Simi Estiatorio

Yummy, great service and omg the food...best scallops...to die for...the owner was friendly....wheelchair accessible and they went out of their way for me. I recommend reservations. Modern Greek food that tastes like you went to Crete. The cocktails were yummy and inspiring. I am bringing more friends next time cause there will now be a next time. Photos included. Also note our server was the best...her name was Alicia G.

The service is on point for fine dining. Very professional and warm. Not sure what the music selection is about. But the songs were pretty good last night. The Salmon Kabob thing is delicious. The lentils that come with the salmon plate seem somewhat al dente. The salmon itself, the seasoning is amazing. We added the asparagus as a side, tender and delicious. Had two red wines, both picked by our server. The (pinot?) was very silky and smooth. Impeccable. The (cab?) was very bright cherry and hint of spice, also delicious. More on the velvet side. The first time we went my husband got a whole fish that came with fries on the side. The fries were cold, but I’m guessing something technical had thrown the kitchen off for a second because they were also out of asparagus. The second time we both got the salmon and my husband was thrilled with the plate. The fry issue was the first and only issue and very out of character for Simi, as our very first time there I noted that every dish came out in perfect temp. The calamari and crab cake are also fabulous. My husband loves calamari. The herbs and seasonings sprinkled on the calamari gave it a truly authentic flavor. I don’t like crab cakes but theirs is delicious! Crisp outside, bright flavors. They employ true fine dining etiquette here.

Unfortunate, underwhelming & overpriced I’m going to start with the fact I don’t want to have to leave this review, but I think I have to. I’ll keep it short, because it’s painful: made a reservation ~week in advance, made the assumption there was valet as the location is in downtown Austin. Arrived to the restaurant to realize there wasn’t valet, called the front desk to which we were informed of a parking garage a block away. Parked, finally made it inside. We were 10 mins late to our reservation and we were told our table still wasn’t ready. Waited another 5 mins before we we’re sat. Server seemed pretty frazzled. We asked for a wine recommendation, she asked what we like, we replied: red blend/Pinot noir. She recommended a bottle of white. Received a plate with charred (emphasis on charred) bread drizzled with excellent olive oil and thyme served with a small bowl of olives. Heads-up, some olives were pitted and others were not. Kind of fun choose your own adventure snack. However, I did request for extra olives to snack on. 30 minutes later, and no extra olives, we received our octopus appetizer, this was the strangest dish I think I’ve ever had. The first bite was tasty and quite a flavor journey and each bite after that progressively got worse. The fish had a strong, musty aftertaste. After 3-4 bites, I no longer wanted any. Still no olives... About 20 mins later our server dropped off a 2nd order of octopus, which we didn’t order. She took it back. 54 mins after we received our appetizer, we finally got our entree’s. Crab cake burger and Seafood Yiouvetsi. The crab cake bun was “charred” leaving the entire burger to taste burnt. The crab cake itself was very tasty. The seafood pasta was a total letdown, utterly lacking flavor and just extremely disappointing for a $46 dish. They offered us complimentary dessert, but we declined. After speaking with management they appreciated our feedback and gave us a gift card to come back. If you’re considering this restaurant, I’d wait. Check out Aba until this place works out their kinks... if ever. Oh, I also never got my olives.

I've been wanting to come here for quite some time and it was definitely worth the wait, and more importantly did not disappoint. My husband and I went in just before the new year for a date night. We started with the Octopus and Lamb Kebob appetizers. The Octopus was hands down the best dish of the night, incredible marriage of flavors in this dish and a very generous portion. A must-eat if you dine here. For the mains, my husband got the Seafood Yiouvetsi and I got the Lavraki Bronzino with a side of the Greek Oregano Fries. The Branzino was presented and cooked perfectly, ideal light dish for me. My husband loved the Seafood Yiouvetsi, great flavor but large portion - you can probably split this with two people. Overall wonderful dinner, good wine list (we had a sauv that paired perfectly with our meal), and excellent service - I wish I could remember our servers name, he was so attentive, knowledgable and made excellent recommendations. The vibe is modern, sleek but not stuffy. Good music and ambiance, will definitely be back!!

I would give it 5 stars but no Expresso machine otherwise one of the best Greek restaurants I've eaten in. If you're in Austin please stop by and have one of the best Greek culinary experiences you'll ever have. I'll also have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the music the DJ was on point and to my surprise the music wasn't too loud.

I visited Simi Estiatorio this past Wednesday (two days ago). Simi Estiatorio's location at the start of "Dirty" 6th Street in Austin, Texas has been the site of fancy restaurants before, which is interesting, since at any given time, you might peer out the large bay windows of the restaurant and witness drunken revelers or some members of our fine city's homeless population. That being said, the space is designed superbly, and even hosts Saturday and Sunday day party "brunches," which I will have to check out in the future. The food is very expensive; definitely at the upper end of fine dining in Austin. I would be fine with this fact if the food was truly world-class. In my opinion, it was not worth the price. The service was attentive, the vibe is top-notch, but if I am paying $55 an entrée, I absolutely expect something I have never had before no matter what town I am in. Given, this is the fanciest and best Greek restaurant in Austin. However, I have eaten some of the finest Greek food in my life when I lived in New York City, specifically out in Astoria, Queens, which is known for its Greek population. At these prices in Austin, I expect that, and I was disappointed.

Austin, TX was lacking a high end Greek restaurant and the team at Simi knocked it out of the park. The design and decor in the restaurant is absolutely stunning and the seafood tasted incredibly fresh. A few of my favorite items were The Spreads, Octopus, Greek salad, Lavraki and Kotopoulo.

amazing ambience, DJ, and every course was amazing. made my friend-date very fun and John was a very attentive and knowledgeable server. we tried a few cocktails and loved all of them. the wine list was also great.