Maria’s Taverna - Vancouver, British Columbia

Just the perfect end to a visit home. I grew up near Greektown and have fond childhood memories of visiting old-school Greek restaurants. When my family asked where I wanted to eat my last meal in Vancouver for a while, I said a Greek taverna. We happened to be near ... Maria’s, and it ended up being an excellent choice. I wasn’t very hungry, but went for the Kleftiko, because that looked the tastiest. I ended up eating almost all of it. Be careful if you have a sensitive stomach, though, because the meat is quite fatty. Next time I might eat that in the daytime, but pick something lighter for dinner, because my stomach is a sad little creature. They kindly let my mum adjust her order to have extra green salad instead of rice and potatoes, and we all split a bottle of their cheap Greek red, which was delicious! I hope places like this continue operating in Kits forever! Very sweet staff too. Read more

This is a gem at its price point. We started with the cold appetizer platter, which is a mix of four dipping sauces and some warm bread on the side. The bread was ok, but the sauces were all very tasty. We then had the moussaka, which was delicious, and ... the lamb skewer, which was very tender. Overall, we paid $30 per person and we were pretty stuffed. Read more

Nice casual ambiance. Friendly service. The pita was fresh and warm. Sliced. The portion sizes of the main dishes were good. We ordered the moussaka with Greek salad and potatoes and the roast lamb souvlaki which came with rice, potatoes and Greek salad. We also ordered the hot appetizer platter. The ... items came in fours so that worked out for our family of four. Our only real complaint was watching the hordes of delivery drivers coming through receiving their orders while it seemed to take much longer than expected for our food. We had gone through two baskets of pita and most of the dips (hummus and tzatziki) that were given to us for the platter that hadn’t yet arrived. But overall, good food, good portion sizes and good service. Read more

Shayan makes this place the friendliest place to eat on the block and even all the blocks. Food was absolutely delicious! I could write an essay but words can't capture taste! Very delightful experience and the friendliness again was above and beyond made us feel at home... without the worry ... of who's doing the dishes. p.s. Amir please buy Shayan company car. We discussed 4 years is great service 👍 Read more

Great portion sizes, various options for sharing platters/appetizers both hot and cold. Service was prompt and kind, no issues. My dish was the keftedes platter - best thing on the plate was the rice: fluffy, flavourful and fantastic. The keftedes were seasoned well, had a nice grill/charcoal taste but a ... smidge dry Read more