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| - I discovered Ilios Noche on www.opentable.com, as I was looking for someplace new we could go on a Saturday night. I've never been south of I-485 on Providence Road, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect or where it would be located. I reserved a table for two to give it a try.
We found the restaurant in the first shopping plaza we came to, behind all the road construction. We were amazed at how crowded the restaurant was (and relieved that we had made a reservation in advance -- thank you, Open Table!). We were seated within a couple of minutes.
My first observation of the restaurant is that it could easily be expanded for the amount of people that were there. Right now, it's kind of small, and it would be nice to have some separation between the dining area and the bar area. The bar could easily be expanded, too, as it makes the perfect waiting area (there really isn't one). There is outdoor seating, too, which is great, but it's along the parking lot with no separation either, so it doesn't lend itself to be a fun area for dining. There's also an area for take-out in the restaurant that surprising continously had a long line. Wow! They do a great take-out business apparently. Unfortunately, the take-out line had to compete with the dining area, bar area, and open kitchen area, too.
Now...onto the food. We sampled a few appetizers/tapas to start, but you could easily make a meal out of sharing a bunch of these. There are SO many from which to choose. They have five different Greek spreads to order with pita pieces. We sampled the Roasted Red Pepper "Htipiti." It was amazing. Roasted red pepper with feta cheese? YUM. It was so creamy, too. We also sampled the olive dish and the spicy calamari appetizer. The calamari wasn't coated or fried; it was sauteed and smothered in a spicy almost-marinara sauce which, incidentally was too spicy for my partner, but -- loving spicy foods -- I found it to be "just right."
Since I normally only eat lamb in a gyro at the Greek Festival here in Charlotte, I ordered the Lamb Souvlaki pita wrap for my entree. The sandwich offered chunks of lamb (instead of slices) and had a lot of flavor to it. I even ordered some extra tzatziki sauce (the only way I like to eat cucumbers) to dip my "Greek fries" into.
For being so incredibly busy, our server did a fantastic job, even though she apologized over and over for delays and waits that were nonexistent or weren't that bad. It didn't help, though, that we witnessed the restaurant owner (acting as food expediter) barking at every server. That was kind of off-putting and unnecessary, considering the servers all seemed to be working very hard and keeping up with how crazy-busy it was. Plus -- hello! -- they're human beings. Treat them like some. Being a former server, I can only imagine what they say about him behind his back.
I used the restroom before we left and felt like I had stepped into a different restaurant. The hallway leading to the restrooms wasn't maintained very well and neither was the men's restroom itself. I was surprised considering how well the rest of the restaurant appeared. I felt like I was walking into an "employees only" area that they weren't as concerned with.
Having ordered so much food, I took some baklava to go. I got a huge piece for $7. I sampled some of it and it was delicious. It definitely competes with the baklava I usually love to get at the Greek Fest. It's very moist (which I love) and full of sweet flavors. Kudos on a great baklava!
All in all, I think Ilios Noche was an excellent find and we're very glad we went. Would we return? You bet. I'd love to try many other things from their extensive menu. And I'll definitely make a reservation to ensure a very short wait time again!
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