Review Cristos Greek Restaurant - Burnaby

Service was absolutely great; roast lamb was one of the best I've had. Presentation of the dishes was really good

You pay half the price to get what those restaurants can offer, or even you get better quality food and bigger amount of foods. Love the nice design and clean environment. I agreed with what the other review mentioned about staffs being loud and taking off masks to eat. They need to get better at it.

9/10 Very good food and the restaurant has a nice, historical setting. The lamb chops, Greek salad, rice and bread were delicious. The restaurant feels very cozy with many different artifacts everywhere. My main constructive feedback is the potatoes and soup. They were a little bit too sour for my liking but still very good. It is a good price if you are fine paying $24 for a very big plate of food!

Ordered online. Lamb shoulder was nice and tender. Kalamari was okay, and the chops is a little dry. Meals for the lamb shoulder included tzatziki, pita, and salad. My lamb chops should have had nothing. And the kalamari should have had only tzatziki sauce. We got 3 pita bread which I guess is fine .. but I would've preferred a salad. And at value the salad would have costed more. Unfortunately the pita bread is a bit hard and over baked. In addition was not very happy with the "additional" fees when paying online via the debit/visa. Most establishments include the fee in. So in essence they might have been overloaded and not prepared for the rush on mother's Day. Also owing me a few dollars. (Experience from parents who lived and ran a restaurant in Greece in the past)

ordered a 2 ppl platter 30mins ago. Decent size, awesome taste, reasonable price, friendly ppl. Mort importantly. Wife is very happy with surprise!! Thank you! Not the best pic bit the smell. My dog is dripping like crazy now. Lol.

We were here last when it was Cristos so had to try it as The Zeus. Food was Good as was the service. There were only 2-3 other couples there during our visit. Has to have their saganaki which we shared. The lamb was very tender and juicy and my calamari was very good as well. Enjoyed their sangria too.

This was (and still is) my family’s go-to spot for Greek food growing up in North Burnaby. I had it again recently and it was just as I remembered! They do a great job with the roasted lamb, its definitely my favourite here. The calamari is always great, although there has been a few times where it’s been inconsistent and over-cooked. The servers have always been friendly and attentive. Pricing is pretty standard for Greek food. Thank you for serving me and my family awesome Greek food over the years!

Absolutely delicious, great portion sizes, lots of street parking. Two-level dining area with a staircase. This place is absolutely loaded with Greek decorations, pillars, Artistry, and so much more! Fantastic

Came here for dinner with my bro. Since he said he has been for his Christmas Party. I'd say at best just average. Nothing extraordinary that I feel can justify their dinner prices...*ouch*...pretty steep in my opinion. Knowing that there are a few places around that you can choose from. The dish I had was Chicken Souvlaki definitely plenty but the pita bread was one piece cut in fours between 2 people really??? The chicken was tender enough the potato was tasty, the rice is a bit on the saltier side and the greek salad had plenty of feta but I couldn't taste the dressing. The calamari came off a bit fishy, yes its squid but when cooked right should not have that smell, it was very tender which means it might have been possibly undercooked. Overall an average night. Decor is very homey and gives off a cozy vibe. Service was a bit lacking but friendly enough.

My partner and I came here for dinner forgetting we have been here before, and that we had declared we wouldn’t be back. We have just eaten at so many different places and I have just written about so much, that I end up repeating the ones that are less memorable. This was the case today. Although we walked in to over hear that they are now under new owners, and we would later find out this came with new menu pricing and different quality of food. So in this post, I was able to reference my older entry and make an accurate comparison.

I was feeling like Greek and didn't want to go far. Cristos Greek Taverna was nearby so I gave them a shot. Ordered a Calamari dinner for takeout, it was expensive and was it ever salty. The pita bread tasted as if it was stale, I wasn't too sure though. I don't think I'll ever order from them again.

Went to Cristos for lunch and had the chicken souvlaki. I will certainly be returning to this gem of a restaurant very soon. The chicken was well seasoned and cooked to perfection. The tzatziki was smooth and amazing. And of course, the Greek salad was fresh and paired with a tangy dressing.  Service was great and prompt. The price was very reasonable. I've had Greek food in Toronto right on the Danforth, the heart of Greek Town and this is just as amazing!

Went here on a Saturday evening, restaurant was not busy and the service was very poor. <br/><br/>We waited 45 minutes to get food and our waitress did not return to refill our water or to even check up on us.<br/>Not sure if they need to hire more staff but the service was very slow especially since their food prices at higher than average. <br/><br/>Will not return

"The entrees at Cristos are perhaps a little too under-seasoned. The lemon potatoes didn’t have much of a lemon flavor to them, the rice pilaf was forgettable and the calamari could have used another punch of seasoning. The breading on the calamari was too light and I was hoping for a little more meat for the souvlaki."<br/><br/>Full review in the link below.

What a treat - New Year's Eve. To be honest we were not planning to go to Cristos for NY's Eve but after waiting for the very last minute my girlfriend and I had no plans to go anywhere else. So, we thought why not? We like the place. We arrived at 7:30 PM and the folks at Cristos scrambled to find us a table as the place was packed. The server took the time to explain to us that there was a special menu which was starting with the choice of Greek or Caesar salad; then a small appie for 2; then the two choices of various entrees of $35 or $40; and then the choice of the desserts with coffee and tea to finish up.<br/><br/>The food was excellent. I had the mousaka and my girlfriend the salmon and prawns. And then I had the ekmek. To die for. With chocolate on top. Perfect! But the night was not over. At 8:30 PM the belly dancer came. Then the place started to rock. As she was moving through the tables folks were lining up to put money in her costume. And then she danced with the sword in her head; great entertainment. Couple folks had the courage to dance with her and break plates as well. <br/><br/>After the belly dancer, the manager dressed in a Greek traditional costume brought us the jello shooters. Jello in small cups with a little bit of whipping cream on top. Delicious. But wait... and then the 'test tube babies' arrived. Nice little test tubes with a nice blend of liquor in them. I could have had 20 of those. As the night was ending the server reminded us that if we kept the NY's Eve menu we could use it as a coupon for a 10% off in January. We did. We are coming back anyway. That was a fun night!

What a disaster. What we wanted: an intimate dinner for two, a birthday celebration in our neighbourhood.<br/><br/>What we got..... In the first few minutes of seating, carafe of red wine dumped on my husband with a waiter with an arm injury. <br/>We get cleaned up and change tables. Order our meals. Food is nothing special. But still the evening is just ok .<br/><br/>THEN...<br/>While we are enjoying the end of our meal the music is turned up to ear splitting levels and some " belly dancer " starts flailing around the restaurant. It was a scene out of some bad teen movie with canned sounds of plates breaking. Couldn't talk over the noise. Had to ask for the bill to get out.<br/> Owner apologized and said he would make it up next time. There will be no next time.

Hungry for Mezedes at work. I was hungry today at work and wanted some χταπόδι (octopus), so I checked Just-eat.ca for local Greek Restaurants and found Cristos' listed. I had eaten there before with a good friend of mine and had enjoyed it, so I decided to order right way. Unfortunately my favorite “addiction,” ταραμοσαλάτα (a meze made from fish roe) was not listed on the Just-eat.ca menus, so I begrudgingly I decided to order the χούμους (hummus, chickpea meze). Then I got busy at work and distracted by tasks at hand. When I had a free moment, I thought to phone and ask if the driver had left for delivery yet and if he/she had not, could I substitute the hummus for ταραμοσαλάτα. At this point I could already taste the ταραμοσαλάτα and needed my fix lol. What crack is perhaps to Rob Ford, the infamous Mayor of Toronto, ON, ταραμοσαλάτα is to myself and my παρέα (good company of friends) lol.<br/><br/>The owner answered, unbeknownst to me that he was the owner, and explained that while they do serve ταραμοσαλάτα, but unfortunately the delivery person had already left three minutes ago. I thanked the gentleman and bid him a good evening. Some ten minutes later, I get a phone call on my cell phone and I recognize the owner’s voice. He is outside and so I let him in the building. He introduced himself as the owner and we talked a bit-- he figured out that I was Ρωμιός (Greek). There had been a mix up and they had thought I was going to pay by debit and he did not have any change. I told him to keep the change and not to worry (it wasn’t a big bill). He insisted on buying me a drink the next time I’m at the restaurant. We exchanged our goodbyes and the owner then left.<br/><br/>Since I was starving I began to devour the delicious assortment of mezedes of χταπόδι, χούμους and whole wheat πίτα (pita bread). Within another ten minutes the owner was back with a Σαλάτα (salad) and my favorite “addiction”: the ταραμοσαλάτα :D I must have thanked him multiple times. I must commend him on an excellent meal and even better customer service!! The next time I’m at Cristos’, I should buy the Boss a drink! Εις υγείαν!!

5/5 stars!. Excellent staff, delicious food, awesome entertainment. Best Greek restaurant I've ever been to! The charismatic staff and owner made the night way more than just a dinner! Can't wait to come back!

Mixed feelings. I felt the food was good, I had the mixed souvlaki. The atmosphere was great as it was a really cultural experience with the traditionally dressed manager and all the decorations and little ceremonies (ie. breaking the plate and saying opa!! )<br/><br/>however the service wasn't great as our female waitress was hardly around and it took too much effort on our part to wave her down to get the bill.

Awesome. I took my son to this place for dinner on a Friday night. My son is 8yrs old. We were greeted right away and taken to a table. Seconds later the waiter came back and took our drink orders he kindly suggested a nice wine I might like and for my son he got a 7-up. The best part was when we got our drinks, my son's came with a shooter glass of grenadine to add to his 7-up (we did not ask for this the server decided to surprise my son). We were very impressed by this, and once we got our food the rest of the evening was perfect. Proportions were great and very filling, the food was great. I recommend this place for sure, its so warm and cozy and the server is all about making you comfortable and happy. Darryl was great, ask for him if you are going to have dinner or lunch here you will not be disappointed!! I will be coming back here again :)

SAVE YOUR MONEY: GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. New owner at Cristos doesn't have a clue what he's doing. Food quality has gone way down. & apparently i'm not the only one who has noticed as the restaurant is almost always empty now. so sad. it used to be a great greek restaurant. now, i wouldn't eat there if it was free. my advice: don't buy a restaurant if you have no restaurant experience.<br/><br/>- john. j

Misleading. We found this restaurant using the Urbanspoon app on my iPhone. We were searching for a reasonably priced Greek dine-in on our way home. Indicating two $ and after reviewing the menu it seemed like a sure thing.<br/><br/>When we arrived the place was empty (5:45 on a Wednesday evening) except for one other couple. The menu we were provided did not match the one shown on urbanspoon. The prices were close to double. <br/><br/>We decided to try it anyways. We ordered the chicken souvlaki and the roast lamb. I would equate the portions to a lunch size and definitely not worth the price tag for either.<br/><br/>Service was friendly however quite slow at the tail end when we were left sitting with empty plates in front of us for almost 10 minutes. Once the bill arrived we waited for quite some time before I just had to stand up and go to the bar to pay. <br/><br/>We won't be returning as we did not see value in our purchase.

Surprised !!. For the last 30 yrs., this has been one of our favourite restaraunts..............but last night was a disappointment and surprise. 3/4 of the food on their appie platter was not up to par. Apparently there has been new owners in the last 2 years, and I guess it's been that long since we've been there. Very noticable, was the amount of patrons................this place used to be always crowded, but sadly not anymore..............which has to be due to the change in food quality. On a positive note, the service was great................ but then again, not too many tables to wait on.<br/>So, I'm very sad, since this place was always the "go to" spot for great greek food.

Never Again!. Hello Reader, August 2012<br/><br/>My husband and I went to Christos Taverna 5 years ago for a late lunch one day. I had the Prawn Souvlaki and it was scrumptious! Everything was fresh and cooked perfectly and was so tasty! I was so happy that day, I thought we'll come back here someday to enjoy their food again. Well today was that day. My husband and I went to enjoy an anniversary meal there and were not very happy at all. It was quite a let down. I ordered the same meal and was very disappointed. The prawns were overcooked, possibly old and were fishy tasting. Also, the meal cost $20 and I was given only one skewer of prawns, for a dinner meal that's not good, other restaurants give you two for dinner. I was given the choice of buying a second prawn skewer for $7.00, I passed. The Greek salad would have been okay except there was no dressing on it at all and the rice was horrible, gooey with great big peas in it...the potatoes although only two small wedges were given were tasty. The bread came nice and hot but was very hard! My husband had the Beef Souvlaki and said the beef was not very good. Very small overcooked pieces and again with only one skewer. We then ordered dessert which was called Ek Mek...should have been called Uk Yuck! I will say no more on the subject!<br/>My husband ordered a glass of house red...they gave him the smallest amount of wine we've ever seen given in a restaurant and charged $7.00 for it! Wow...what a rip off! The glass was barely one quarter full. <br/><br/>The service there was rather good and they were friendly and quick with everything. Too bad about the food though.<br/><br/>So we feel the food is not very good and it is way over priced for such a not so good tasting meal. They used their awful rice as a filler as it filled up half the plate when they should have used more of their good tasting potatoes to fill up a quarter of the plate instead. They were cheap with the prawns, one skewer instead of two for that price and they weren't even good. It's not exactly a high end restaurant in a high end of town so they need to lower their prices to match the quality of food. <br/><br/><br/>Hope this helps whoever reads it!

Wonderful food, wonderful service. I loved this place. I had calamari to start and the beef souvlaki dinner. The ambiance is nice except the one table of very obnoxiously loud people. It's cozy. It's comfortable.<br/><br/>The service was excellent. We were checked on numerous times throughout the meal and the food was tasty.

LOVE IT!!. Best Greek food anywhere! I love the roast lamb, you don't even need a knife! I usually get take out, so I love that they separate the greek salad so it's not warm and gross when you get it home. Best tzatziki I've had, not runny like some places. I will be a customer for life!

Excellent food & atmosphere. Growing up in a greek restaurant, I have quite high standards for hellenic cuisine. Cristo's has an excellent atmosphere, outstanding staff, and most importantly: awesome greek food. Simple, fresh, traditional, and down-right delicious. I'll be going again for sure!

Best Greek in Burnaby. The title should say it all. I love the food there. Excellent restaurant. Great value. Friendly staff.

Very nice dinner selections for couples. We ordered the seafood dinner for two, though they should've marked it as for 2-4people... Excellent fish, great combination of tiger prawn and scallop. Wasn't that happy when the waitress "wow" at the fact that we fished 90%of everything. What can I say, we were hungry and we love Greek food!!!

Medium price, excellent everything.. So Saturday is date night for Mr. Man (my meat-eating husband) and I, and tonight we were running late. A lot of places in Burnaby close around 930 or 10 on Saturday night (we're night owls, so this is early for us), and we didn't get to deciding about dinner until close to 9. Rather than my normal gut-instinct-combined-with-heavy-research tendencies, I googled urbanspoon on my phone and looked for something with good reviews. We ended up at Cristos a little after 9 pm. The kitchen closes at 10. The place was packed, with 3 large groups and a bevy of smaller tables - a serving nightmare, and a sign that often means waiting for ages for a table. We were seated within 30 seconds, and a waitress was there within another minute. <br/>Here's the thing - as my friends (and previous review) know, I'm big on service. I've been on both sides of the food service industry, and my personal preference is for staff who are professional, yes, but friendly - I'm big on friendly. The staff at Cristos was just that. I'm not sure how they fit so many waitresses in that place (the ratio of waitstaff to customers was great!), but the five (yes, 5) who spoke to us (greeted at the door, taken to our table, our waitress, the girl who helped bring the food, and the one we bumped into on our way out) were beyond lovely. Remember, we walked in at about 915 pm for a 10 pm close. At 1005, when I asked for the bill, mentioning that we knew they were closing, our server very sincerely told us not to rush, as they had 'so much to do to clean up and get ready for the next day' (even though I personally couldn't see a lot left to do! - score one for friendliness!).<br/>Next, drinks. I tried one of the cheaper white wines, and when I asked for it, our server went to get me a tester first (did I mention we liked the staff?) - seems that this wine has a pine needle taste to it that folks either love or hate, and she wanted to make sure I loved it before ordering. When I mentioned how odd the taste was, she told us the story of the wine. Did I mention we liked the staff? The wine was interesting, too. I think it's growing on me.<br/>Since we were trying to taste-test the place, we ordered the Cristos platter, which had roast lamb, chicken souvlaki, calamari, greek salad, rice, potatoes, pita, tzatziki, and dolmathes. <br/>Lamb makes me sad, so that was all Mr. Man's - he says it was very tender, cooked perfectly, and seasoned well. The chicken souvlaki was flippin' amazing! If I say it was moist and tender and brilliantly seasoned, it's still not doing it justice. Best souvlaki I"ve had in ten years in the GVRD? Yup. Calamari also scares me (I can't get over the concept of squid, and there were little tentacle things in it), but Mr. Man loves the stuff, good, bad, or ugly. This definitely ranked in the 'good' section. His verdict? - very fresh, good texture without being chewy, and not overcooked. And a lot of it. The potatoes were standard lemon-Greek potatoes, but man o man, did I love them. My only complaint is that there were only 2 half-potatoes, and I would happily have had more. The rice was good, standard (white rice tends to bore me), with a nice lemon flavour. The tzatziki was good, definitely made in house (I really hate it when Greek restaurants buy tzatziki.....it seems wrong on so many levels). It was a little light on garlic for my taste, but so lovely and thick that I didn't really mind. The salad might just have been my favourite part of the meal. The feta was grated, and abundant, and lovely and salty and lush and rich and perfect, and even though green peppers aren't my favourite, the blend of chunks of veggies to feta to dressing was so good that I was sad to see it end. The pita was definitely made in-house, and had a good crisp-to-chewy ratio. I always find dolmathes a little disappointing (I don't know what I expect, but I think I want more flavour), but Mr. Man loved the beef-to-rice ratio.<br/>The price is a little higher than the $10-$15 per entree designation it has on urbanspoon - most entrees were between $16.50 - $24, and the platter we had was around $45. Add in one drink each, and a decent tip, and an extra order of tzatziki, and we were above $75, but even with Mr. Man's appetite (which is a Force To Be Reckoned With) we had enough to bring home. <br/>This won't be an every-week kind of place for us, but we'll definitely be more than happy to go back. Thumbs up, absolutely.

Very Good Greek Food. I went to Cristo's for the first time about a year ago. Now I go once a week. The food is always great.( By far the best in the area). The service is always fast and friendly, and it has a cozy, comfortable atmosphere. If you're in the mood for Greek food, go here!

Hastings has so many options to choose from. This is one street with many cuisines, Italian, Indian, American, Mexican, Japanese and Greek! This was my first time at Cristos Greek Taverna and my oh my was I impressed. The service was amazing here! Our waiter was attentive and helpful and the food was delicious! Before departing from the restaurant they came around and gave us a free shot! Now that is how you get a customer back! Okay, but let’s get your mouth drooling for some Cristos! Dinner consisted of Calamari, spanakopita, lamb shank, and baklava. The Calamari was your typical Greek style Calarmari I normally find at Greek restaurants. It was hot and crispy! Except I should note it wasn’t overly greasy like I find at some Greek restaurants! The spanakopita which was flaky, hot, and very tasty was served with some tzatiki. I loved how it was easy to share between two people and it was very delicious. (Sorry for the blurry photo… clearly I was way too excited to dig in!) Now, by far

The way that we were treated felt like we were at a very high class, fancy fine dining restaurant reserved for the most highest classes of society instead of a neighbourhood Greek restaurant.I ordered the chicken souvlaki plate, which came with rice, potatoes, greek salad, tzatziki sauce, and pita bread.

We were driving around looking for date night dinner, when we happened upon this little place. We weren’t too impressed with what we saw on the outside, but we were craving Greek and were tired of driving; so were willing to give this place a try. By looks, it resembled an abandoned house. It was painted white, with its accents and trim done in blue; how very traditional Greek of it. The porch was fenced off, guarding their collection of potted greenery. Plants clustered together in a variety of sizes and species. The windows behind them were barred by wooden shutters and with iron rods. The metal was twisted to resemble a vine-like pattern over the glass. With this and its the large front doors shut, this restaurant didn’t appear too inviting. I did however appreciate the complimentary customer parking to the side. Although it was packed, there was enough free street parking out front and across the street, that multiple laps around the building were not required. We weren’t expec

Cristos has the atmosphere going well for them, and certainly not terrible service but the food just does not come through to warrant a return trip.

We first discovered Cristos when we first moved to the area over a year and a half ago. I remember being so tired from unpacking our belongings and going out to eat with M. Greek food fit the bill as it would be filling, hearty, and comforting. The bonus