ACROPOL RESTAURANT √√√
Family-Friendly Spot For Greek-Inspired Dishes
1170 Starkey Rd — Largo, FL 3377 — (727) 581-9535
6AM to 9PM
“MIXED DE-MOTIONS”
DE-MOTIONS, I love a mix on words and thats how I feel about this restaurant. I have eaten there five times this year, I live less than a mile away, and each time some small part of the meal just failed.
It’s sad since this is a virtual landmark in Largo across from a multitude of mobil home parks and a favorite local hangout for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Overall the place is friendly, pretty SEMI- clean, a huge menu, (and that might be part of the problem) the waitresses are friendly, lots of locals eat there, big with the snowbirds, (how many times can you go to McDonalds) and appropriate pricing for the buffet caliber food. Turnover of employees is somewhat prevalent here. Thats just the restaurant business today after, during and while COVID still exists. No one wants to work long shifts and no money or tips.
But it comes across as one step over fast food and that needs attention. This place could be a winner again if Gordon Ramsey spent a day there and re-worked their business model. It's like a blurred image.
FOOD-PAHS BY EXAMPLE:
SALADS — They pre-make their salads and stick them in a chiller. Great when busy and you can turn tables faster but don't bring me one thats half frozen and the lettuce is going brown fast. That happened twice. Once it was too late, we both had the effects the next day. Now I turn my salad over and order dressing on the side.
OR JUST HOT SOUP, ANOTHER ISSUE — On another occasion I had the lemon soup which is a standard in any Greek establishment, a staple of one of the oldest civilizations in the world. This was like lemon juice and flour. HINT: A smart chef and owner would have served the soup with a slice of lemon on top and some parsley, rosemary, or garam masala sprinkles just for garnish and to excite the palate.
I got a white bowl with thick yellow lemonade. And when I had the stuffed grape leaves and asked for lemon sauce, I got more soup. Ingenious! Double jeopardy!
CLEANLINESS — They need to clean their air conditioning registers, when the air came on, both of us started sneezing we moved to another table. They were black. Dirty carpet and a few booths need an uplift.
GOOD OLD DAYS — They have been there in the same location since I can remember caring what I ate. In the older days the place was quite the thing and was very popular, but there are issues and I am very cautious when it comes to food since I write about it. This could be a fantastic place, easy access, good parking, nice location but three areas would have to be addressed.
SHRINK THE MENU — Ten good items are better than thirty excuses and mediocre quality. Too many items look impressive, but whats eaten is remembered. And when you menu that big, most of it is frozen, into the microwave and not fresh…
PORTION CONTROL — I'm not impressed with a pound of cheap white lettuce, especially when brown. Tomatoes, feta cheese, onion, the right florals in the Greek Salad and authenticity, kill the bottled stuff.
It’s basically an eatery, Mediterranean cuisine it’s not, slightly above the skill level of a Burger King priced fairly and good for if you are not picky eater, have a knowledge base in the food industry, or a critic like me.
It needs a Gordon Ramsey to turn it around, keeping a solid breakfast and lunch basic menu for the morning and daytime clientele and at six o-clock turn it into a Mediterranean hotspot. Very easy to do with lighting , shades and the back room. Small changes in layout and menu, less is more when done well, is the way to go. But considering the clientele, they are seasonal, they like the competitive pricing, locally retired and working class, and the food variety... they are not critics’s.
That place could be turned into a hotspot. I’ll give them a by this time… next time they go on the other list.