A Greek to beware of
Gail wanted a gyro for lunch yesterday, so we decided to try Opa!, a new place on North Main in Walnut Creek. It didn’t work out so well.
The facility is attractive, but it’s really a bar/restaurant and very loud. There are televisions all over with sports on, the is music and there are the modern acoustics designed to make the place seem loud and happening. They do this, one would assume, because people like it. “People” may like it noisy, but I don’t.
The menu is quite extensive, and looks interesting, with a wide range of Greek/ Mediterranean specialties. But we came for gyros, and gyros we ordered.
Life can be disappointing, as all adults know, but this was ridiculous.
The lamb/beef mixture that is at the heart of the gyro should be moist and tasty, not dry, hard, and tasteless. The tzatziki sauce should flow over the fixings, not be as stiff as well-chilled cream cheese. There should be more filling than bread. There should be all these things, but not at Opa!
The iced tea was one of those dreadful flavored varieties although they don’t have the decency to tell you in advance.
The French fries look good yet were curiously tasteless. Even the feta cheese they put on top of the fries didn’t help.
Service was good, and the manager took the cost of Gail’s gyro off the bill, but we were not at all impressed.
The problem, I suspect, is that there is no budget for a chef/manager to be standing at the rail checking every dish to make sure it is perfect. You get what you pay for, and a $12/hr cook just doesn’t have the same standards as a trained chef.
It’s too bad, because I think I’d like to try some of their dinner items, but that won’t be happening.
Totally Unauthorized 
Hi Chris,
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http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/6/1690076/restaurant/Lafayette-Orinda/Barbacoa-Orinda
http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/6/1694959/restaurant/Opa-Walnut-Creek
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