My spouse and I dined at Santorini Estiatorio for a very
late lunch/early dinner on a Monday afternoon in early July 2017. (“Estiatorio”
means “Restaurant” in Greek.) Santorini is open daily from 11:00 am until 12:00
midnight (even later until 2:00 am on weekends). You can reserve a table using
the online Open Table reservation system. Its owners also operate nearby sister
restaurant Pegasus Taverna, as well as Pegasus locations in Ford Field and St.
Clair.
Santorini opened in 2012 on the corner of Monroe and
Beaubien Streets in Detroit’s Greektown neighborhood (in the space previously
occupied by Mosaic). The restaurant interior features two distinct areas: the
bar and the dining room. The bar area offers a large bar where you can drink or
dine, with regular-height tables adjacent to it. One side of the tables share a
long banquette, with chairs on the other side. A small private dining room is
available. The main dining area offers tables in a variety of sizes and configuration
as well as booths. You can also dine outdoors on the front sidewalk beneath
large umbrellas. The sophisticated interior is meant to give the feeling of
being in Greece, with its light woods, lovely circular ceiling detail over the
bar, unique dividing wall topper (with sail-shaped detail) between the bar and
dining room, and overall chic nautical décor in soothing aqua tones.
Santorini Estiatorio serves Greek cuisine. We ordered a dip
trio as appetizer, which allows you to select three of six or so available
dips. Unfortunately, after about 15 minutes, our server returned to inform us
that one of our original selections [taramasalata, a caviar spread] was not
available and to ask us to make an alternate choice. All were cold pre-prepared
dips, so we were surprised that it took 15 minutes for the kitchen to realize
that they had run out of it. We tried the tirokafteri (feta with roasted red
and green chile peppers), scordalia (whipped potato and garlic), and the
regular hummus. Also regrettably, it was not until we finished eating that we
noticed that our table did not receive the nice bread basket that we saw on
other tables. We shared a small Greek salad (Romaine, red onion, cucumber, beet,
tomato, and black olive tossed in a balsamic dressing and topped with a slice
of feta cheese) between our starters and main courses. We ordered two
sandwiches, one gyro and one kefte kabob, both served with fries. (The kabob meat,
raw veggies, and sauce were wrapped in pita which was then wrapped in foil, but
the gyro was unassembled, with the flat pita bread set atop the pile of
rotisserie/shaved lamb.). At our request our server brought the dessert tray,
from which we selected the baklava. (The baklava was tasty and cinnamon-y, and
much fresher than the baklava that we ordered at neighbor/sister Pegasus Tavern
a few nights previously.)
We were willing to overlook the few minor issues during our
dinner because we enjoyed dining al fresco and people-watching. But when we
used the restrooms before we departed for the night, we were aghast at the deplorable
conditions, with fluids splattered on the floor and trashcans overflowing - and
that was just in the ladies room, it was still early in the night, and the
restaurant was not crowded. (Doesn’t the staff at this restaurant use the same
facilities as the customers? Did none of them notice the foul surroundings and
feel compelled to take action?) Last impressions are just as important as
firsts, and that ending ruined an otherwise nice meal. Santorini looks gorgeous
at first glance, but you may want to look closer before dining!
