Papadakis Taverna
301 W 6th St
San Pedro
310-548-1186
Papadakis Taverna is owned by former USC football player John Papadakis. They opened the restuarant in 1973 and has been a staple of San Pedro ever since. You are greeted with a firm hand shake by John, the man is like 6'4 and built like a damn building, of course he's going to have a firm handshake. From then on you're treated like a king.
I ordered the salmon, $25.95, with soup and salad. The soup was a lemon rice soup. Not too sour, with plenty of rice. The salad was romaine lettuce topped with feta cheese and Greek dressing. The dressing was very good, not too sour like most Greek dressings can be. Fresh lettuce and feta cheese made this a good salad.
Before you order they bring out a tray of meat and explain what is on the menu. On the tray they don't look that big, but once on your plate they are huge. The salmon was huge, the menu says 14 oz, but I bet this salmon was at least a pound. The salmon was grilled to perfection with a tangy sauce. They don't ruin a simpe good piece of fish with a bunch of junk. They provide a mustard mayo sauce for the salmon and that just made a great dish better. This was well worth the price.
Service was great. Besides John being a great host, the server was nice and friendly. Drinks were refilled quickly, dishes were cleared, we didn't lack for anything.
I would go back to Papadakis any time. During dinner you are treated to dancing by John and his niece. A belly dancer and the breaking of plates. If you never been to a real Greek restaurant, you need to go to Papadakis. You are treated not like a number but like family.
