Rafina Greek Taverna

Review summary

1. J

   Jolita

   VIP

   Chicago

   10 reviews

   5.0

   10 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   I live in Chicago but come down to the Boca area frequently over the winter months and am unfamiliar with good ethnic dining in the area. It was our first visit to Rafina's Greek Taverna, and we had an excellent experience. Though the OpenTable site showed reservations available only at 7:45 or later, we thought to arrive by 7 to see if there would be walk-in bar seating available. Instead, the hostess was happy to seat us in the lovely enclosed outdoor patio, overlooking a pond. Then menu of Greek specialties was extensive, and my partner chose an entree that was served at the next table that the diner said was delicious, the chicken kebob with a side of tzatziki. The cubes of chicken were enormous and moist, with tomato/green pepper/onion in between. I had the Rafina chopped salad that included shredded, well seasoned chicken, with a side of gigantes. A very generous serving of the salad with my favorite ingredients that was enough to bring home half to enjoy the following night. The gigantes were simmered in a delicious tomato sauce, served steaming hot. Very pleasant, attentive server. Our only (minor) criticism was that the greek salad that my partner added as a side to his entree was served immediately which was fine as he likes to eat his salad first. But no sooner than the salad was served that another server brought our entrees. It felt rushed, and by the time my partner ate the salad, his chicken kebob was room temperature. Knowing this, next time - and we will be back - we will ask for more time between salad and entree, as we prefer a leisurely dinner.
   

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2. B

   Bobbi

   New York City

   56 reviews

   3.0

   56 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 2

   The food was wonderful….that was about it! We reserved outside, which was not available for a half hour after our reservation…we ate inside where a light was flickering the entire evening. I ordered a glass of wine that was served after my appetizer was delivered. My drink finally came as I STARTED my appetizer, as did my main course!!! I had had two bites of the salad when my lamb chops arrived! While the waitress apologized, I sent both my dinner partner’s and my main dishes back to the kitchen. I never expected the service in this place to be so lousy! My Valentine’s dinner wound up to be a complete dud! (The lamp chops were good, but not good enough to unspoil the evening!)💔
   

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3. S

   Sean

   VIP

   Atlanta

   3 reviews

   5.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Let's start with the the only negative- the restroom is outside of the restaurant proper and was not clean or even functional at the time I saw it. If I am honest it took the experience down a notch. In fairness, it appears to be a shared space, perhaps not under the restaurant's complete control. But it still needs to be addressed. The evening was so good I didn't want to mention it but reviews need to be fair and honest. Nevertheless, I'm going to give 5 stars because I might have just caught them on a bad night with regard to the restroom. That one thing was easily outweighed by high quality food, excellent presentation, outstanding service- those things were all spot on and so 5 stars are deserved in my mind. My wife has legitimate medical food allergies and they accommodated them easily without drawing attention to her or making her feel like she was a burden. That is a huge plus. There were a lot of positives, actually. Perfectly cooked lamb, a waitperson that come by often enough to make us feel attended to but not so often as to be intrusive, a spectrum of dishes so tempting that as you tried to make a selection you could not help but think "I need to come back and try the rest of these." All said, it was a wonderful date night and I would recommend.
   

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4. G

   GARY

   VIP

   Fort Lauderdale

   33 reviews

   2.0

   33 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 3

   Salt, salt and more salt server was good and understanding.
   

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5. A

   Andy

   VIP

   San Francisco

   13 reviews

   5.0

   13 reviews

   Dined 3 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Rafina might be the final Greek restaurant I've ever been to, and we eat Greek food frequently We have been to some of the finest in New York City or Racine is quality. Is it as good as any the service was? Terrific and the menu is more extensive than most highly recommend.
   

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6. A

   Alan

   New York City

   30 reviews

   2.0

   30 reviews

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 3

   Worst Greek restaurant we have been to. We had favorable experiences in prior years but this year was different. Ordered Musaka and sent it back twice because the eggplant was overcooked and was as hard as a hockey puck. Service was below average with the waiter no where to be found when we needed him.
   

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7. M

   Michael

   VIP

   Fort Lauderdale

   106 reviews

   5.0

   106 reviews

   Dined 5 days ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 4

   Rafina is old reliable, friendly service, nice staff and great food.
   

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8. J

   Janice

   VIP

   Fort Lauderdale

   28 reviews

   1.0

   28 reviews

   Dined on February 9, 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   We have been dining at Rafina’s for over 10 years, and have always enjoyed the experience. However this most recent visit was terrible. The service was slow, the waitress (who was also a manager!) seemed indifferent to us, even forgetting to bring the bottle of wine we had ordered until we reminded her. She also never brought a refill of an appetizer we were promised. We waited for well over 45 minutes for our entrees, only to see that a table of 10 next to us, who had only been seated while we were eating appetizers, got their entrees well ahead of ours. Only after we called for the head manager, (who evidently had left for the night!), did we finally get our entrees (which were mediocre at best). All in all it was not a pleasant experience (despite it being a birthday celebration as well, which was not even acknowledged), and we doubt we will return.
   

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9. w

   william

   VIP

   West Palm Beach

   2 reviews

   1.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on February 9, 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Waited 45 minutes for our reservation. Waitress spills water all over table. Bottle of wine not delivered. Do you want anything else
   

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10. b

    bonnie

    West Palm Beach

    49 reviews

    4.0

    49 reviews

    Dined on February 8, 2025

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 3

    This is a great restaurant that is just too popular? They do not honor reservations, over book and get a little snappy about it! We had a 6:30 reservation that I requested outside. Bingo an automatic 1/2 wait,,,,why I have a reservation. Her snappy answer was so do everyone else waiting. Well don’t overbook by a large number. I swear we left around 7:45 (we ended up eating inside) there was an entire hallway of angry guests! So the food is good, the service was good, the price is good, the waiting times are not.
    

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