Jim's Greek Tavern

An authentic Greek restaurant experience. For us we weren't given a clear instruction that we could pick a la carte. They assumed we wanted a set menu, being a table of 5. But we had lots of great food. We carried on because we thought that was the way it was for everybody. On a normal Wednesday night it cost $75 per person. A little bit of pricey in today's economy but there was plenty to eat. It all was great but it wasn't exactly top-notch for everything. But it was a great vibe, busy but lots of guests and regulars were treated like family. I want to come back to try la carte another time. I had to ask a few times to get our water topped up but no big deal.

Jim’s Greek Tavern has been on my list for years — and finally getting to experience it lived up to the excitement! I went with a group of four, and being a BYO spot, we brought our own drinks to enjoy with the meal. When you first step inside, it feels like a small, intimate restaurant, but as you walk towards the back, it opens up into a huge dining room buzzing with energy. Despite the full house, we could still hold a conversation without shouting — a rare and pleasant surprise. The vibe is very traditional and unpretentious, with simple white walls, blue tablecloths, and a casual, old-school charm that really makes you feel like you’re dining in a classic Greek taverna. We were offered the choice of à la carte or a set menu (no physical menus were given), and decided the set menu would be the easiest option. Food came out impressively fast, especially considering how packed the place was. Every dish was fresh, flavorful, and authentic — we polished off everything quickly! The only thing that left us a little disappointed was the value. At $75 per person ($300 total for four), we didn’t feel like we got our money’s worth, especially since none of us were actually full by the end. It was Anzac Day, so it’s possible a surcharge was factored in, but it still felt a bit steep for the amount of food. Next time, I’d definitely lean towards ordering à la carte instead. All in all, Jim’s is worth visiting for the lively atmosphere, BYO option, and honest Greek food — just be mindful of how you order!

We were served by Frank, who welcomed us like a big brother inviting us back home. This no-menu restaurant offers a truly unique dining experience. We ordered seafood and meat, and I mentioned to Frank that I love seafood more and don’t eat quail. He curated our meal with mixed dips and homemade bread, saganaki, charcoal-grilled octopus, prawn, fish, lamb, and a Greek salad. Every dish we were served was amazing — fresh, simple, and bursting with flavor. The fish, prawn, and cheese were my personal favorites, while the meat was the highlight for my partner. The thoughtful serving structure added to the experience — they began with mixed dips and homemade bread, followed by cheese and seafood, and finished with the meat and salad. This progression allowed us to fully savor the sweetness and freshness of the seafood before moving on to the richness of the meat. I’ll definitely be back and can’t wait to bring my family here to experience the authentic Greek soul and flavors when they visit Melbourne from overseas.

It’s one of the oldest Greek restaurants in Australia, probably the oldest in Melbourne! This place has a lot of mixed reviews so hear me out on this one coz you’ll either love it or nahh wouldn’t be your place! This place recommends that you go with their feed me option & the waiters will initially convince you that it’s the only way they have, where they serve whatever is being cooked/prepared on that day. They do have an a’la carte menu but it’s not their preferred way of dinning! I must say no ‘WOW’ effect on the food, it’s was nice just as if your dinning at your grandparents house! Quality was great n the food was fresh which is something I appreciated about the place. On the other side, the vibes of the place & the overall atmosphere would make you feel that you’re dinning at an actual Greek tavern on the streets of Athens! I would go back for their vibes n house wine 🍷

First time dining at Jim’s Greek Tavern. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I was never super familiar with Greek food. I left the restaurant smiling from ear to ear!! Seafood and the salad’s greens were all fresh. Mixed platter was out of this world, especially the chicken skewers.

Very different dining experience that was a first for me. No menus. Our server asked us how hungry we were and then gave us suggestions. The chicken and lamb souvlakis were very tasty but too expensive. 2 souvlakis and a salad were $85.

Great vibe in this bustling greek tavern. The staff were really friendly and an enjoyable meal. He fois comes out super quickly.It's BYO so member to come prepared

Loved this place, especially our waitor, George . Brought friends from overseas here, and what a feast we had. $75 each for the banquet. There was more than enough food, and they encouraged us to take away what wasn't eaten. It's BYO alcohol.

We loved this place. Listening to the reviews (here and elsewhere) about their being "no menu" and uppity waiters had us a little worried, but as some of us have Mediterranean roots, we wondered whether it'd just be like home lol Anyway, we rock up like 7pm with some bottles of wine (its BYOW!) and are immediately met by a line of cheerful waiters who take us to our table. The place is quite basic (wine glasses and water glasses are the same little cups) and old school, but very friendly and has a nice vibe. And yes there is no menu, but if you a) have a rough idea of greek food its not really necessary or b) the waiter explains stuff so well. For $55 per head, you can have a banquet which is just everything: dips (tzatziki, taramasalata, baba ganoush, etc), saganaki. bread, octopus, greek salads, seafood (prawn/fish/calamari), meats (chicken/lamb), and I think a dessert or coffee. But as someone who doesn't like mixing too many meats we went for a la carte (I got chicken, another person got lamb, and two others shared seafood - along with a bunch of aforementioned starters/sides). Everything was really great. This place is amazing and chill as hell. If you wanna just sit and drink wine and chat for a wine, no problem. Any requests for how things are cooked or made or prepared, or when they should come out, no problem. It just felt so easy and relaxed, literally like you're eating at a Mediterranean relatives house except there's an actual waiter haha. Overall it turned out to be about $50 per head for us, and we were stuffed, which I thought was pretty reasonable for the amount of food we had. I'd definitely recommend this place and return here. However, this place might not be ideal if you're looking for a quick bite before going out. In my opinion, the best way to do this place would probably be to make a bit of a night out of it, book like a 10 seater table, come starving, and just go to town on BYOW and ordering whatever the waiter offers haha. Which we will probably do one day!

OMG, where do I start?! HORRENDOUSLY aggressive staff. We had booked a birthday party for 19 people at $75 a head. Our waiter, Egon, was so rude! He was constantly shouting at everybody, yelling, "You gotta be joking!" and "Organize it yourself!" if he was asked for something! He told us we needed to get out of there after we had barely sat down because he needed the table (I had booked for this birthday dinner ages in advance), and he said he would be giving us the birthday cake in takeaway boxes instead of being allowed to have it there and singing happy birthday. I wish I had read all the other horrified reviews on TripAdvisor and Google reviews about this once good place before booking it for a birthday. What a mistake to come here. Our waiter Egon (not sure of the spelling of his name) made Basil Fawlty from the TV show Fawlty Towers look sane and professional. I have never encountered such rudeness from a waiter in my life. Oh and they also overcharged us: Egon, I hope you use our money to pay for anger management classes!

Racist, discriminative, homophobe treatment and behavior towards customers at what is known for an open and progressive hood in Melbourne - Collingwood. It all started with the old lady with the dyed blond hair and faked teeth. There is no menu, you are basically led to eat whatever they are serving. No options for wine which is actually what they call a 'house wine', because they apparently have no license to sell alcohol (red flag?). The older man who served us kept displaying racist and sarcastic, not proper jokes towards the customers. As someone who travels every 1-2 years (last time July 2024) to several greek cities/islands, the food was basic, awful, expensive: + $160 (2 people). Greek Tavern? We could pay half of that price; better to travel to real Greece, pay less, get Greek quality food and service. There are no reasons to go to this place.

Half a serve of the over cooked calamari, a wedge of saganaki and two chicken skewers to share. Plus a small jug of house wine. Oh a bit of old bread you could possibly Lu crack your teeth on. $110. You'd do better getting a kebab on Smith St. Abrupt service. Nothing charming about this place.

I'll be honest, I am a bit of a Greekophile and it's difficult to disappoint me when it comes to this delicious Mediterranean cuisine. I spent a few months in Greece in 2015 and am pretty much *always* reminiscing about their nightly feasts. Jim's has definitely been the most authentic Greek food I have found in Melbourne so far. After reading reviews on Yelp, I went in with my head in an "all you can eat set menu for $45" space. It was a good space to be in. When staff suggested dishes, we simply said "Yep. Keep 'em coming". There is no menu to peruse. We feasted on dips, freshly baked bread that we witnessed coming out of the oven, saganaki, chargrilled squid, prawns, calamari... you name it, I ate it. And the drinks? It's BYO and they really don't mind how much you bring in (we saw people walking in with eskies... actual eskies.) HOWEVER, when it came to bill time there was no $45 set menu to be found... It looked as though we had been charged for each dish individually (which was a bit sneaky considering the lack of menu.) We suspect we were meant to directly request the set menu, but I can't be sure... I might have been diddled. Despite this, it was incredible food in a very fun and frantic atmosphere. Highly recommended!

I've heard it said that many restaurants charge exorbitant prices on their wine menu to make the bulk of their profit, while only hoping to break even on their food. Well there is another business model: the no-menu (but awesome food), BYO anything (but preferably hard liquor) Jim's Green Tavern business model. Two words of advice: it's necessary to book weeks in advance of dining at this thriving establishment, and it is not advisable to go to Jim's Greek Tavern expecting a quiet meal or polite service. In fact expect to be forcefully encouraged to join in on a loud raucous chant of 'happy birthday to you' or some such shanty. Also do not expect to be given a menu. Jim's does not have menus or any set prices that I have ever seen. At this point I assume that you are thinking that none of these things really create the makings of a successful business. Or dining experience. But at Jim's Greek Tavern the lax attitude towards service and dining etiquette are as important to its success as flour and water are to a great bread recipe. But without yeast and salt it would just be flour and water. It is the synergy of all four ingredients that make the perfect recipe (and I assure you I would go to Jim's for the freshly baked bread alone!). The yeast and salt of this restaurant are great food and the most easygoing BYO attitude I have ever come across. There is no corkage charge and I have seen many a bottle of Bourbon or Ouzo being downed with a main of delicious roast lamb or fried calamari. In fact this kind of behaviour seems to be the done thing at Jim's Greek Tavern. Jim's business model thrives upon ensuring people are so inebriated that they have a fantastic time and spend all of their hard earned cash on delicious food of which they have no idea of the price (hence no menu), and to be honest are not bothered because a) the food is delicious and b) they are too drunk to care. Definitely a place to dine with a group or party.

This place is the real deal! Every time I drive past Jim's I get the urge to dance the Zorba and smash some plates. I am also flooded with memories from Greece where the food here is just as authentic and transports you in a heart beat. Yes, you must go! To Jim's that is, not Greece... unless you can afford it. Best to go in a big group and share the love around and I urge you to make sure you book in advance. We are talking weeks in advance. This place is not just popular with the locals, think hoards of people, family functions, weddings, christenings, cousins, families, uncles, cousins of cousins.. that type of thing. As mentioned earlier, this place is the real thing so don't expect personal table service an extensive wine list or even the bill..just front up with your booking, be ready to eat, have some fun and enjoy good authentic Greek food & music.

I have read a few of the reviews on here with people pissing a moaning about the price. It's set fucking menu lets the waiter do his shit and get the food and you will have a great night and great food.

Stop at the Birmingham and get a bottle, Jim's has a limited wine carafe choice, so byob is the order of the day. The decor reminds me of the many Greek eateries in Chicago, my hometown. We had dips, grilled octopus, calamari, saganaki, and prawns as entrees. All were very good but the octopus was a standout. This was followed by a tasty Greek salad with very nice feta. We closed our meal with a main of lamb which was nicely cooked. Ready to leave? Nope, for dessert we had small bites of baklava along with a Greek pudding whose name I cannot reproduce. Both were very good. One very strong Greek coffee and we were out the door, totally dated and looking forward to a return visit.

Amazing lamb incredible prawns and the best tasty food you ever eat and the derive is impeccable ! High quality and Theo looked after us

If you want an authentic greek meal then this is the place for you. Upon entering the waiter, and older Greek man, walked us to the back section of the restaurant and said " Table for four, you choose" and pointed at a bunch of tables. There is no menu at Jim's which is really part of the fun of the experience. Our waiter would periodically show up ask if we like this or that which was always answered with a yes, and then he would go off and appear a few minute later laden with food, Which he would throw on our table with a crash and without a word zoom he was off again. By the end of the night we were all full and satisfied. The food was so good that we really didnt care how much it came to, which turned out to be $50 a head. This is the real deal, I have eaten at restaurants with better greek food before but never have I had such and authentic Greek experience. If your in Melbourne and you feel like a food adventure head on down to Jim's

I feel I was conned at Jim's Greek Tavern. The highly charismatic waiter informed me that there was no menu, so I asked for some prawns, my mother ordered fish and a Greek salad and a mineral water. The food that came out was nice enough, but pretty plain and simple and very small servings: I only got 6 prawns and they were burnt and chewy on the ends. But here's what angered me: 6 prawns, a small piece of fish, a small side salad with 3 pieces of feta and 1 mineral water came to $78. Talk about bill shock. This restaurant is an extreme rip-off for what you get.

There is always a lot of people in this restaurant, that's why I thought going there would be a very nice idea. So we went there without any idea of the price, quality, atmosphere or anything and that's maybe a mistake for this place. In fact, the waiters are not friendly, they scream on each others. There is no menu, so no prices, they will just tell you the possibilities without speaking of the price. They will put new dishes on your table without you asking anything. They will give you a handwrited bill with handwrited prices, so you don't know if it is the real prices or not, you can't say anything, you just have to pay. Just to be really clear, the food is good, but it's not outstanding. Compared to my bill, it's definitely overpriced. All those facts gave us a really bad time at the Jim's Greek Tavers.

It helps if you know what you are getting into. There is no menu. Just get the $45 set menu and be prepared to eat. The waiters are all running around and seem to respond well to customers who look after themselves. They are just food couriers basically so dont burdon them down with questions or conversation because you will likely just get yelled at. The food is rustic and very flavorful, but damn good. I especially liked demolishing the last two plates of the meal (Lamb and calamari). Its an experience!

I'm a Greek food snob and also from New York. You have to go here with the right attitude. They have no menu so get over it and listen to the waiters suggestions. I know, it feels like you have no control over your meal. The food is fantastic. Monster size prawns and the most tender lamb ever.

I've been to Jim's Greek Tavern twice. The first time was terrible. The second time was even worse. I don't know what the other reviewers are thinking -- it's almost like we are reviewing two different restaurants. I have never had an enjoyable time at Jim's Greek Tavern: it's noisy, it's hot, the food isn't incredible, it's overpriced for the quality, and the service is absolutely atrocious. I recently went back to this establishment in order to give it a second go; who knows, maybe I just had an unusual bad experience the first time. I came here recently for a birthday dinner. It was a 40 degree day, and the four of us made a booking to be situated out the back in the leafy indoor garden section, and promised that this area would be air conditioned and cool. What a sick joke that was. ~ The place was unbelievably hot; we were literally sweating in our clothes -- and the Greek waiters were even worse, sweat everywhere! There are two split-system air conditioners for the entire large garden section at the back. These definitely do not adequately cool a room of that size or with that many people, and were essentially as good as useless. ~ Our seats were in the most inconvenient of locations: situated right at the door that separates the front restaurant section with the upper "garden" section out the back. ~ The food was of a low quality. In fact, a plate of steaks we ordered were so under-cooked that they were uneatable. I can get my fangs around a rare/medium-rare steak, but this was at a dangerous level. We showed them to the maître d', who acted shocked, sent them back to the kitchen for a little more cooking, and issued us with an apology (and then another apology when we were paying the bill). ~ Some casual ageist comments from the waiter occurred at the end of the dinner when I was ordering coffee. I'm probably going to sound like a conservative prude here, but he looked at me and exclaimed, "Are you even old enough to drink coffee?" Last time I checked there was no legal or moral age requirement for drinking coffee, and I don't particularly appreciate comments insulting something from my appearance, especially when I am trying to host a celebratory dinner. This was also after putting up with him "jokingly" asking me for ID before getting glasses for the bottle of red wine I brought with me. (NB: One of the upsides of Jim's Tavern is their BYO anything policy) Eating at Jim's Greek Tavern was an overall disappointing experience, and due to the unrelenting heat, food that had to be sent back, and inappropriate banter from the waiter, I was extremely satisfied when I was able to leave for my air conditioned car that would allow me to get a second, more fulfilling dinner. I won't be back to Jim's Tavern.

We dined there with a very large group(13 people) on our last night in Melbourne. A perfect place for a group this size and everything was delicious.....from the dips, to the cheese, to the shrimp, lamb, chicken and dessert. Very authentic and no decisions....then just bring on the food. And so reasonably priced!!! I had dined there on a previous visit with just my husband....it was great then, but even better with a big group. Cannot wait for my next visit to Melbourne......

I joined Yelp specifically to make this one review. Avoid at all costs if you don't feel like getting ripped off. Quoted us 20-25 per head on a set menu for our 30 odd guests, and then informed us once all parties had arrived that it was actually a 50 per head set menu. Call me old fashioned but that's just off key in my book. Ended up working out that we got 20 people's order for 30 of us, so in the end I paid 35 dollars for a lamb chop, a few bits of kebab meat, a tiny bit of cheese and some bread. The taste was understandably quite excellent, but the deceptive manner in which they conducted themselves leaves me thinking we would've been better off getting a souvlaki on Smith Street than getting robbed blind by this place. Disgraceful.

It was my first time and apart from great Greek food, didn't know what to expect. I did get GREAT Greek food, and will definitely be going back in a more relaxed mode where I can sit back and enjoy the very basic fun and friendliness of the place. It's quite small, everyone is squeezed in, the music was fun, we were served by the manager who seemed to be cooking and ordering and everywhere at the same time. We were a bit thrown by the no menu thing, but were served a great plate of dips with a little of everything. I love Taramasalata and this was done really well, up there with the best I have tasted. The Tzadziki was super wonderful too. I'm never big on eggplant but was told it was good by those that like it. They also included eggplant chips, which I tried and quite liked. They make their own bread, which kind of grows on you, but would have liked some pita to dip and wrap some of the food in. Loved the lamb sliced off the rotating spit, just got a heaped plate full. The calamari was excellent too, but we seemed to have missed the grilled octopus which sounds great. We ordered zucchini chips which were thinly sliced rounds and just delicious. It was a little chaotic trying to catch a waiter and everyone walking in and out, but it all added to the atmosphere. We were way too full to eat any more, so took dessert home. OMG ! such a good idea to do that because the dessert was the absolute best. The custard thing was one of the best I have ever had and other pastry with nuts and honey was also devine, with a think cardamon on it. Didn't try the 3rd pastry, but definitely come back and taking dessert away again to enjoy properly when not so full. I now know why this place has been around so long and was so packed on a Monday night.

Amazing atmosphere and an unusual 'no menu' situation make this a great place. The servers are friendly and recommended great dishes. Don't forget to BYO drinks.