Takis Taverna

Had their lamb lunch special for a little under $ 15 including tip. The lam was absolutely delicious! Meat fell right off the bone and it was so juicy and flavourful. The bread was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Will definitely be coming back! The waitress was also very friendly!

My wife and I have just eaten the best meal since our arrival in Vancouver 6 days ago. The service was very personable and efficient. The portions were very generous — so generous that we were unable to finish all that was on our plates. Penny had the Athenian Chicken, delicately seasoned and cooked perfectly so that it was moist and tender. I had the Garlic Prawns, which were cooked to perfection — tender, flavourable, and not overwhelmed by the garlic. The rice, roasted potatoes, and sautéed carrots which accompanied our entrees were perfectly paired to the entrees. Greek coffee and incredible dessert were perfect finishes to our meal. I have not enjoyed Greek cuisine this good since I left Montréal, where I lived in a Greek community, 45 years ago. I tip my hat and raise my glass to the Chef!

My husband Nelson and I have been going to Taki’s Taverna since 1990! We just love the place. The staff are more than helpful and their menu is just excellent. The original owner, Taki has now left and sold the business, however, he still works there quite a bit and nothing has really changed. Diana and Ivan are wonderful and Raz the other waiter just marvellous. This is the place to get greek food at its best and, yes, the roast greek potatoes are the BEST.

Have driven by this place a hundred times, for some reason, they’re still around even with Stepho’s next door.
Ordered their veggie moussaka, above average. Lots of eggplant & carrots. For a lunch special, it’s darn good value, look at all the rice, and a salad to boot.
But the calamari: one of the best I’ve had in a long time. Nicely battered. My usual digs is Best Neighbours on Oak st.
Efficient service.
Nice washroom with a full-​length mirror, I like it, makes me look thinner.
It’s a good place for a business lunch meeting.
For DT, it does the job but compared to Burnaby & New Westminster, it’s a big drop IMHO.

Taki’s filled the craving for Greek fare in the sense that the menu had all the usual listings. Problem? The taste wasn’t up to snuff. The portions were unusually generous but there were as many clean plates as there were those with food left for the waste. It was convenient to our hotel, the service was cheerful and efficient. There were a number of good wine choices (Canadian, Italian, Spanish, American) which helped start the meal out right. The calamari appetizer arrived promptly, as did our other menu selections, but for the two of us it surpassed in size any we’ve ever had. Problem? Little flavor through the overly breaded calamari that unfortunately made the rest of our meal unappealing. Don’t give up on Taki’s; give it a try if you’re really hungry and aren’t expecting the best Greek food ever.

I’d like to preface this by saying, I’ve been here before and this rating is solely based on this visit.
Takis Taverna is one of two Greek restaurants within walking distance of my apartment. They are the more expensive of the two, but the quality is far superior to their unnamed neighbor and the portion sizes are more palatable to me. I’m the kind of person that eats what’s in front of them, so I appreciate smaller plates (not to say there isn’t still a very good portion on the entrees).
The girlfriend and I showed up on what turned out to be a busy Saturday night for them, but being that there was only two of us we were still seated immediately. Luckily, even though Valentine’s Day was the next day, they had a Valentine’s Day menu. For $ 50 it was two pita breads and a dip, an appetizer, two entrees, and (supposedly) two desserts. Being the misers we are at heart, we did the math and decided it’d be a good deal for us to order off the menu.
We split the eggplant dip (who’s greek name escapes me) and the calamari to start. The dip wasn’t my cup of tea, but it was surprisingly light and my girlfriend really liked it. The calamari was okay, it was a little overcooked and didn’t taste as good as my previous visits. I wonder if that was because they were rushing it out (or pre-​making it) due to their fixed Valentine’s day menu. We also found out as we were ordering that we couldn’t get the grilled calamari, which would have been my preference, and it doesn’t mention this on the menu.
The entrees were both solid I had the chicken souvlaki and they were nice enough to allow me to substitute the rice for more vegetables. My girlfriend had the kleftico. Both of the meats were cooked perfectly but I felt a twinge of regret after trying a bite of the lamb (although since I was trying to make a healthier choice I think I made the right call).
Last was the dessert. We chose the cream caramel which was excellent. It wasn’t too heavy (which is surprising given the traditional recipe for it) and after everything else we had eaten splitting the one dessert was more than enough for both of us.
That being said, the menu did say (and I checked because I took a picture of the menu to add to my food diary later) that there were two desserts. So while my wallet felt slightly ripped off, my stomach was definitely fully satisfied.
As I said at the beginning the rating is based solely on my visit on the 13^th. If the calamari had been better and clearly labelled on the menu and we had been at least given the option of choosing two dessert this would have been a solid four star rating. Overall, I recommend checking this place out but would recommend avoiding the fixed menu.

Cute little Greek place!
Went there for a work lunch, server was very fast and knew what to recommend. The lunch menu was very reasonable. I got this platter which was under $ 8! I like how they substituted some potatoes for carrots because I’ve always felt like Greek food is a bit carb heavy for me. I would definitely go back!

I’m not really a Greek food expert, but Taki’s is the best place I’ve found in Vancouver. I generally just get the souvlaki meal with potatoes and rice. As someone who puts a large amount of emphasis on the deliciousness of potato products, I would say that their potatoes are one of the best I’ve had at a Greek resturant. The spanakopita is quite delicious, and I always enjoy the pita bread that they send around. Pricewise, it runs you from $ 15 on up, but I always get enough food from the main course that I often don’t order anything else.
Highly recommended.

I love takis taverna! Their pita bread is sooo good! My boyfriend and & love their calamari. The price is also good.

Paid parking at Shopper’s Mart around the corner.
Dine out Vancouver 2016: 3 course meal.
Hummus plate: two different types with a few olives, served with warm bread. This was good. I only realized there were two different types when I got home. They were a different color but I couldn’t tell by taste. It was too dark in the restaurant!
Lamb shank: served with a few overdone green beans, large chunks of carrots and potatoes, a little side of salad with sliced green pepper, cucumber and tomato chunks, olives and cheese. Expected more tenderness and flavor from lamb shank. Potatoes were salty. Carrots were cooked perfectly: not too soft. Salad was a little bland.
Baklava: very hard to cut into.
Service: good
The portions were generous.
I’d say this was great value however it wasn’t a wow for flavor for me.

The little place provides tasty food, nice ambience, and friendly staff. On our visits to Vancouver, we always stop by for lunch or dinner. The lamb is my fav!!!

I had gone here with my wife for dinner and we thought let’s try a place we have never been. A very small and cozy restaurant with a very romantic atmosphere and soothing Colors and comfortable seating.
We had started with a shared dip platter with eggplant and hummus and for our main courses my wife and I shared the lamb shank and the seafood combo. I can’t stress enough the size and quality of the portions we left completely satisfied and left with a new favourite restaurant. I will recommend to any friends seeking a fabulous dinner.

Diane is a wonder-​full hostess, and always takes care of us when we drop in for a most delicious meal. Everything on the menu is good.
If you haven’t tried the saganaki and the taramo (salata) for appies, do yourself a favour.
And hear me out: much much much better (quality and service) than the busy place right down the street. :)

I was here a couple weeks ago on vacation from San Francisco. I have to say, was THE BEST Greek food I have ever eaten in my entire life, period! I am coming back to Vancouver just for Takis. Not only is the food completely out of this world good, the service was great as well. We ordered the chicken livers in red wine sauce (to die for!), the mussls (soooo good), the grilled Calamaraki (fantastic and so juicy when I bit into it, heaven), and the braised lamb shank in red wine sauce (never had anything like this before, THE BEST). Am flying back and returning for sure!

One of the best mousakka I’ve had here in Vancouver. Go for the veggie as it’s tastier than the meat version, which is good too. Lamb is super tender and tasty with excellent flavours. Never really cared for Stepho’s nor did I get why ppl chose to wait there. The service has always been impeccable and they have made sure that our dining experience is up to par.
The good: delicious dishes that leave you full.
The bad: not as cheap as Stepho’s, but don’t even think about it…
The ugly: mousakka is too darn tasty that I usually only eat that when I go.

Best Greek in Vancouver so far! I love Greek food, and eat it often so I guess you could say I’m a bit of a snob about it.
Takis Taverna has the traditional dishes that I love; ie: feta & olives, spanikopita which you can have as a dinner and lamb.
I haven’t been to Stephos so I cannot comment on the difference in taste, but I have eaten Greek food all around the world and Takis was good in comparison to other places I have had it around Vancouver.
It is not a fancy place, but just has good, simple Greek food just what I was hoping for and expecting.

Takis is a thousand times better than Stephos. Accidentally went to Stephos the kalamari was horrible, the service was horrible… We won’t be making that mistake again…

I don’t get the 4 star rating. Maybe people visit this restaurant at night time and not realize how filthy everything actually is.
Where to start? The counters, flowers, chairs were coated with several layers of dust. The cutlery had food on them, and the bathroom, my god the bathroom. You’re charging $ 15+ dish and you can’t even clean your bathroom? Come on!
Now to the food. We ordered Souvlaki. Tasteless, burnt souvlaki. I always look at the kitchen on the way to the bathroom just to see how the place is run. Well, I am just going to avoid talking about how bad the kitchen looked. The kitchen alone would constitute a 1 star rating.
And finally, I noticed several sketchy people in the back. Not sure what they were doing. There is really nothing good to say about this place.
Not a place I will be visiting anytime soon.

Cozy, friendly, and tasty Greek restaurant. My boyfriend and I come here once a month and have never had a bad experience. I am a pescatarian so it’s such a pleasure to be able to order the fresh salmon skewers and get the rest of the Greek platter. The tzatziki is amazing and the portions are huge. The house wine isn’t bad at all, AND the bottles are 1 litre! Amazing!
I moved across the city recently and still make the trek to Taki’s. Thanks for the memories!

Free line-​up. Hooray!
Good customer if they is a line-​up at Stepho’s…
Otherwise the customers service is pretty slow…
I end up they’re couple of time…
Cuz the line-​up at Stepho’s and cuz I was feeling bad for them…
The 2 $ extra for Taziki bother me…
Overall the food was good.
Which is appreciated and great.
Might or might not come back.