Papapavlo's Bistro & Bar

We booked the Grand Room on a Saturday afternoon to celebrate my son's baptism with family and friends. It was originally reserved at 4pm, but there was a mix up at the church so we had to ask if we could move it to a later time. Imagine the stress my husband and I had to go through, from calling guests, the photographer, and, of course, Papapavlo's!Thank you so much for accommodating us and trying your best to serve us that night! It is pricey but we all enjoyed the food, it being the first time for most of us! We loved the table setting for the reserved room, simple yet made us all feel fancy just for one night.

We have frequented Papapavlo's many times over the past 10-15 years for many occasions; birthdays, anniversaries, etc. but this most recent visit was unacceptable due to the lack of communication among the staff. We called on February 8th to make a reservation for Saturday February 22nd for a party of 10 to celebrate my brother's birthday. We were able to book a 6 PM table and all was well. We also inquired about a private room, but had no promises of that request at this point. The day of, we received a call from Papapavlo's in the early afternoon. The employee on the phone asked if we would like a private room for our party. The only adjustment would be that our reservation would be pushed from 6 PM to 6:30 PM. This small time adjustment was worth a private room at the restaurant, so we agreed to this. Part of our party arrived at the restaurant a little early (6:15 PM). The hostess checked for our reservation and proceeded to walk us through the busy restaurant towards the back where one of the private rooms were. However, the room was still being occupied by the previous party. We then proceeded to just stand in the busy walkway near the dessert case while we waited for the hostess to figure out the situation. She walked away to talk to her coworkers, then came back to walk us back to the hostess stand. Eventually, we were informed that they "thought the previous party left already since their reservation was at 3 PM"....... They proceed to inform us that the afternoon staff did not tell them that the party was still occupying the space and that it's "their job to set up for dinner" yet the employee who called us earlier that day to offer the private room was the one assisting us in-person... Regardless of who is to blame, these excuses did little to help the situation. At this point, half of our party is standing in the already small waiting area on a busy Saturday night, dumbfounded by the lack of communication among the staff. They then proceed to offer us the patio since "no one is seated out there, so it's pretty private". They start setting up tables to fit our party then two seconds later, they seat another party in the patio... On top of that, it is also cold and windy outside. They made sure to turn on the heaters, but our party included my elderly grandparents, so I'm not going to have my 70-80 year old grandparents eat dinner outside. We communicated this with the staff and waited for the next possible accommodation to an already rocky start. The rest of my party arrives by 6:30 PM and at this point, we decide to call neighboring restaurants to see if by some miracle, our party of 10 could be accommodated. I called Market Tavern, which shares a parking lot with Papapavlo's, and they were able to put my party down for 7 PM. We collect our things and communicate with the staff that we will no longer be interested in eating at their establishment. The employees and manager are apologetic, but at the end of the day, we leave dissatisfied with the experience.We walked over to Market Tavern at 6:45 PM and were seated immediately in their private room. We had an excellent, quiet, intimate dinner together and celebrated my brother after an annoying start to the night. I'm disappointed in Papapavlo's lack of communication among staff and will not book reservations here in the future.

Great food and Service Thank you Matt and JoshWe have been coming to Papapavlo's for years, every time I have enjoyed their food

Sunday, 1/19/2025 - went to Papapavlo's Bistro & Bar for lunch. Address is 501 Lincoln Ctr, Stockton, CA 95207. Nice little shopping area. Upon arrival....Pros1) they have a little parking lot right in the front of restaurant. Easy to find parking.2) You check in with the hostess and they'll seat you. Both gentlemen were very nice. 3) Saw they have a bar and TV.4) restaurant look clean and tidy. 5) Saw their dessert area. Looks yummy! 6) waiter was very nice. 7) they made sure to check on us to make sure our drinks were filled and to make sure we didn't need anything else 8) it didn't take long to get our food dishes. 9) all of our food dishes were great! Salmon perfectly cooked. 10) bathroom was clean. 11) our servers were all very nice and professional. The hostess even took our picture for us! Cons1) noneConclusion We liked this restaurant. Customer service was great and everyone was friendly. We were chatting catching up on life and no one rushed us out. So sweet. Glad their is a parking lot right next to the restaurant. Made it si much easier. We'd go here again!!

I recently dined at Papapavlo's in Stockton and ordered the Sirloin Brochette, which was really good! I enjoyed it so much that I finished my whole plate--no leftovers here! This restaurant is a great spot for a family night out, hanging with friends, or even a cozy date night. The vibe is nice, though I did find it a bit dark for my taste. One downside was that the service was just okay; it could have been a bit more attentive. Overall, the food was satisfying, and I'd recommend giving it a try if you're in the area!

On Feb 9, 2025, I held my mom's retirement party at Papapavlo's Stockton in the Grand Room, which seats about 40 people. I had an overall pleasant experience. It was easy enough coordinating with the staff on planning the event, and the food was excellent! I had the beef brochette, which was so perfectly cooked and juicy. We also opted for bringing our own cake and having it sliced at $2 per slice. Our servers were very attentive and gave us frequent refills. The one issue that I will give constructive criticism for was regarding the AV equipment. I had prepared a slideshow, video, and music to be played for this event. The fee for audio-visual projector rental was $250, as advertised on their website. (BTW, for those in need of this service, it only comes with an HDMI hookup, so be prepared with your own adapter if you need it). When we arrived at the event, we learned that there was no audio hookup to the room itself. There were speakers in the ceiling, but the controls were centralized and would have played the music that was playing in the rest of the restaurant. All audio for our event would have had to come straight out of my laptop, which obviously wouldn't have enough capacity to play for a whole room. I asked if they had a Bluetooth speaker but they did not. Luckily we had one at home, so I had to rush home to get it. I asked our server if we could possibly get a reduction on the $250 A/V fee, and at the end of the event, I was still charged the full amount, because apparently the $250 was the fee for the projector only--any audio equipment would have been extra. This didn't make sense to me since the servers told me that there was no audio hookup in the room itself, and also this was not disclosed on the banquet section of the website. I paid it anyway because I didn't want to argue or be considered a difficult customer. But I really would've appreciated it if this information would've been disclosed ahead of time so that I could prepare properly. I'm giving 4 stars since overall, everything else went well, but this AV issue is why I cannot give a full 5 stars.

Good food. Good portions. Service is good. Never had any problems. It's not cheap, but it's quality. You get what you pay for.

My husband and I's visit at Papapavlos was so good! Josh and Matt were especially attentive to our needs. The food was so delicious. We enjoyed the calamari steak with Potatoes and was delicious. I had the papa burger with a home-made potato salad...yum! My husband had the Steak sandwich and fries which was also divine. Matt was such a great server which made our visit fantastic! Definitely coming back soon!

What can you say about this restaurant? I mean they've come such a long way from their previous location and we are lucky to have a place like this in Stockton.First, the appetizer menu is phenomenal. You can really turn in the grilled vegetables and hummus into a dinner unto itself. Get a nice glass of wine and save room for dessert and call it an evening.Or, go Greek full throttle and get the flaming cheese appetizer called Saganaki. I'm not going to ruin the surprise, so just order it and dive in, but slowly because you don't want to get burned by the molten hot....For the dinner options, you can't go wrong with the Greek combo plates but this time I went for the fish. The Sole was good but really needed a little something else. Don't get me wrong, I don't know anything about cooking a filet of Sole, but my date ordered the Swordfish. That was a game changer and really made my fish kinda pale in comparison. I highly recommend the Swordfish, along with the potatos and green beans. It was a hefty portion and I didn't leave room for dessert. Another pro tip is that they have bottles of wine at reasonable prices. If you are in a party of 4, I would suggest finding a white or red that you like because they have some nice options on the menu.Also, the desserts are excellent and are worth the extra $, but again that depends on you and your appetite for hunger emancipation.Overall, Papapavlos continues to do right for Stocktonians that love a upscale vibe with quality food served at fair prices.

Good but slow it was nice and good customer serviceThe food was also go to I got the olive and cheese platter