3400 Fremont Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 633- 4141
www.costaopa.com
For this Greek eatery in Fremont, I offer something a little different: I ate at Costa Zopas twice in the span of a week and had such dramatically different experiences that I would be completely unjust to base my review on just one.
My first experience was a Sunday breakfast service. My last review subject and standby, Silence Heart Nest, happened to be closed for spiritual retreat (see why I love it so?) so my friends and I turned the corner and finally took Costa Zopas up on their offer of BREAKFAST emblazoned on a sign out front. Inside, Costa Zopas is inconceivably spacious and decidedly kitschy – potted plants everywhere, an indoor terra cotta awning, murals, and all manner of Grecian paraphernalia. On Sunday mornings, it is apparently teeming with small blond children – one of whom openly stared at us throughout our meal while her parents doted on her younger, equally blond siblings.
I ordered very non-Greek banana pecan pancakes (I have unfortunately managed to retain my childhood aversion to eggs, cutting down any decent breakfast menu by half), which were fine, but definitely not a fair representation of Costa Zopas cuisine.
The real reason I mention this visit is the service. The waitresses were somewhat friendly, but curt and distracted. After waiting 20 minutes for my card to be charged (a problem with the machine, apparently), I left convinced that the wait staff was made up of sisters forced to give up their dreams to work in the family restaurant à la Big Fat Greek Wedding. Congratulations Hollywood, your stereotypes have been officially ingrained and have managed to infiltrate my Sunday breakfast.
I returned to Costa Zopas a few days later to actually sample a few Greek delicacies and, to my initial embarrassment (and horror), was served by the same waitress as my first visit. The difference was startling. She beamed as she welcomed us back and was all smiles and chirpy small talk for the entire evening.
My meal, the Dolmades platter, arrived in minutes. Dolmades are classic Grecian fare – ground beef, lamb and rice wrapped in grape leave parcels and served with roasted red potatoes and the Greek equivalent of ratatouille. The grape leaves had a strong pickled taste and the potatoes were soaked in a bit more olive oil than I’m used to, but it was a good, filling, and interesting meal. And to be honest, those little green packages all lined in a row were kind of adorable
A complimentary dessert followed our meals, which at first made me suspect they knew of my intentions, until I noticed that the other restaurant goers got the same. That would be going a bit overboard for an online review. The dessert, Galaktoboureko, was lemon and vanilla custard wrapped in crispy filo pastry, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with cinnamon. It was a deliciously complex combination of textures, insanely sweet but fantastically so.
So there you have it, two starkly different reviews in one. Maybe the place just runs better when the staff don’t have to deal with small children and a broken register, or maybe your dining experience here really is in the hands of the Gods.
by Nicola Fairhead
