Orexi Restaurant

Date: 4/2/2010

Address: 31 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA

Occasion: Lunch Break/B-day Celebration

Birthday Girl wanted Greek food, so ελληνικά τρόφιμα it was!  And for us, her friends and lovers of all things Passport, Orexi in Bellevue was the chosen location.  Unfortunately, the horrible service has created a fog over our dining experience that possibly is reflected in this review.

Atmosphere: I’ll admit that from the outside, this place doesn’t seem like it would be enjoyable.  The parking lot is tiny and the spots are at hard angles for the average car.  The murals on the wall and hosted service (If you can even call it that!) are a nice advantage over Gyro Express, which resides across the street.

Cheeky: “Hosted service” and “Orexi” shouldn’t be in the same sentence together!

Food:  I’d have to say that although the service is some of the worst I’ve seen, the food wasn’t that bad.  If I was to rate this restaurant strictly on the food I’d give it a B-, but I’d much rather drive into Kirkland for the gyros at Santorini Greek Grill or Padria in Juanita Village (we will have to review those another time).  For me, the food was just “ok.”  I would argue that the lemon-chicken soup was worth going back for though.

Cheeky: Alright, I’ll admit the meat was delicious, the soup was just “ok” in my opinion and the pita was perfectly soft, but the horrible service was enough to turn me off for life.  At least the food seemed freshly cooked even though it took forever and a day to arrive!

Price: The prices were average.  The combo plates had a good variety of food and it was enough to feed two people.  Combined with the Passport Unlimited card discount, the prices are a bit better.

Overall Recommendation: I (FIT) won’t be headed back to Orexi.  With the long wait, drunk sloppy waitress, late  arrival of one guest’s food, forgotten drinks and little apology… us FITs were not impressed.  Boo you Orexi! We give you our first Two Thumbs Down!

Cheeky: I won’t ever go back to Orexi again.   Like I said earlier, the service was horrible and I am anal a STICKLER for good customer service!  The waitress was nowhere to be seen for the first five or so minutes of our arrival and I hate not being greeted within 30 seconds of entering a restaurant/store ( except maybe a grocery store but the Downtown Bellevue Safeway now employs the friendliest people and someone always greets me when I walk in so even that’s no excuse now).  She was really loopy, too Chatty Kathy and terribly forgetful; I believe she forgot our request for lemon slices at least three times and we didn’t get them until almost at the end of our meal!  The aforementioned late arrival of a guest’s meal was an order they’d completely messed up and it was the last one to arrive to the table, too!  It should’ve been comped.

Side note: Chatty Kathy waitresses are okay as long as they’re getting their jobs done correctly and efficiently.  There’s a way to connect with customers and still get your work done right.