Fresno Greek Festival

The food was not too bad, especially the lamb shank but very overpriced for what you got. Additionally, the entry fee was $8 per individual. The St. George Greek Orthodox Church always hosts this annual food festival and I trust the proceeds from the event go to help the church and the local Greek community.Most of the dishes range in price between $3 for many desserts, to $4 to $12 for most savory items individually.I thought it was ridiculous to charge $4 for the rice pilaf, which was actually only a dollar less than the roast chicken, and they gave me so little too. The chicken/pork souvlaki was very tasty but one tiny skewer was hardly worth the $7.I also believe I was grossly overcharged unless the prices went up and the prices listed on the pamphlet were outdated. This is very unlikely, however, since I came on the first night of the festival.Many of the volunteers for the event, many of them were very young, were terribly unhelpful, and not prepared at all to answer even the most basic questions (e.g., the type of meat and ingredients in the dish they were serving, where you could purchase drinks, where the restroom was, etc.).BEST BETS: lamb shank, spanakopita, moussaka, roast chicken, Greek salad, walnut baklava, saragli - pistachio, and baklava sundae.

Not much handicapped parking available. The drinks offered left a lot to be desired. Learned tonight I do not like Greek wine. Dinner for two was reasonably priced. The wait time was very long. Long winding line. It was really hot out and being so close together the body heat made the wait really unbearable. Everyone sweating and fanning themselves with the little brochures handed out at the entrance. I was close to passing out. I'm thinking the entrance fee is $8. Per person. Place was packed. Wouldn't it be wise to have an industrial type fan pointed towards the folks waiting in this horrible line in the heat? My husband said his chicken was good but he didn't enjoy biting into an olive pit in the Greek salad. My lamb was horrible. I love lamb but this was covered in cinnamon. Ewwwwe! Should list that on the menu. It was gross. The breaded cheese thing was good. The stuffed grape leaf was good. Pilaf was just okay. I was going to take my left over salad home but the to go tray it was served in leaked through the bottom. Got 3 little pieces of dessert. I had a tiny bite of the almond baklava and it was flavorful but very dry.

A very fun visit today/tonight with the family at Fresno Greek Fest! We had won free tickets on their website, and kids got in free anyway...what a strong start! We arrived around 4:00pm, lines were quite manageable, and we were able to get a table near a stage to enjoy music and dance while we dined! The dolmades and salad were by far the freshest and most flavorful veggie options and the chicken and mousaka were the most delicious options according to my family. We also enjoyed the Mezza Plate, and the hummus & baba ganoush were fantastic! Everything was quite well organized, and knowing ahead that they were not doing cash helped, we were prepared. We even got to watch a cooking demo. The vendor booths were all under coverings/tents to help with the sun, and as it got darker, the lights were plentiful! I enjoyed the Greek Coffee & asked for it sweet, the kids loved the ice cream too. Greek donuts & variety pack of pastries were a must on the way out as well! There was an elaborate line up of musical and dance performances, and it was great that Kopi was mingling with the crowd as always. Loved taking our traditional family photo with him! Kids had hours of enjoyment in the bounce house area- it was $20 bucks each, but they were thrilled. It felt very safe as well, & there was security and Fresno Police on-site. Highly recommend attending this annual event! It's a fantastic way to learn a bit and enjoy the Greek Culture.

The food and drinks were a sad affair lacking in quality. Not worth the visit. The people were very nice at all booths, but their hands were tied to the disorganization and lack of answers. The food was a 1.5 out of 5 stars. The star of the a la carte platter (see picture) was the dolmas. But the uncooked rice pilaf chunks and gamey lamb shank were atrocious.The mocha frappe is sadly misleading with no blending of the drink. Sad tasting made worse with Hershey (low quality) chocolate used in a latte that did not use quality beans for the espresso.Of the aforementioned complaints, they sold hummus, but somehow not a La carte. And it was in a 2oz. Container, along with 3 pieces of cheese, pita, cucumber sauce, and olives do 12 freaking dollars. So we left a Greek festival empty-handed of the most desired item, hummus.I am quite disappointed what is supposed to be a "jolly" affair.For context, we visited between 2-4pm on Saturday.

Loads of Fun with friends and family. Very nice festival to attend for all ages... don't forget to walk into the church and see the gorgeous paintings and stained glass. Peace

We decided to attend this year's festival because it was in September and the weather was in the 70's at dusk Thank God it wasn't a week earlier when Fresno broke records of 108-114 because we have been here during the afternoon when it was too hot. We had no problem parking directly across from the entrance in the grass lot. The event was more crowded than before. After paying a modest admission fee of $24 for a party of seven we entered the spectacular church decorated with beautiful ceiling paintings and stain glass. We were able to find an open table and then wait in the fast moving incredibly long food line. And, what about the food? We ordered from the indoor hall that served roasted chicken $5, lamb shank $11, Pastitsio $9, spanakopita $6, Dolmades $1 & Greek salad $6. The outdoor grill served Greek fries$8, gyros $10, Calamari $10 and chicken, lamb or pork souvlaki $7-10. My overall favorite was the spanakopita ( spinach & feta wrapped with a flaky crunchy light filo dough). Don't miss the desserts. In the pastry room we got the Walnut & Almond Baklava $3, Kourabiedes $3 ( shortbread cookies covered in powdered sugar) but the killer dessert was the combination of Loukoumades ( puffs of dough drenched in nuts and honey) that we dumped into ice cream $6. And lastly the Tavern offered beer, wine and of course shots of Ouzo- OPA!. After all the delicious food we walked over to the tented area to enjoy the Greek dancing and music. There was also a children's area with rides and inflatable bounce houses and a slide and craft and merchandise booths. Overall, what a great way to experience the largest Greek Fest west of the Mississippi and everything was credit or debit card friendly . OPA !

My friend and I went to the Greek festival last night. We both really enjoyed the music, the dancing, the beautiful church & the grounds. Everyone was super friendly and welcoming! The food was delicious BUT way over priced!!! $5.50 for a small lamb chop, $10 for a 3"x3" slice of moussaka. It felt like we were being gouged. We wanted to but pastries but they were sold out by 6pm. Very disappointing. The salt in the wound was there were only 2 spots to buy food - different menus so had to stand in both lines if wanted variety. While the staff were friendly and efficient, we stood in one line for 25 minutes! This took a lot of fun out of the experience. In previous years, they had multiple small booths to buy food and I liked this format better. Finally the parking- we parked in the park across the street for $10. There wasn't a real entrance so they were having people enter over a curb- which damaged my friend's car and we had to call a tow truck. There needs to be a better systemFor parking.

This was a first time for me and I enjoyed every bit of it. I attended Friday night and the crowd wasn't bad at all. I waited maybe 2 minutes for food and everything else I was able to walk right up without a line. Everything was what I expected it to be. The food was great, the people were nice, and the Greek festivities were fun and fun to watch. I'm an ice cream connoisseur so my obvious favorite item of the night was the Greek sundae. It was so freakin' good. The blandness of the vanilla and the sweetly gooey flavorful of the Baklava went together like peanut butter and jelly. I wish they made a larger size but I'm kinda glad they don't because I would shamefully buy a 32 oz cup of this yummy delight. Any who, parking was $5 across the street and my kids and I got in FREE because I donated a buttload of canned food. The price I paid for food was normally what I would spend taking us 3 out so it wasn't bad in my opinion. The church is beautiful. I love stained glass and I can appreciate all the time and talent it takes to keep the paintings so vibrant. I had a great time overall and I will be back next year! OPA!!

I was SO excited to eat here today, and that was all for naught. The food was awful. The rice was crunchy, and the green beans were canned. It was phenomenally overpriced for subpar food. Would absolutely not ever go back. The no cash thing was a hassle, but the terrible food was unforgivable.

We went to the Greek Fest this morning; from the beginning, it was a mess. We found out it was no cash accepted, and everything was all over the place in there. The food should have been more organized, maybe with some meal options instead of separating everything a la carte. The food was underwhelming, the rice pilaf was gummy and stuck together and the chicken portions were skimpy. We will not be going back.