Smithtown Restaurants

If you're looking for a little taste of Greece right here on Long Island, visit Akropolis Restaurant in Nesconset. Upon entering, you'd never know this cozy eatery is located in a suburban strip mall. With its red and white checkered tablecloths, rustic wood moldings, and shuttered paintings of the Mediterranean coastline, this place is so authentic you'll feel like you're actually dining in Greece.

The restaurant's two dining rooms are large enough to accommodate a busy Friday evening dinner crowd and still manage to maintain a relaxed environment. Akropolis also handles a substantial amount of takeout orders, but that in no way interferes with your in-house dining experience. The staff remained professional and courteous throughout our meal.

The menu is made up of all manner of hot and cold Greek appetizers, homemade soups, salads, sandwiches, "lite bites," omelettes, and side orders, as well as complete dinner entrees ranging from gyro, souvlaki, and falafel to a wide array of fresh seafood. American favorites like pizza and burgers are also included for good measure.

We ordered the spanakopita and fried zucchini appetizers, along with a nice hot cup of Manhattan clam chowder. The rich and tasty spanakopita was a large serving of spinach pie with a filling of baked spinach, feta cheese, green onions, egg, and dill seasoning. The filling was wrapped in layers of phyllo pastry with butter and olive oil. The fried zucchini were hot and crispy and served with garlic dip.

For our main courses, we chose the chicken souvlaki "sandwich" and Loucaniko dinner special. The souvlaki's delicious marinated chicken, chunks of tomato, and shredded lettuce were wrapped in a pita and served with yogurt sauce. The Loucaniko included flavorful Greek sausage sliced and grilled with onions, peppers, green beans, and tomatoes served over rice. For dessert, we enjoyed two cups of rice pudding to go.

Until now, my Greek dining experiences mainly consisted of either takeout or rushed meals at sparsely decorated restaurants. Akropolis offers a complete dining experience in a warm and inviting atmosphere. Dinner prices range from $15-30 pp and lunches from $10-15 pp.