock. I was pleased to see that there were only five or six other groups of people there, because I have had to wait for over and hour before (it is usually very packed). We were seated immediately and given menus. All of the dishes sounded really yummy, but there were only a few vegetarian options that would be filling. A lot of the appetizers, which ranged from $4.95 to $15.95, were a mix of different dips/sides, some veggie, others meaty. 

Out of the entrees, there were only a few choices: Spanakopita, Mousakas (a sort of greek version of lasagna), stuffed eggplant, and a veggie pita platter under the "Souvlaki and Gyro" section. 

The waitress came a few minutes later to take our order. She was really friendly, and offered to come back when we were ready. We finally decided, and I ordered the veggie pita platter, excited to get something healthy and yummy. Eve got a chicken gyro, and Lena got the Spanakopita (she loves spinach and feta..). 

A couple of minutes after we ordered, a waiter brought us a basket of pita and a plate of fresh olives to tide us over until our meals arrived. Not long after that, they brought our food as well. 

Lena's Spanakopita was delicious (see the picture to the left). The fillo dough was perfectly cooked (crispy, but not too crumbly), and the spinach and feta were balanced well too.

I was really excited when I saw our food coming, but when they put my plate in front of my, I was little confused. I had expected a plate of veggies with some pita. What I got, though, was a large plate with rice, pita, shredded lettuce, tzatziki (a Greek yogurt dip), and stuffed grape leaves. It looked delicious, and it did taste delicious, but I had been expecting something with more... vegetables. Eve's plate looked exactly like mine, except instead of grape leaves she had chicken. 

After our main courses, we decided to share some desserts. We ordered the baklava and the galaktomboureko (fillo dough with a Greek custard in the middle). They were both absolutely delectable; I couldn't have hoped for anything better. Once we had finished, we sat for a long time and let our stomachs digest all the food we had eaten. The staff were quite friendly, bringing us water periodically and not minding how long we were there. When we got up to leave, they even waved goodbye. 

All in all, the restaurant is really quite exceptional. The foods are delicious, even without much vegetarian variety. I could see myself getting sick of the choices rather quickly, but in the meanwhile I really enjoy it. If you've never had Greek food, I strongly recommend trying it! The flavors are wonderful and all the appetizers and dips really make one's mouth water.

Rating: out of ★★★★★ (✫=1/2)

Food: ★★★★

Service: ★★★★

Atmosphere: ★★★★✫

Vegetarian Variety: ★★

Pithari

28 Woodbridge Avenue

Highland Park, NJ 08904

(732)572-0616

www.pitharitaverna.net