Petra Lands an A- from the RJ

Our local food critic hit Tivoli Village’s Petra: A Greek Taverna this week and decided the food warranted an A in her book. Compare that to John Curtas’ review from last summer where he says, “Petra serves the sort of shitty Greek food that shitty Greek restaurants have been pawning off on America for decades.” Even Al Mancini’s two visits to Petra left him with the same impression. “After my first meal (and second visit) at Petra Greek Taverna in Tivoli Village, I could tell the place had widespread problems. A second time dining there didn't change that opinion.”

But Heidi Knapp Rinella loved the moussaka, for the uninitiated, a sliced eggplant baked in a ground beef sauce and then smothered in a thin white sauce. She describes the zucchini drops as “lightly crisped orbs of shredded zucchini mixed with feta and herbs, moist in the middle and served atop the creamiest tzatziki we've ever encountered, a particular joy to the cucumber-hater among us.”

And for some reason, she uses service as a means of judging the restaurant on her one visit. She described her service as unbalanced, without explanation, and rated it a B+.

Overall, her experience garnered a A-. Other restaurants that nabbed the same rating include American Fish, Windy City Beefs 'n Dogs and P.J. Clarke’s.

· Petra Balances Flavors While Putting Own Spin on Classic Greek Dishes [LVRJ]
· Summerlin Strikes Out [Eating Las Vegas]
· Get Him Away from the Greek [CityLife]