Michael Milios wants customers who have visited Greece to feel like they’ve returned to vacation when they dine at his family’s Mykonos Mediterranean Restaurant.
Those who haven’t traveled to Greece will get a nice snapshot of the atmosphere, vibe and food of the country.
It’s the blue and white colors, the lights made from blown glass, the photos, and the authentic food of the beach side village where Milios lived until he was 12.
“I make it feel like you’re in Greece,” he said. “I want people to feel back to Greece like if they went on a cruise. That’s what makes it unique.”
The restaurant, soon to expand to other communities in a simpler form, has been named in a state-by-state list as having top-rated Greek food in Connecticut. They have a wall of Connecticut “best of” awards voted by the public.
Soon they will open a take out/delivery only branch in Plainville and a second of those in another community, likely West Hartford, Milios said. Customers drive from as far away as New York, Massachusetts, Norwich and were “pressing me to expand,” he said.
Retired Hartford Hospital anesthesiologist, Dr. James Rouman, who says over the years he “has been obsessed by travel to Greece and its islands,” considers Mykonos “an important figure in the local gastronomic scene.”
“It’s fair to say that I’ve tasted plenty of Greek food in my lifetime. I believe Mykonos Restaurant stands out as the best source of Greek cuisine in the area and perhaps in the country, itself, ” he said. “There is a sense of authenticity about the place and for the quality of their presentations.”
He said, there’s “a great vibe when dining there.”
“The restaurant has been discovered at last by foodies and by all who now espouse the important Mediterranean Die t,” he said.
One online reviewer who tried chicken spanakopita wrote, “I thought I died and went to heaven with this chicken dish.”
Milios grew up until age 12 on the island of Rhodes, but named his restaurant Mykonos because it’s an island many from the United States visit and he wanted to indicate it is a Greek restaurant.
He came here in a boat in 1974 and his dad, who arrived in the U.S. prior to that had opened a pizza place in East Hartford.
He grew up in the business and always wanted to open a Greek restaurant, but worried it might be risky to open a place focused one one cuisine.
But eight years ago he decided to give it a go by opening Mykonos at 2414 Berlin Tpke. in Newington.
Before that he owned Oscar’s near the UConn campus.
In Greece, Milios learned to cook from his mom, grandmother and aunts. Later, he took the best of what he was taught by each to make the menu at Mykonos.
“I love the business,” he said. “Once you grow up with it, it stays with you.”
Everything is made from scratch and cooked the old-fashioned, authentic way.
He’s there every day, but a team comes in every morning at 7 a.m. to make Tzatziki sauce and other house made condiments and mainstays.
Milios tastes every one of them every day to make sure it’s up to his standard.
“I’m very fussy. People (employees) get mad at me, but that’s how it goes,” Milios said.
The spacious dining room of about 110 seats and a bar, has expanded from three booths and six tables.
There are so many little touches of authenticity, even a ceiling fan is shaped like a windmill, which the island of Mykonos is known for.
The food receives rave reviews online, and there’s apparently good reason.
Guests rave about the grilled calamari, souvlaki, moussaka, chicken spanakopita, desserts and more.
Milios said the lemon potatoes are baked in the oven to have the original taste you’d have in on a vacation in Greece.
He even carries soft drinks and coffee from Greece.
They sell lots of gyros, Milios said, because they make them the traditional way, by grilling the pita, as well as the meat.
The octopus, another popular dish that draws guests, is prepared in the way he was taught to make it in the seaside village where he grew up.
Their hummus and popular spicy feta dip are also made from scratch.
The mixed grill plate is another “big seller,” he said.
Because Italy is so close to Greece, and because people like options, they also carry about five Italian dishes, he said.
“I’m proud of all we’ve done,” Milios said, referring to his wife, daughter and son in law who help run the restaurant.
