I have always wanted to try this place, and I finally did this past weekend. The decor of Elia's itself is kind of "divey". Nothing is too upscale, almost has a cafeteria sort of feel. The restaurant does have outside seating and a separate indoor room that was closed when I was there.. maybe for private parties? I guess every restaurant has their only gimmicks or maybe its just that they are so old-fashion, but they do not offer you a menu, nor do they take credit cards. The waitress will basically just ask you what type of food you are in the mood for (helps if you have some general knowledge of the types of food typically served in greek restaurants). The wait staff is generally unfriendly (although I think this might be a Greek cultural thing) and completely unaccommodating. The restaurant ran out of lemon potatoes, one of the things we were really looking forward to having. Waitress was unapologetic, and when asked if maybe we could order another side and possibly get some sort of lemon sauce on the side, the answer was just 'NO'. Essentially take the food how they give it to you, or don't order it at all. In the end the prices were cheaper than I expected, but the food was only so/so an service was poor. I would much rather go to Taverna Kyclades or Bahari for good Greek food in Astoria. read more

I have been meaning to try this place out ever since I moved to the 'hood two years ago. Finally made it over last night. How was it? Delish. There is no menu, and the waitress will tell you what is fresh that day. There is a plethora of fresh seafood to try. We ordered: mussels, octopus, scallops, calamari and a greek salad. Yes, we were hungry. The mussels were amazing- and actually, the hugest mussels I have ever had. Octopus was very tasty. Scallops were good, but slightly breaded, and the calamari was delicious. For all of that our bill was shockingly reasonable, and between three of us, we didnt finish all of this. Portion sizes for the apps are generous, and I believe the entree sizes are even more so. I will go back again and again. Love this place. FYI- this place is CASH ONLY. Surprise! read more

Living in New York was a culinary adventure. There were times when you ran into a restaurant so good at what it does that you would not want to share it with others. I am breaking that rule. If you want authentic Greek salads and grilled fish, feed the beast at Elias' Corner. Don't expect anything fancy. The patio furniture and almost rude wait staff isn't the reason to eat here. But when you taste the salad with feta cheese and olives, eat the grilled swordfish, and the grilled sausages, then you forget the world outside. The two hours or so that you spend here will be memorable. To get to Elias' from the City, take the N to Astoria. Get off at Astoria Blvd and walk north or get off at Ditmars and walk south. Elias' is on the west side of the street under the train tracks, on a corner. read more

Delicious and big portions, definitely to share. Must try the grilled octopus (superb), calamari (baby calamari was so fresh didn't even need marinara just lemon), fried cheese and chilean sea bass. Truly enjoyed every bite. Cash only venue. read more

One of the best Greek restaurants in Astoria... Get use to the no menus here. This is old fashion boys and girls. Get use to it. The food is fabulous ... You order from the displays at the front kitchen counter or you just check the pictures here on Yelp and show them to the waiter staff. OK. The choices of wine could need an improvement. But the housewives white or red is drinkable. Hugs Enjoy. OtHelia Jackson. read more

I have been here twice now and the first time was awesome and it tasted like they caught my fish out back and grilled it up right in front of me BUT the second time I went my fish tasted like they caught it out back and drove over it a few times while smoking cigarettes. The fries were great both times though. Elias is also expensive! $25 for over cooked fishy fish. I'd rather eat and drink at The Beer Garden across the street." read more

I just moved to Astoria and attended a family function where eight people separately recommended this place to me (by the end I had to nod and pretend I had never heard what they were about to say). So I'm shocked that only two people have reviewed Elias Corner. I had an amazing meal there on Sunday night. My parents were in town and I think the meal was about $25 a person but we got a ton of food: fried calamari, greek salad, saganaki, grilled eggplant and zucchini, shrimp, fish. We each got a beer and the dessert (fried dough with honey) was free. Everything was delish, especially the eggplant (sooo soft and gooey and tasty!) and they deboned the fish. There's no menu and once you get your food the servers kind of abandon you and you have to speak up. But sitting on the patio was lovely and because they leave you alone, you can linger on and on. Alas, they have no decaf coffee or tea. Otherwise we would have lingered longer than the 2 or 3 hours we spent at Elias. But I highly recommend the trek to Astoria for this place, especially because you can head to the beer garden afterwards! read more

My dad has been eating at Elias Corner for decades. He actually mentioned how it used to be located on a different block in Astoria. He just started going back regularly within the last year and wanted to take me. We went a couple weeks back on a Tuesday night for his birthday. From the outside the restaurant doesn't look like much and almost gets lost under the L. However, go inside and you get a different story. Walking in you immediately notice their fish display. Walk a little further down and there is a indoor and outdoor dinning room. Unfortunately for us it was too cold to sit outside. They start you with a Greek salad and we ordered Grilled Octopus as an app. We then ordered two St Petersburg grilled fished with two sides. The food was all fresh and delicious. Best part one St Petersburg feeds two people and only cost $18!! This is literally the best deal in town for the quality of food you get. Oh and did I mention there is a beer garden across the street? How can you go wrong. read more

Don't let some aspects of this restaurant Intimidate you! The waiter was a little brash, yes, but his spirits seemed to improve when he saw we were truly trying to not make his job difficult, but just wanted a great meal - which we received. Having never been, but thankfully armed with yelp knowledge of cash only/no menus/"rude service", we asked him what was on the menu and this seemed to exasperate him but I can see the annoyance in having to constantly recite a long list of items (and they obviously only cover the most ordered/basic items). If I worked there, I too would want the owner to just print up a menu already or at least have a blackboard with their specialties. We played it safe and went with the Greek salad, mussels and red snapper. My boyfriend and I each had two beers and I requested the garlic sauce (do this!). Everything was amazing, not a morsel was left on our plates (okay, maybe some of the salad but this was mainly due to how generous the shared portion was). All together our experience came to $63 not including tip. Had we not enjoyed our dinner with beer, it would have only been $43. The giant platter of mussels was just $10. I don't know what people are complaining about when it comes to pricing. We left stuffed, happy and more than surprisingly not broke. read more

When you go to Elias, and you should by all means go, prepare yourself for one of the worst dining experiences you will ever have. Have a drink at the beer garden first, or perhaps precede dinner with some kind of herbal therapy. Either way, you need to be in a good mood when you go. The service is terrible. Comically so. I have had authentic Greek service, which is bad by most standards, but I believe this service is bad even by Greek standards. There is no menu, it is cash only, and it is really not that well priced, but I guess you'll save on tip. That said, the food is delicious. Fresh and simple fish with some traditional side dishes, and if you sit outside in nice weather it's a pretty nice atmosphere. Then when you're done, you can walk over to the beer garden, get hammered, and have a great story about what a c-word your waitress was. read more

Where do I start: No menus ,you have to listen to the wait staff read out the entire menu from their pad and then ask them to repeat all or part because you forgot what the appetizers were.Not to mention you don't know what anything cost until the bill comes Al a carte for a neighborhood restaurant, who do they think they are. Prices out of line for a local Greek restaurant in Astoria. $6.00 for a small soggy plate of Broccoli. Lousy cold bread,you ask to have the bread warmed up Cash only-please in this day and age. I would never go back,I'd rather wait all night in line at Taverna Kyclades where the bread is hot,the portions almost too much and price is just right. Don't eat here!!!!! read more

best greek seafood and very affordable too if you game the system, pick your own fish a must!. best fish i had in years, better than "kiclades" without the wait and loud crowd. Diner for 4 under $100 and super fresh and cook to perfection, nothing beats that!!!. we had: 1; green salad 1; 3 to 4 Lb black sea-bass 1; lemon potatoes 1; tzatziki 1; carafe house wine and free desert read more

Has very quickly become my favorite restaurant. Food is undeniably incredible and so fresh. We had calamari, Octopus, the spicy cheese and the lamb chops. Absolutely everything was delicious and cooked beautifully! Service was top class and very friendly. Great atmosphere in the dining room to top it all off! This is the best fish restaurant in Queens. Anyone that claims the food and service here isn't excellent hasn't a clue what they're talking about, and should try Popeyes a few blocks down instead! read more

I knew the US is going through some tough economic times, but I didn't realize we hit the hyperinflation stage already. When we first arrived we were told that the price of the octopus appetizer was $12.00. Two hours later by the time the check came, it already went up $15.00. For those who enjoy not having a printed menu and having the waiter set the prices based on your likeability I strongly recommend this dining experience. Perhaps he was not happy that we cancelled the lemon potato order which did not arrive even after we were done with 3/4 of our dishes. Grilled shrimp with the current market value of $19.99 were bland. The only bright spot and the reason why I'm giving this restaurant two stars are the fried anchovies ($13.00) which were delicious. If I ever return here it will be to pick up some anchovies and venture across the street to the Bohemian Garden where the price of beer doesn't fluctuate. read more

Oh Elias, it's restaurants like this that make me LOVE living in a greek neighborhood. No nonsense whatsoever. Come in, sit down, waiting for your waitress to come and rattle off the ENTIRE menu. Order. Eat the freshest seafood you can get in Queens. Simple as that. Except for the fact that their scallop appetizer made me fall in love again. It's just so right. Seasoned to perfection, cooked to perfection.. no frills. The octopus was great as well. The branzini was kicka$$ as well. Crispy, fresh, with just a squirt of lemon. Make sure you bring cash or you'll be walking to the ATM across the street in the bodega. read more

LOVE THIS PLACE!! The gentlemen that I assume is the owner reminds me of my father. Always in the front meeting and greeting people. KUDOS to the owner as they do not make them like this anymore. Fresh fish at half the price of any Greek restaurant in Manhattan and I must say weather permitting the outside reminds me of a typical greek isle restaurant. LOVE THE CASH ONLY CONCEPT!! read more

I think some reviewers are overly impressed with the "no menu" idea. It's cute, but it has to be backed up by great food. It's not. The Greek sausage appy was very good as was the salmon filet- HUGE! Everything else was poorly seasoned and burnt. The grill was likely too hot. Zucchini wound up being blackened pieces of leather and at $6 was an insult. Portions are fairly generous and this may lead some to award an extra star. Not me! read more

The only reason I cant give it 5 stars is the decore. What you don't get; no menus, no credit cards, limited drinks, limited meat. no decor What you do get; the freshest, simply prepared fish in the city, great sides, loud & crowded, prompt but sometimes brash service, an inexpensive meal We went early with a group of 10 and were promptly seated. Thanks to our size we were able to sample every appetizer and about 1/2 the fish. everything was fresh and great. Octopus is a staple and although I've long maintained they make the best in the city, this time it was a bit under done for my taste. That's not to say it was too rare, just that it usually has a nice balance of tender juicy meat with crispy charred exterior spots and this time its charring was lacking. Monk fish was some of the best I've had. It was filleted instead of steaks (as most places serve it) which made for much easier sharing. The Scallops got a mixed review from the group. All liked, a couple loved them and a couple thought they were just OK. I'm in the latter category. They're rolled in flour and fried which makes for a slightly leathery skin but does seal in the juices. They looked great in the case and they didn't need the flour-fry treatment. They easily could have stood on their own with a simple grill or saute. Easy to get to by N train or car, with a lot out back. Frequent taxi's pass by so a return ride isnt difficult to hail. If the weather's nice they open a rear deck for dining which seems nice at first glance but between the lack of a view and the almost overhead train I'm not sure I'd choose it. One big bonus is its across the street from Bohemian Hall beer garden. Stop in before or after for a perfect pour of ice cold east European beer. read more

Exquisite seafood. No menu (I'll share prices). With fish, there are two considerations: is it FRESH and is it COOKED RIGHT? Elias scores perfect 10s. If you like Taverna Kyclades, Elias has a very different atmosphere and different style, but for quality, they are on par. I haven't been in this hood long enough to comment on how Elias has changed over the years, but I have no complaints whatsoever. Sharing encouraged! Price-wise, the basic breakdown is: sides $4-$7, fish $18-22. As good as the kebab is (my sister had it), you're missing the point if you order it. read more

Yeah, the service can be a little snippy but if you seem to know what you are talking about they will take care of you. A simple, "what's fresh today?", usually does the trick. We had a large greek salad, calamari, lemon potatoes, a carafe of white wine and red snapper for $66. Not bad at all. This is the place to go to in Astoria for fresh, clean, grilled fish with minimal but great seasoning. read more

BEST PLACE EVER. super fresh, no menu, they tell you what fish is available. best greek salad. really nice olive oil. quick and easy. & FRESH! kids love the fried potato slices. owner is alyas there and you can feel the element of care, even though the atmosphere is extremely relaxed. i love this place. read more

I have only eaten here once based on the recommendation of a Manhattanite who said he and his wife loved this Astoria place more so than Taverna Kyclades or Stamatis. Go early, on the weekends and evenings it gets pretty packed with the locals. There is NO MENU, but the waitress will rattle off all of the fresh fish of the day, sides, veggies and wine options. We ordered grilled calamari, a huge Greek salad, swordfish and a small carafe of wine. The total was around $70 but totally worth it. No frill, no fancy tables or decor. As a matter of fact I think our chairs were plastic patio furniture. Good for seafood lovers, like myself, just not somewhere I can afford to go often. CASH ONLY. read more

My go to place for perfectly grilled fish. No menus, no ambiance, and certainly not a great service experience. BUT, the fish is so fresh it's easy to get past all that other stuff. The outdoor seating area, albeit facing the parking area, is the restaurant's saving grace in the warmer months. read more

Best Greek food. Ever. Lamb chops and scallops all day. Excellent service, a truly fine establishment run by the nicest people.

Like the atmosphere!!! Food was ok . The salt is very basic not really like a Greeck one !! Affordable

I've been to this restaurant several times during the past 15 years. You have to take it for what it is as it has always been like that, a very casual place with fresh fish which is good although a bit salty, and an average grade of service . After you keep going you get accustomed to this way of serving people and I don't mind, after all I go there for the fish. Paper table cloth fast pacing waiters which stares at you while you'r eating and no menus whatsoever so can't figure your average bill until you keep going and you know what will be. Well I like to go and be casual no need to dress up fancy or to have manners! It deserve a try for the fish their mussels are good, fried whole calamari are NOT chewy, grilled shrimps are nice and the grilled fish like st peter or red snapper very good. read more

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OK, this would have gotten a MUCH lower review if it wasn't for how amazing the food was. My first impression of the restaurant was the owner telling a small child not to break the scale he was looking at while sitting with his father. He proceeded to seat us where we waited for 10-15 minutes for water in a room that had NO air conditioning and the windows were not allowed to be opened; the owner flew across the room to slam the window shut and lock it when a customer attempted to open it. The waitress practically ignored us until we physically stopped her to ask for water. Once we asked we waited another 5 minutes. She then asked if we knew what we wanted to order without giving us menus. We were told there were no menu's and she would recite the menu. I had to remember only the items that sounded good since I could not remember the full menu off hand Bronzini Red Snapper Greek Salad Grilled Octopus If it wasn't for those magical items, I would have given this place a 1 star. Definitely not worth the price we paid and it literally costs very little to print out menu's for people to read. read more

Came across this unassuming place while staying in Queens with my sister. We realized pretty quickly that this might be some of the worst service we will ever experience, it was actually funny how rude the staff was. (Normally, after 25 minutes without so much as aknowledgement, I would have left in a huff. But, my grandmother was with us and we had walked about 70 miles on this particular day, so we took the opportunity to relax and form our low expectations) When we were finally explained our dinner options we took the opportunity to order the food and drinks quickly since it may have been awhile before we had another chance. We chose: Greek salad Tzatziki Eggplant Potato chips Striped Bass Pan fried scallops The food came out quickly, and everything was delicious! It was family style and everything came out when it was ready, that is nice. Once we were eating, we almost forgot about the lousy service. That is, until we needed another drink or the check and basically had to trip the server to get it. The Greek salad was fresh and flavorful and tzatziki was perfectly garlicky. The potato chips and eggplant were pretty good and the fish was very fresh. The scallops were the best dish on the table. I have had a lot of fresh scallops, but there was something about them, we were almost fighting over the last one. To sum it up, the service is godawful, but all these tiny hateful girls who work there should feel lucky the food is so fantastic, because there has to be a reason to eat there. If you have the time to stick around, it is totally worth it. read more

I have not been here in a long time and boy was I missing this place. Parking can be a little difficult but worth trying. You also can take the subway that is 1 block away. Just remember no credit cards and no menu. They just tell you what they have and will either grill, fry or suited. The list of Shelfish and fish is large so dont worry. You have a bottle of olive oil on each table to drizzle on everything. You can even sit outside. This is the best way to eat any food. We started with the fried calamari and grilled octopus. The calamari was one the best I have ever had. It's not the rings and the tentacles. You get the fried tentacles but the body is whole and not cut into rings. Wow was it good. It had a lite thin batter so it did not mask the flavor of the calamari. The octopus legs were very tender. It had a little red wine vinigar and olive oil, yet I drizzled more yummy olive oil and dove in. My main corse was grilled sardines. Wow nobody has that. I know they have little bones but who cares, tthey are so good for you. All 8 were grilled to perfection. Just a little more oil and a squeeze of lemon. HEAVEN. Others I was with had sautéed soft shell crab, whole grilled snapper and grilled shrimp. I will be returning again soon. this is how grilled seafood should be. Simple read more

Excellent fresh fish. Went with my brother and cousin after drinking at the beer garden across the street. Nothing fancy, but you are getting great quality. Let me warn you however they do NOT have menus At first you feel confused, but if you are hungry like we were you quickly get past that. It also makes you a bit suspicious especially after you get your bill, but with that said I highly recommend you give them a shot. We shared a plate of mussels and grilled octopus to start and I had the bronzini for an entree. It was delicious after squirting lemon all over the large fish, although be careful of the tiny bones throughout. You can easily choke on one of those puppies. Several platters of grilled veggies and lemon potatoes we shared for the table and had so much flavor. Definitely come here if you love fish and you are ok with not choosing from a menu. Simple, but so fresh. Also very pricey. With appetizers, entrees, sides and a couple of bottles of white wine the bill was about $250 for the 3 of us. CASH ONLY. read more

Delicious, traditional, clean and fresh. I love the fact this place has no menu it makes it all the more traditional; I've been to Italy and half of the real traditional restaurants there did not have menus either. It's the place to come if you want to order fish and seafood, if you're more into the lamb chops or moussaka dishes choose another restaurant with a broader menu. They have a beautiful outside dining area for the warmer months and have A LOT of waitresses, so it's appropriately staffed because it can get very crowded. You can't beat the prices either. Tonight we split a greek salad, potatoes, grilled vegetables, a fish and had greek coffee and it all came out to $45.00!!!! It would have been double that amount in Manhattan for sure, and probably not even as good. Just know that it's cash only so be prepared. read more

The service was great but I didn't find it amazing, we had 2 dozen oysters and they tasted like tap water. It was as if they had taken the oysters and power washed them and put back in the shell. We also had the grilled octopus it was good. The branzino needed a little bit of seasoning and the red snapper had no seasoning whatsoever. It needed at least a little salt when you cook it. We also had a huge Greek salad and honestly it did not taste like one. The rice Taste very bland and not a fan of their lemon potatoes. I would go back only for the grilled octopus and the great service. read more

Elias Corner - Tasteless oysters. :-( - Mediterranean Near Me - Astoria, New York

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Good seafood. They have all kind of Mediterranean options. We had greek salad, the small fried sardines and potatoes for appetizers. All were really good As for the main course we had the sea bass, branzino and some other kind of fish that starts with an M. Honestly one fish can feed 2 people, so be careful to over order. They are very generous with the portions. read more

This place is awesome! We showed up and found only greeks in the dining room. A good sign! The food is simple stellar fare. Quality ingredients at a reasonable price. The mussels and oysters are fantastic. Highly recommend! Not a great place for a date or anything. The ambience is more about getting down to business. Great food with no BS read more

Elias corner is a special and for sure not your tipical restaurant, as everyone mentioned cash is the king. No menu and kind of weird the way waitresses wait in one corner to be call. I been here 4 times is the past 6 months and I can tell since is busy the chance you get a fresh fish is 100% probability, give a try this old fashion Greek restaurant.. read more

Great place. We had grilled whole seabass and grilled wild salmon steak, along with grilled eggplant and zucchini, and a large Greek salad to share. The food was nothing short of magnificent. Portions very large. My seabass was enough for 2 or 3 people. Prices fair, service excellent. Nice warm, casual atmosphere. Nice neighborhood feeling to the place, but the cooking is world class. No printed menu. The side orders and appetizers are on a blackboard when you walk in. You can see as you walk in some of the fish that are available, but the waiter or waitress will tell you what entrees are available. No credit cards. Small parking lot but parking on the street wasn't hard to find. read more

Like a lot of people below, I would give this place higher marks if not for the awful service. The food however is solid and delicious. Go here if you happen to be in the neighborhood on your way to the Beer Garden, or whatever. If not, just keep going to Ditmars and the plethora of Greek places on that street. While I'm used to the lack of menu by now, and am not bothered by it like people below, I think it's time they invested in some printing services and had a few printed off. read more

We returned to this Greek seafood market after at least 10 years, we were very happy with the food quality and services. If you closed the eyes you can actually picture you are at sea side of Santorini or Mykonos enjoying grilled octopus, fried anchovies and just good simple wines. We appreciate their speedy services and people at the ordering area are very helpful. Most importantly, it's so reasonable in price! We can't believe we spend less than 100 dollars among 4 people, we had whitings, sardines, octopus, grilled two veggies, wines, desert, coffees. We won't wait 10 years this time to go back visit them again for sure. read more

From the outside, this place looks like a fish market, however on the inside it's a nice restaurant. We walk in and are seated with no menus. If you never went there before, you wouldn't know that the menu is the blackboard on top of the fish fridges in the front. We sit down and the waitress is super fast in the sense that we can't ask any questions and she's so quick to leave the table. We place our order as quick as possible and I wanted to know more about the sides but apparently she was too busy to talk to us (her table). The waitress only came to our table 3 times. The first to take our order, the second after we ate and our plates were empty and sitting there for a while, and third when we had to flag her down to get our check. We sat there for 2.5 hours and had the worst service ever. When we ordered our food which the food is amazing, she never came back to us to ask how our food was, if we wanted another glass of wine, which I would have ordered if she ever did come back to our table, and I had to ask other servers for lemon and napkins. I was really upset and disgusted in the whole experience which sucks because when I go out to eat, I want service. I would go back to this place but because the service is so bad, I wouldn't go back at all. By the way, this place is cash only but we found out right when it was time to pay. read more

Excellent grilled octopus, the feta cheese on the Greek salad was goat cheese consistency which I love, amazing taramasalata sauce...potato chip things that came with the sheepshead fish were delicious (the fish was superb too). read more