Neat location, super friendly hostess and waitress. However, that was where the good stuff ended. I ordered the three dip sampler and was disappointed at all three. The baba ganoush had no smoke flavor at all. The tzatziki and hummus were bland: garlic capitol is only a few miles away and yet none to be tasted. I was genuinely surprised that at least one of them wasn't very good. Hoping things got better, I ordered the gyro plate. To its credit, it did taste and look locally made. Unfortunately I don't think it was sliced to order as it came out tasting greasy like it had sat in the bottom of a warning pan for awhile. The positive ratings and the staff leave me to believe that maybe I just had a bad experience, but I had four dishes and none of them impressed. I hope others have better experiences read more

Home-style, delicious Mediterranean food in a warm, relaxed setting. Wine selection and service was adequate but not top notch, but we understand. Good for friends and family dining. read more

I was out in Pacific Grove for a day trip and after a long walk it was time to find some grub. I was in the mood for something Mediterranean and I hadn't had a good gyro for awhile, so after searching on Yelp I came across Petra. It's a few minutes' walk from the busy part of Lighthouse. Their outdoor space is pretty limited but they have a couple of 2-top tables at the front entrance - one at street level and one at the top of the stairs (beside a chair lift, so the entrance is accessible). They're being very cautious with COVID protocols, all wearing masks and gloves and they request that diners also wear their mask until they eat. They are also providing takeout. The server came out to greet me and got me seated with the menu and was quick to come back for my order - a lamb gyro and fries. She said it'd take 15 minutes but it was more like 10. The food came out super hot and fresh. The gyro was stacked with flavorful, tender lamb, just the right amount of sauce, and some lettuce, tomato and red onion. All very fresh. The lamb was well-seasoned and easy to eat. The wrap was nice and warm and fluffy, really nice texture to it. The fries were lightly seasoned crinkle fries, a really big portion of them, and they were hot, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Everything was delicious. Great spot, I'll definitely be back sometime to try the musaka. read more

Petra Restaurant - Gyro and fries - Greek Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

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Delicious. We had mujadara and the Petra platter. This is my favorite type of food so my standards are high -- the flavors were perfect. The caramelized onions on mujadara were amazing, tangy tomatoes an ideal complement, really great yogurt sauce that was like a blend of labneh and tzatziki. Our server John was also great. The setting is very pleasant, charming art and a family-run vibe. We will be back! read more

Generous servings of fantastic food. The gyro meat is well flavored but not overly spiced, pitas are nicely soft - they don't break around the fillings! And the staff are friendly and generous hearted. read more

Love the family feeling of this place the food is great! I often get the falafel sandwich and it's delicious! The servers are kind and the owners treat you with warmth. Even sometimes surprise us with a treat at the end or an appetizer we haven't tried before. Highly recommended. read more

Was doing a delivery, the food looked good so yes ill get to go. Got the souvlakis, rice.. OH MY GOD the marinade on the chicken, the beef, the rice was amazing... I would have no issue if I got this at a 5 star white tablecloth fancy hoity toity place. NO problem at all. It was extremely good, cooked perfectly, juicy meat, I dont know what to say it was amazing. The inside was very nice too. Very well decorated, etc. My wife will be coming here!! read more

I was walking my dog recently when I saw this place. There were no visible tables outside, but when I called the business to see about outdoor seating the owner himself offered to bring a table outside for me--which he did with a friendly, welcoming smile. What service! I had the vegetarian plate followed up by hot tea and baklava. Next time, I will leave the pup at home so I can sit inside to try other menu items. I really appreciate being accommodated for my lunch time outting. You just don't get this kind of personal service from large chain restaurants. read more

Came with a large group, some of whom have lots of questions and requests. Our waiter was patient, professional, and efficient. The food was really delicious - well-seasoned, good portions, and beautifully presented. Desserts were also yummy. Everyone enjoyed the meal, and that is hard with a big group! Looking forward to coming back in the near future! read more

Bomb gyros and the tzatziki is deliciously simple. True authentic Mediterranean food; reminds me of my family cooking. Thank you!

Good, consistent greek food. Hummus, falafel, gyros and other dishes are great. Staff is friendly and service for eat in was good.

Another fantastic meal. We went vegetarian and had so many options and all of it was fresh and delicious. And lots of leftovers. Yum!

Great food and cute location. I tried the falafel gyro and chicken gyro which were both very yummy!

This place is great! We had a late lunch and the place was fairly quiet. They let us add a chair to a window table to accommodate my 7 year old's wish to sit by the front window. The food was incredible. The dip sampler, falafel, Greek salad and gyro platter were all fabulous. The restroom was clean. We will be returning when we are in town. read more

I returned to Petra again today to try the falafel sandwich to-go. Oh. My. Goodness. It was so delicious! The falafel was perfectly moist, and the sandwich contained the ideal balance of falafel and vegetables. It also came with a savory tahini sauce and was wrapped in a warm pita. And... if it couldn't get any better... it's totally vegan!! If you're looking for a delicious and picnic-friendly meal to bring to the beach or park, or are just looking for a quick, healthy, and fresh meal on the go, be sure to stop by Petra for their falafel sandwich! read more

I eat at Petra monthly and have tried most items on the menu. Everything is fantastic. Sammy and his crew never disappoint!

Went there yesterday for lunch, takeout, and ordered a Gyro platter for dinner too. Along with humus, falafel, tabbouleh, and pita there was more than enough for me and my hungry 15 yr old. And the food... two words, "YUM!" (Ok, maybe just one big one.) A really great place for a good tasty food. Takeout a meal or some baklava for that sweet tooth. Love them and their food. read more

Petra Restaurant - Gyro platter, humus, tabbouleh, greek salad, pita. - Greek Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

First time to this restaurant. Had lunch. I ordered the Lamb Shish Kabob Sandwich. Very good. Filled with succulent pieces of seasoned lamb, cooked just right for me... medium rare. My wife had the Musaka which was excellent. Waitress was attentive. If in the mood for middle eastern food would return to try other dishes. read more

I've been going to Petra's for 20 years and I truly enjoyed the love and care in serving quality food at a good price. It truly broke my heart after all this time, that the family ingredient LOVE was no more. Instead, it's about pre-wrapped grape leaves that are hard from sitting in the fridge instead of freshly soft made favorable bites of Mediterranean bliss! The entree portions and quality of food has lost the magic. I was always excited knowing I was going to eat at Petra's (no longer) plus the cost is too expensive. I ordered the grape leaves (sent back - at no charge) but besides chicken delight (Not the same or portion size) baba ghannouj, the veggie platter, a beer and a split wine, the total $90.00 plus tip. I'm sad that some things in life do change and not always for the better. So long Petra's, thank you for the good old days. read more

My mom and I had a delicious lunch, we so enjoyed the platter so as to sample an assortment of items. We will definitely return for the yummy food, soft and tender pitas, everything was perfect and Sam the chef waited on us. Just go there and enjoy the food and nice service! read more

I ordered Petra's for a group workshop I was hosting around the corner and my team could not stop raving about the offerings. From the beginning the owner, Sam, was extremely helpful in selecting the appropriate amount of food for my 12 person lunch. Everything was hot, fresh, and perfectly seasoned. The food was outstanding and everyone went back for seconds and some even thirds. I can't recommend Petra's enough and will definitely be using them for future workshops and team events nearby in the future. read more

Petra Restaurant - greek salad with feta and dressing on the side, falafel platter, gyro meat platter, chicken gyro meat, French fries, and warm soft pita :) - Greek Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

Great to find a place with delicious, clearly labeled vegan options. We kept it simple and got the falafel sandwiches. They were delicious, fresh, with perfectly cooked falafels. Killin! read more

Get the Royal Feast. Wow! I highly recommend. I've been ordering take-out dinners from Petra in Pacific Grove since 2003. They used to serve me Turkish coffee while I waited for my order in their tiny space just left of the main doors. It seems a bit spendy for take-out, but I always end up with left-overs for the next day. My go-to's have been their lamb shishkabob platter with their vegetarian combination platter. I end up with 2 sets of Greek salads that come with the platters, but that's okay. Their pita bread comes warm and slightly steamed in a plastic bag, which for whatever reason works. Occasionally, I've ordered just their baba ghannouj or their gyro sandwich when I get a specific craving. Honestly, I don't think I've ever tried anything else... ... until Feb 19, 2021, in a fit of pandemic fatigue (i.e., I'm tired of cooking all the time), we ordered their Royal Feast for two, to-go (tax & tip put us over $75, but had decent leftovers for 2 days). The various meats come in a large aluminum tray over spiced rice (it's not white rice, nor is it pilaf - no vermicelli) and topped with pine nuts and sumac (this is fancier than any of the platters). I've never had their keftakabobs or their chicken kabobs before - oh, so good. As usual, Petra's appetizers /vegetarian options are tasty and really round out the meal. My favorites are their tabuli salad, stuffed grape leaves, baba ghannouj (obviously), falafel, and tzatziki. The Royal Feast also came with small sides of tahini and fresh marinated chopped tomatoes. For desert, baklava was included. Yum! For those complaining about how Petra is not Greek... erm, yelp has limited categories. As with all things around the Mediterranean, food cultures are often shared. I was adopted into an Armenian family that had many similar dishes, which is why I like lamb shish kebab so much - I haven't found any other restaurant on the Monterey Peninsula that offers anything like the food of my childhood. I tried to find official reviews, and this is the only one I could find, which is very helpful: https://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/petra-brings-the-cuisines-of-the-middle-east-to-pacific-grove/article_b4acdb9e-be1b-5e29-9e8b-eb356228ed6f.html Try Petra for a fancy feast. read more

Delicious Middle Eastern food. I like the gyros and grilled meats. If you like Greek food, try this place. It's friendly and reasonable prices for everything. Very tasty. read more

We just moved to the area and are making our list of good restaurants. Unfortunately, this one is off the list. We ordered the Petra Combination platter and lamb chop dinner special. Starting with the "good": greek salad, dolmas, and gyro seasoning were fine. The shish kebab and lamb chop were not. I was very puzzled by the 2 tiny chops of lamb chops that were accompanied by mint jello and tzatziki. The seasoning and cooking style were off and did not have any semblance of Greek food. The combo platter was reasonable for the portion but certainly not the lamb that I paid $27 for. They seem like nice people and are following Covid safety protocols. I wish them well. Opa! read more

Everyone said let's come back! I'm starting at the end and working forward. Deserts were tasty, some honey sweet some not. Textures varied from flakey to crumbly. All went well with the Turkish coffee. We ordered a lamb dish, a chicken dish, the build your own gyro dish, and some food I can't even remember how to pronounce along with a Greek salad. We shared family style. The waiter was very accommodating. I think we got three plates of pita bread. Yum! I had a Greek white wine. Interesting. Definitely not your typical Chardonnay. So not cheap gyros. Tastey. Fun. I felt like we left Monterey for a Few hours. We will be back. read more

Petra Restaurant - Pics of Petra over the fireplace. Started a family conversation about trade routes, taxes tariffs, and ancient trade routes. - Greek Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

This IS my favorite Restaurant in Pacific Grove! My second visit this time for lunch. Had the Chicken Delight. Loaded with flavor yummy...

I don't consider myself a self proclaimed Greek food expert but I know good food when I taste it! For lunch, I decided to order the Petra Combination Platter so I could sample everything they had to offer and make a better evaluation. The platter came with: Shish-Kabob (lamb): packed full of flavor, not as tender as I would have liked but nonetheless delicious!!! Grape Leaves: one was filled with a great blend of seasoned meat and rice while the other two were more on the sweet side Tabuli Salad: packed full of fresh herbs, complimented well with the other components on the dish Gyros: thought it was an actual gyro but instead was a thin sliver of the meat from the gyro. It had an amazing crunchy texture with tons and tons of flavor. That alone sold me on Petra Rice & Hummus: rice was cooked just right although a tad bland by itself. As for the hummus, it was light, wasn't too oily, smooth texture, and lots of flavor. Pita Bread: it was complimentary with our lunch. Was served warm which was a great perk. For dessert I order the Turkish Delight. It was extremely sweet, really chewy but overall a great end to the meal. I also snagged a bit of my friends baklava which I regret to say wasn't that good. It was too dry, the crust wasn't flaky, and seemed to lack freshness. Final Thoughts Totally deserves a 5 star but now I have a reason to go back and give them the final star that they deserve!!! read more

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Being Greek Heritage means a lot in my review. First of all the first time we came it was fantastic. Tonight though the waitress was clueless, gave menu walked away not asking if we wanted drinks 8 minutes past. I asked for Greek soup her answer what's on the menu we serve. I got an order of Spanakopita I could tell it wasn't homemade it was frozen and the nuked it the filo crumbled and minimal spinach inside. Small Greek salad I didn't know there we plates that small. My wife got the grill chicken and I got the 2 lamb shins kabob. Never asked how I wanted it cooked. Through out the meal never asked to refill our drinks. The lamb was blah no seasoning at all. A well cooked kabobs has plenty of juices on the plate nothing here probably previously frozen. The atmosphere was pleasant the first with the elderly woman making sure your meal was good. Our waitress was too much in the kitchen yapping her trap and not caring for the customers. The Spanakopita was from a bakery in Sacramento. Tough to cut the meat with a butter better than the bendable knife that was given. This is an insult to Greek food, I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. read more

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We were here 2 years ago right before my now husband proposed to me at Lover's Point. I found it on Yelp. We came back for our first anniversary. The food was so good and authentic. To be honest with you, I didn't remember it was this good. It was a nice surprise. I highly recommend the lamb combo plate. The lamb was nicely spiced, tender and juicy. The beef gyros was tasty. The salad with couscous and mint and cucumber was so refreshing. And the hummus. Oh the hummus. The combination of those food was unbelievable. We are from the Bay Area and we went through a lot of ethnic restaurant. But boy oh boy. I will definitely remover this one. To top it off, the Turkish coffee was so good I fell in love with it and asked for the whole pot. Service was really good too. She made excellent recommendation and very attentive. Good place to go for some authentic food. read more

Petra Restaurant - Greek Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

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A delicious lunch for two people for only $32 + tip! Pros: The food was great! - Hummus w/pita bread: perfect. hummus wasn't too lemony. - Salad: delicious dressing. - Falafel: sooooooo good. - Couscous with chicken and veggies: tasty! - Gyro: the meat was super delicious - better than most other gyros I've had Cons: - Slightly slow service - don't come here if you're in a big rush - Our falafel dish came out with a big blond hair on it. (But when we told the waiter, he immediately apologized and took it back. 10 minutes later, we got 4 [hopefully] new, hairless falafels) read more

How in the world does this place have four stars? When we walked in at 7:00 pm on a Friday, something seemed a little off. Maybe it was because the seating area is essentially in someone's living room or because none of the furniture matched. But whatever, I was hungry and willing to give the place a chance. The menu looked fairly standard, if a little pricey, but hey, it's Pacific Grove. But then we waited. And waited. And waited. A table next to us actually stormed off in a huff because the food was taking so long. We stuck it out (over an hour between our order and our food), but probably should have followed their lead. The food, once it arrived, was bland, uninspired, and in tiny portions. Imagine a Greek salad with three over-dressed leaves of iceberg lettuce, one (one!) olive, a couple of slices of mealy tomato, and one minute morsel of red onion. The rest of the order was in similar disarray. Possibly acceptable for a quick lunch place, but not for a nice night out. Oh, and they seem to have stolen the tagline "Like Nowhere Else" from the more popular (and much better!) Demetra Mediterranean restaurant in nearby Carmel. tl;dr weird vibe, terrible service, tiny portions of bland, overpriced food. read more

Awesome Mediterranean food! This place has better quality food and atmosphere than Paprika Cafe in Monterey. The restaurant is located in the residential part of Pacific Grove. We accidentally put in Monterey as the city in our GPS, and it took us to an imaginary place along Lighthouse Avenue. The size of the restaurant is small. Walk-ins are welcome, but you may have a difficult time getting a table. My husband and I enjoyed the food. He had the Petra Combo which came with a Greek salad, hummus, tabouli, dolmas, rice, lamb kebob, and gyro. It was a lot of food! My hubby really liked the meat. The hummus, tabouli, and dolmas were vegetarian, so I got to try those. They weren't bad. I ordered two appetizers as my main entree - falafel nuggets and the fava beans/ful. The falafels were so delicious! These are one of the best falafels that I've had! The flavor and moistness were similar to Kareem's restaurant in Anaheim. Definitely get the falafels! In addition, the fava beans/ful was also another great dish. Lots of great flavors, and a good size too! Service was slow. We waited for 10 minutes at a table until we got utensils and menus. The restaurant had two waitresses, and I think a third person would be beneficial. read more

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We give this restaurant five stars - the service was great. We had moussaka platter and gyro sandwiches with fries. The tzatziki sauce on the lamb gyro was delicious and flavorful. We will definitely be back read more

One of the best kept secrets of the peninsula, this family restaurant is amoung the favorites of locals. Petra has attracted royalty and celebrities but the real claim to fame is that you'll love that two generations put their talent into your meals. Amazingly fresh and flavorful, try the lamb and finish with the Turkish coffee for a delightful treat. So amazing...and when everyone else was closed in the afternoon, they served us with a smile and took time to make our experience extra special. Update 2016 The last couple of times I have visited this restaurant with pals I was a bit surprised. Falafals were over done and the experience was definitely not up to the standards of when I wrote my original review. Also, double check the hours or call first as I have been by a few times and the location has not been open. The family has opened another location in Monterey...worth a sampling but try the specials board to be safe. read more

We are so glad Petras is open again for inside dining. Food is always great. Today we had a special hamburger cooked by Samer. Tom and Sharon read more

Best restaurant, best falafel sandwiches, best customer service. Thank you so much Sam you're the best cook ever!

Very good and everything is fresh. Pita is not homemade but store bought. The meat platter is so good. The chicken is yummy.

Went for a late lunch. Was greeted by a kind woman, and our choice of seating. The food was good. I would recommend gyros with the tzatziki on the side. Would also recommend the fries over the jasmine rice. I did not like the Turkish coffee. Too rich for me. She said it was traditional, although made on the stove. We had a peaceful lunch as there was only one other couple there. Would go back. read more

This is our 4th visit to this location. The last visit, my husband saw someone cutting her fingernails in the kitchen and vowed never to return. We gave it one more shot today, since all of PG shuts down after 3pm. My only complaint is how long it took for the 2 gyros sandwiches and fries to come out. There were no other customers inside the restaurant. read more

Petra Restaurant - Gyro sandwich with French fries - Greek Near Me - Pacific Grove, California