George's Greek Cafe

Friday night is a happening place on 2nd Street in Long Beach.  We were part of the "happening" as we strolled along the street. We had no agenda as to where to eat. There were lots of places including Open Sesame which we have been but we wanted to try something new.

We ended up at George's Greek Cafe. It had a high energy vibe; in other words....very loud and noisy. They escorted us upstairs which was a bit better. Our waitress was telling us about the Gyro Falafel and showed us what it looked like behind our table. The guy immediately had to tell us that they were delicious. We of course had to order that as our appetizer.  We were glad we did. They were delicious with the humus on the bottom.

For our entree I wanted to try the Pastitso which is pasta and spiced ground beef with a creamy Bechamel sauce. The waitress strongly suggested the Friday night special which they only serve on Fridays, the Kleftico which is a slow roasted lamb served with roasted Greek potatoes, Greek salad and Pita bread. What were the chances that we would be back on a Friday night....so we had to order that. We asked if they could split it for us and she said yes.

It was a ton of food. We got the Pastitso first. It was served with rice, pita bread and vegetables. It was a lot of starch. We asked about our lamb in which she replied: "Oh, did you want the lamb too?" At that point we were craving or should I say, I was craving for some meat.  Off she went to get our Kleftico. The pastitso was a disappointment; too much pasta, little meat. I once made this dish from a recipe and it was a lot better. The rice was very good packed with flavor. The lamb arrived already split with the Greek salad and potatoes and more pita bread. It was very tender and it reminded us both of short ribs. It was good but not outstanding.

We were both stuffed that we couldn't even bring ourselves to look at the dessert menu. We asked for the bill and were surprised that they charged us to split the entrees. I can and do understand the splitting fee as people sometimes order 1 entree and split it. Some restaurants charge for this as they give you another plate which they will have to wash (extra work) for people too cheap to order 2 entrees.

We ordered 2 entrees and 2 mini bottles of sparkling wine plus an appetizer.  Our server tried to explain that when they split an entree, they add more sides to it. We did not ask for anything extra plus it was her mistake that she thought we only wanted to order the Pastitso.  She had to talk to her manager and eventually returned to inform us that the manager took it off our bill. She then had to tell us again: "Just so you know, in the future, we charge for splitting." It was fine because there was not going to be a next time. Try Open Sesame next time; also on 2nd Street in Long Beach, California.