Last week I was in Orlando for a work-related trip and had some great eats while visiting in the middle of Tropical Storm Andrea. Hot, humid and pouring-monsoon rain = no fun. We spent a lot of time indoors at a conference and dodging the pelting rain. We did go out for dinner to Opa Taverna in Orlando, on our last night in town and had a great time! Opa Taverna is a chain restaurant, seemingly in the southern area of the country, that serves Greek and Mediterranean food (yum! one of my faves) and even has Zorba and belly dancers as part of their nightly entertainment!

We were able to sit outside, where there wasn’t much belly dancing action – but that was ok with us. We shared some amazing homemade hummus that came in a mortar with a pestal for self-smushing and some yummy warm pita bread triangles. For my meal, I went with the classic chicken kebobs, which came with a spinach rice pilaf and lemon roasted potatoes. The menu had some delicious entrees though, full of meat options, and even your typical gyro fare – really anyone could find something to eat here. My food was amazing – great tasting, hot, and I’m pretty sure I ate everything off of the plate!

I apologize for the awful iPhone picture!

As a sidebar of how fun the inside of Opa Taverna is – when I went to use the restroom, I noticed that the floors of the entire restaurant are littered with white napkins. People throw napkins at Greek taverna’s because of tradition – much like smashing plates to the floor and yelling “OPA!” at the top of your lungs. Hopefully, if you ever do a napkin dance at a Greek restaurant, you’re having a much better time than this kid in the black sweatshirt. Seriously. Lighten up.

It was a great restaurant, overall. The service was a bit slow and I think next time I would have liked to be seated inside to see more of the fun action going on. But it was nice to enjoy the patio and eat undisturbed by rowdy party-goers…ha! Have you ever been to a Greek restaurant? What are you your favorite meal traditions? OPA!