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Athens Greek & American Restaurant

7700 N.W. 23rd St.
Bethany, OK
(405) 787-4414

I consider it a cause for celebration when a fast food chain restaurant gets converted into a true neighborhood ethnic restaurant, such as Athens Greek & American Restaurant in Bethany, a suburb of Oklahoma City. Athens operates in a building that looks like it once housed a Taco Bell or Long John Silver's. Although orders are still placed at the counter in a "fast food" format, the food is now individually cooked and the restaurant stays pretty close to its ethnic traditions.

Several dinners are offered, and I tried one that featured Grilled Chicken Breast with Hot Pita Bread. The chicken is served on top of the pita, and comes with hummus and taboli on the side. The chicken was well spiced, and tasted better than many of the fajita dishes that are served in Mexican restaurants. I am not usually very impressed with grilled chicken but this one was very enjoyable. It was made even more enjoyable by the cup of yogurt that was provided for dipping the meat into, or spreading on the pita like a sandwich.

Gyros and Salad

Gyros seems to be one of the specialties of the restaurant, with a choice of side dishes being available with the sandwich. I found this sandwich to have more of the flavor of the meat than others I have tried, with fewer spices. This was not my favorite gyros that I ever tried, but I cannot comment as to whether or not it was true to the authentic style. I liked the chicken better but the gyros was also good, and obviously had good quality ingredients.

The Hummus had a texture sort of like potato salad. It was rather stange but tasted OK.

The Taboli had a very fresh and light flavor. The main problem with this and the hummus on my dinner was that there was not enough of either one.

I ordered Dolma on the side (four of these rice filled grape leaves are served in an order) that I enjoyed about as much as anything I ate at the restaurant.

The Dinner Salad was excellent with feta cheese providing the bulk of the flavor. The fresh lettuce and vegetables, though, also contributed to its quality.

My sampling of items was limited by the fact that no substitutions were allowed on the dinner plates, and individual side orders of many items were not offered. This is strange because Athens Restaurant is a small operation, with orders cooked in front of the customers. The most perplexing thing to me was that a shish-kabob dinner is served from 5 p.m. to closing time that comes with one beef skewer and one chicken skewer, but even though it is the most expensive item on the menu (at $6.99) they will not substitute one of the meats and give you two beef kabobs or two with chicken.

Athens does not serve many items that I think may be expected in a traditional Greek restaurant, probably because it is trying to keep prices down, and much of the business is take-out. Still, the quality is very good even if the choices are limited. I was happy with everything I tried, and a couple of items were better than expected.

The "American" side of the menu consists mainly of hamburgers, but also includes chili cheese fries and a B.L.T. The restaurant is "family friendly," and will not break the bank if you bring a large group of people.