Santorini
Inviting restaurant brings authentic Greek cuisine to the Eau Gallie Arts District
Santorini in downtown Eau Gallie marks the latest venture of owner Yianni Pippa, a successful entrepreneur who has owned everything from restaurants to bars to comedy clubs throughout his long career.
The unassuming restaurant, which officially opened on Valentine’s Day, is named after a small island in Greece – the native country of Pippa.
“Santorini is special because people can get high quality food with roots straight from Greece,” says Mark Young, the restaurant’s chef. “It gives an accurate depiction of what it’s like to dine in Greece –that includes the food and the atmosphere.”
The lunch menu is reasonably priced and mainly consists of American and Greek traditional and flat-bread sandwiches. Lunch salad options include both an “American-style” Greek salad which can be tossed with grilled chicken, gyro meat or grilled shrimp, as well as a “true” Greek salad, also known as a Horiayatiki salad, which mixes cucumbers, onions, feta, olives and Greek dressing – “everything but lettuce,” according to the menu.
In order to keep things interesting, Santorini’s dinner menu rotates daily, featuring approximately eight dinner specials on any given day of the week. “We prepare everything fresh on a daily basis. Mixing up the menu allows us to give patrons an assortment of platters and choices,” explains Young.
Tender and juicy lamb shanks stewed in fresh tomato sauce, for example, is a Santorini favorite that makes the menu on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Meanwhile, mousaka, consisting of a layer of eggplant, potatoes and ground beef topped with cream and tomato sauce, is served on Mondays and Wednesdays. Certain menu items, however, including spanakopita (spinach pie), the gyro platter and Greek lemon chicken (a Santorini favorite) are available seven days a week.
The restaurant itself is cozy and casual, with indoor and multiple outdoor seating options. Diners can take their pick of the Santorini’s front patio area to take in views of the charming Eau Gallie Arts District, or can eat in the restaurant’s rear courtyard donned with Mediterranean-inspired murals, plants and pottery.
Young, who has worked alongside Pippa for several years, praises the owner for the restaurant’s immediate success during a time when many restaurants are floundering. If anyone knows the workings of a successful restaurant, however, it’s Pippa, who has been involved in the hospitality industry since he arrived in the U.S. from Greece at the age of 16.
Says Young, “This is everything he knows.”
Santorini
Address: 1385 Highland Avenue, Melbourne (in the Eau Gallie Arts District)
Phone: (321) 757-9064
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday
Features: Outdoor dining; courtyard; lunch and dinner; menu rotates daily
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