a scary scene at Karavas at 7th Ave.
Supposedly, this was the "good" Karavas. I had previously been disappointed by the one close to 6th Ave.
I stopped in last night around 1AM. At what point does one blame the restaurant for its dangerous-seeming crowd?
The guy to my left, who never ordered any food, mumbled to me. It had the tone of a "smoke? sense? hash?" promoter but I couldn't actually discern the words. To his left, there was a woman, sitting alone, who never ordered anything.
In front of me, two very loud guys were joined by a shouting acquaintance. One of them turned around to look at me but thankfully that was the extent of the interaction. The guys talked to a few women who passed by, with one noting that he would "hit that." The third guy shouted at the cashier for not providing him with change of a $20.
With the opera music blaring, it felt like a Scorsese-esque shootout was going to happen shortly.
Oh, yeah, the food.
I requested the "chicken combination." I eventually received gyro, lamb, etc. I was in no mood to prolong my stay so I accepted what was given.
The lamb pieces were borderline stale. The gyro was very good. The pita was standard. Salad was pretty good, fries were good when dipped in the salad's oil & vinegar.
While I did enjoy the gyro, I have never felt so physically unsafe. I understand that appealing to late-night crowds and bargoers may cause different ambience. But clearly these sleazy people felt that this establishment was a safe place for them to loiter and shout.
I felt bad for the put-upon employees.
I could return at a more safe time of day but I don't wish to patronize a business that encourages dirtbags to linger there.
