Santorini - Eden Prairie, MN

D.Rough and I are headed to Santorini (the island) for our honeymoon. So we thought we’d get into practice by eating at Santorini (the restaurant) in Eden Prairie. She met me there for lunch, since we had a major coupon type deal from one of those places that emails you ridiculous coupons if you buy it that day. I can’t remember which one I bought it from, but it was worth it.

We wanted to try a couple of things, so we got a couple of appetizers and split an entrée. It’s difficult to decide what you want here, since so many things sound fantastic on the menu. Santorini has a lunch prime rib buffet, but I’m assuming they don’t have a lot of those in Greece – we ordered off the menu. We opted for the dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and a hummus and pita sampler. Then we got the lamb and beef moussaka (like a Greek lasagna).

The restaurant isn’t the fastest place on earth, even for a late lunch when it isn’t busy at all. Fortunately, the hummus and pita plate came out first. We had decided to get Spicy Feta, the Roasted Red Pepper hummus, and the kalamata olive and goat cheese tapenade. Surprisingly, there were tons of pita pieces for us to eat. We expected maybe 6 or 7, but there were plenty. The pitas were extremely soft and little bit warm. Really quite good. My favorite dips (in order of preference) were the spicy feta, the roasted red pepper, and the tapenade. D.Rough listed her favorites in the exact opposite order, but we both loved it. We’re glad we got this to start things off.

The Dolmades came out next and were excellent. Grape leaves stuffed with seasoned ground beef and rice and then covered with a lemon cream sauce. I’ve always been a big fan of these, except when the lemon sauce is overpowering. This was just about right. I ate most of these, so D.Rough could focus on her tapenade.
The Moussaka arrived shortly after we finished our appetizers and looked delicious. It came with a side of orzo and some grileld vegetables - which I loved (and ate most of). Moussaka is sort of like a layered pasta dish (like lasagna), but has eggplant, potato, beef, and lamb in it. Very tasty with just a hint of cinnamon in it. The tomato and béchamel sauce was delicious, as well. No complaints with this entrée at all. It was the right choice and I’m hoping they serve me lots of this in Greece. I will be a very happy honeymooner.

I like this restaurant. It isn’t my favorite, nor a go-to place, but they have pretty good Greek food. It’s a little out of the way for dinner, but it is walkable from work for me if I get the need for some good Greek cooking – which I do sometimes. I’ll come back here again, but not if I have a short lunch break. It’s more of a relaxed eating environment – unless you get the lunch buffet, I suppose. ..which is weird…

Top 5 things about Santorini
1. Lamb and Beef Moussaka
2. Pita and hummus sampler
3. Dolmades
4. Comprehensive menu with a variety of different options
5. Great patio and an amazing happy hour specials

Bottom 5 things
1. A little slow on service
2. I’m curious how authentic it is, you know, since they have a prime rib buffet
3. Seemed like they had one person working the inside dining room and one person working the patio
4. There are sooo many signs in the entryway of the restaurant touting food, drink, buffet, happy hour, and brunch specials.
5. We were incredibly stuffed after this meal. Be ready for that…

www.santorinimn.com