"I was visiting friends who live about 30 40 minutes away. In this region of NC/VA, it 's exiting to have options other than BBQ, Mexican, and fast food. Several friends had recommended O Aetos so we were excited to finally have the opportunity to dine here. When we entered, the place is a bit dingy. We were surprised to learn the place was remodeled about 2 years ago when they first opened. However, the tables were elegantly appointed nothing fancy, just simple yet very nice. The staff is amazing. Everyone was pleasant and genuinely happy to serve us. The owner came by during the meal and talked. I think that some of the servers were related to the owner and it 's good to have a family run restaurant because they put their heart and soul into it. The menu has a good selection of Greek and non Greek options (in this area, many people are leery of anything other that good ol ' American food . But there were some odd sides like what you would find of a country table squash, collards (both of which I love and some other things. Now to the food it was good and not so good. First, the taste was very good. However, the owner seems to have forgotten that food is enjoyed with 3 senses, first vision, then smell, and last taste. When they brought us the food, I was disappointed and somewhat dreaded what it would taste like. The portions were obscenely large to the point it was off putting. The food covered the entire plate/bowl. It had been plated with the charm and finesse of a school cafeteria. For the love of Zeus, please look at the internet for images of how to plate food. I had lamb shank and it was very good but it was in a shallow bowl with long thick noodles. The shank was flavorful and delicately fell off the bone as it should. However, it was difficult to eat with the noodles. An improvement would have been a tiny bed of kritharaki (like Italian orzo on a plate with the shank on top and then just a few greens with Greek dressing and maybe some charred cherry tomatoes. Everyone was very happy with the flavor but we all commented on the food wasn 't visually appealing. We ordered (i.e. purchased the bread plate with olive oil as an appetizer. It was very good but we were a bit surprised when we received the same bread (sans olive oil with our meal. Oh how I would have enjoyed an appetizer of bread with fig jam and goat cheese spread. They could have reduced the portion by 25 50% and it would still have been enough. The four of us all took food home. We wanted dessert but it was impossible because we had eaten so much. We decided on a cobbler with a scoop of homemade cinnamon ice cream outstanding. The highlight of the meal was the home made ginger ale (they make the ginger syrup and combine with soda water . Wow, bit of a kick, slight vanilla taste, and not too sweet. The designated driver had the ginger all the rest of us had wine. Next time, I 'm getting the ginger ale. In summary, I 'm not sure what this restaurant wants to be or their target demographic. The prices are reasonable but too high for every night dining in this area. But it 's not charming enough for special occasions. The four of us are planning to return in the next few weeks but we 'll order 2 meals and split them. I can 't imagine their food costs. Maybe if you are someone who places food quantity over everything else, you would give this place 5 stars. I would have loved to give 5 stars but have to stick with 4. The owner/chef know what they are doing but with some fine tuning, this place would go from very good to great."
