THE PARTHENON

THE PARTHENON
(312-726-2407)
314 South Halsted St.

BY SHERMAN KAPLAN
BROADCAST AUGUST 1, 2008

It's bad enough when the fish stinks, but when it happens at a venerable Greek restaurant it's even more astonishing. That was the case at The Parthenon, at 314 South Halsted, which is also celebrating its 4oth anniversary this year.

I cannot imagine how a piece of seafood so rank could get past the kitchen staff, and our waiter before it got to our table. Our server presented the whole red snapper, then began to debone it. The sour smell reached my nostrils in an instant.

I said nothing at the time, not wanting to plant a wrong impression with our friends who ordered the fish, should my judgment be wrong.

It wasn't. There was no mistake. To his credit, our server retrieved the fish and removed it from our bill without further prompting. But, no one, not even a manager came by our table to apologize for what I hope was the rare exception.

We began with appetizers including pan fried zucchini with scordalia, a pungent garlic spread that goes well with so many foods, even when simply spread on fresh bread. Another choice, pureed eggplant was not so special, not spoiled by any means, simply bland to a fault.

An order of beets looked canned. I didn't taste them. I did taste saganaki, excellent, not too salty, presented with the cliché Oppa! that may have charmed tourists at one time, but now just seems old.

In addition to the spoiled red snapper, we ordered a combo of shrimps and scallops flamed in Metaxa, the Greek version of brandy. Tastes were fine, but the order looked so barren with no attempts to garnish or otherwise make the platter less stark.

For dessert, baklava is tried and true, but tirami su, for all its good taste, came in a plastic cup as if it might have been from The Good Humor man rather than the kitchen of a Greek restaurant.

The Parthenon is at 314 South Halsted, but with so many other proven restaurants in the neighborhood, we are not likely to return.

The Parthenon has a K/RATING of 12.5/20.

AMBIANCE 3.5/4 HOSPITALITY 3/5 FOOD 6/11

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