Athena Meze Bar & Restaurant in Wiltshire

Hidden gems in Chippenham, highly recommend! Great variety of food , good service

My partner and I have eaten here three times in the last couple of months and we love the food, albeit slightly on the pricey side. The Greek Salad is delicious! The service is always excellent. We can't understand why it's not busy and just assume it's due to the low traffic location at the bottom end of the High Street. We feel bad for them as they deserve more custom. The only constructive criticism we have is the decor could be improved to be more like a Greek taverna to give it character, a feeling of Greece and atmosphere. This, and the fact that it's usually quite empty is why I've given 'atmosphere' a score of 3 stars. We will keep going back and supporting Athena as much as we can.

Perhaps we hit a bad day, a very, very bad day. To be honest, the one star is because the restaurant was open. To be very honest, after looking at the other reviews, either the restaurant has changed hands or the Saturday lunch service is run by people not understanding what they should be doing. The food was tasteless, poorly presented, and expensive . The chicken gyros looked like it had been dropped on the floor and then put on the serving board. The chicken souvlaki was tasteless and had a very strange texture. The sea bass was overcooked and swimming in some sort of sauce. The pictures shown on other reviews are accurate, but have a good look and really question if that is a good food presentation! After reading some of the other reviews, I had to see if I'd made a mistake and was reviewing a different restaurant. Unbelievable!!! I felt sorry for our relation who was hosting the meal.

2nd visit here and it was better than the last time I came, the service was good and the food was even better. Great staff, great atmosphere, would recommend. I've already booked for Christmas.

Lovely Greek restaurant with great food, friendly service and a great atmosphere. Will definitely come back.

Absolutely amazing visit on Saturday night for my Birthday. Lovely atmosphere, amazing food and the owner was so so attentive and super friendly! Highly recommend and absolutely will be retuning again!

We visited last weekend. Food was superb, staff were very friendly and assertive. We had a great evening out, so much so that we are going back with our children this evening.

Lovely experience as always. Looking forward to our next family dinner here. Wonderful staff in a relaxed atmosphere. Thabkyou for your hospitality.

Absolutely brilliant, great food, great service, great atmosphere. Professional service with a smile. Well Done the Athena team, we will be back.

We went out of our area to try something new and we were so glad that we did! Very prompt service, we were met at the door by who I presume was the owner, he welcomed us in and was very attentive. Our food was brilliant and cooked perfectly, Thankyou Athena we will be back!

absolutely appalling "meal", a Mossaka for £15 that looks like it was thrown inside a paper box, not even enough for one person! the picture they show doesnt show the truth! Athena herself would have closed you down for that horrific "meal". Better off waiting for when Taste of Santorini does delivery again.

A decent and interesting evening meal with friends. All fine though a number of menu choices weren't available, quality was fair.

Such a great little restaurant. Lovely Greek decor and atmosphere, friendly chatty service. The food is fresh, plentiful and using excellent quality ingredients. Meat dishes were tender and beautifully spiced, the seabass was perfectly cooked with a sauce both rich and delicate. If I lived closer we would be in every month.

Lovely friendly welcome and service throughout the evening.good food and drinks selection.

Fantastic authentic Greek meal! We were well served!

Probably the worst gyros I’ve ever eaten. No standard of what they send out. Won’t be a repeat order.

I have sat in this restaurant and enjoyed the food however delivery to int the bags of food were soggy, chicken cold and put in with hot chips, Poor quality and representation and unable to eat the meal. Unfortunately disappointed and won’t be ordering a take away again. Better service sitting in to dine

We visited on a Saturday evening and were happy with everything. The guy serving us was polite, friendly and very efficient, nothing was too much trouble. We had the sharing platter and it was flawlessly delicious, this was my first Greek food and we will be back. Sadly we were too full for dessert but they also looked amazing.

Very good food and friendly waiter, if we lived closer we would definitely eat here again.

Great food and plenty of it. Had the Chicken Gyros which came with chips and salad and was very impressed with the flavours throughout the dish!

Great service, very friendly, tasty food, good drinks. Would go there again.

My partner and I recently had dinner at Athena. Despite us arriving quite late in the evening, the staff were very kind and still served us an amazing meal! Will definitely be returning at some point!

My friend and I went for a pre Christmas meal. The food was delicious, piping hot and so tasty . However, that night they had entertainment,I say that very loosely, as it was like been at butlins in the 1970’s. Showing my age! The older man was “ singing and telling jokes “. Well unfortunately he couldn’t do either . The music was soo loud we asked to be moved as we couldn’t hear ourselves talking . I am no woke person but some if his attempts at humour were racist and not funny. Then he introduced his protege , a young 18 year old lad who then slaughtered my way and New York New York to name a few . I know some of the customers appeared to be enjoying themselves but for us it was a big fat NO. It was that bad we laughed and it will be an evening we will never forgot but unfortunately not for the right reasons . However again I want to reiterate how wonderful the food was and the staff were brilliant.

Delicious food , good quality and good portion size for the price ! Service was also friendly and fast . Would recommend and will be returning.

I’ve been to Athena a few times now, though a tad on the pricey side, always been really good food. However on the most recent visit the actions of staff left a bad taste in my mouth, even though food was delicious. A waiter asked if I wanted a drink whilst I water for my dining partner, I asked for water for the table. Another water brings over a bottle, with the label facing towards him, fist clenched over the cap to make it appear as a standard tap water bottle like you get at majority of restaurants. Cracks open the bottle and places it down with two glasses, that bottle of water turned out to be £5.95! Sneaky tactic given the nature of serving. Can’t knock the food but I won’t be returning as it was a sly tactic.

Delish! Enjoyed our platter for 2 and a few sides🤭. Thank you!

Great food good price good staff. Will definitely return

Fantastic food, amazing service, would highly recommend a meal here.

Absolutely FABULOUS evening - the staff were accommodating, food beautiful and the music playing is a lovely touch. We look forward to coming back soon!

We arrived in Chippenham in the evening to stay overnight as we needed to be somewhere nearby early the next morning. It was very last minute so hadn't booked a meal. We were turned away by multiple half-empty restaurants before stopping into Athena. The staff were so warm and welcoming. The food was absolutely delicious and fresh. We had starters and mains and all of it was terrific. Highly recommend.

Enjoyed a 2 course meal here with family. Service was very good , staff friendly and welcoming . Food was first class , lots of choice on menu and huge portions - two of the group tried the cocktails which went down very well ! Will definitely be returning !

We were so skeptical after the reviews but we had a lovely meal. Feta starter was piping hot and tasty, lovely side salad, kleftiko was huge and tasty. If I had to find 1 downfall, it was too much gravy and not enough seasoning but still tasted great. 2 for £16 cocktails. Table of 4 all said they would come back! Staff also really friendly and welcoming

Great food, awesome atmosphere.

Went for a birthday celebration night out with a friend, was really looking forward to it but I was disappointed with the food, I'm a veggie and there were limited veggie options (2 choices) I selected the veggie platter as wanted something light. The platter looked OK, I was really surprised that the spinach pie, spanakopita was deep fried, sadly I felt the oil overpowered the flavour of the pie, it was a bit like eating an oily sponge. My friend had the Chicken Souvlaki which is her favourite and she said it was OK. We'd hoped for a really fabulous evening but overall a bit disappointing.

Great food, extremely generous portions (especially meats), friendly helpful staff

The staff were friendly and parking is easy after 6pm. However my seat was dirty with crumbs on arrival and the food was unauthentic and used low quality, processed meat and uncle bens textured rice. The side salads were also using ingredients that were wilted and did not seem fresh. We tried two different dishes but both were terrible. Even my husband who was not a fussy eater, really regretted going there! I personally could only stomach 3 bites of the gyros and 1 of the souvlaki.

Booked table via website, we had tzatziki also garlic pitta with cheese for starters nice portion size. Mains we had vegetarian moussaka came in own bowl nice portion, also pork souvlaki good size portion both very tasty and fresh, had a beer and glass of house wine. We found this good value for money, staff very helpful and friendly.

Had the most lovely meal here at Athena last night excellent service me and my boyfriend had ordered steak his medium rare and mine rare they came out and the flavour was amazing mine was a little over done but absolutely no problem for me so I didn’t say anything as the steak was buttery and had great flavour and so tender the waiter then came out with a third steak and said really sorry noticed yours was more done than you’d asked and had gave us a free third steak !!!!!!!!! which was mouth watering !! they have the best seasoning and steak in Chippenham and along with there amazing customer service Athena is such a jem for our town can’t wait for my next visit :)

We were looking forward to our meal as we all enjoy Greek food. I chose Moussaka and the others chose to have a starter each followed by Lamb Kleftico. Our drinks arrived followed by starters which were Soutzoukakia and Loukaniko, both very average. When I was presented with my 'Moussaka' I could not believe my eyes! It was burnt on the top and around the edges. I thought I would not be quick to judge and would taste it first. When the two Klefticos arrived, again we were speechless. It was presented as a shank of lamb with deep fried potatoes and vegetables. We exchanged our disbelief but said nothing. When I tasted my Moussaka, underneath the Bechamel, it was tasteless and dry. The Bechamel sauce was horrendously burnt and I could lift it up in one piece like a sheet of pasta! At that moment I caught the waiter's eye and said I could not eat it. He asked me if I wanted to choose something else but given the three dishes on our table, I declined. When we left we spoke to the waiter and asked why Kleftico is advertised when it is clearly not what is being served. The reply was that customers requested it to be served as a roast!! Why advertise it as a Greek dish?? Will not be returning and would not recommend.

Really enjoyed our evening thank you.

Food was amazing very filling and the chips was SEASONED!! Gentlemen was very welcoming and had a good chat and made us comfortable, will 100% be coming back! Defo worth the money

We had a return visit to this authentic Greek restaurant for my wife’s birthday. Again we had a lovely meal. The staff are very attentive and food is great. Thanks again. John

I loved this restaurant. The decor and food was brilliant and I loved the santorini painting. Greek is generally not my favourite cuisine tbh, but this restaurant surprised me with its tasty cuisine and I loved every dish! 😃

The food quality was superb. I had a taste of the sea bass as well as the chicken, and both were made fresh and tasted nice. The prices outside are out of date, and inside the menu is more expensive by around £3 per dish, so a meal costs around £35 per person, which isn't exactly cheap. For the location, I'd say it's quite expensive, as I've seen similarly priced restaurants in London and Bath, which are expensive locations on its own. I can't complain about the service, it was quick, efficient and polite. The food came in under 15 minutes, and so that's always a plus. Lastly, the decor and atmosphere was great. Relatively modern decorations, appealing to most I'd say.

Really great Greek restaurant with food which will transport you back into Greece. The spanakopitas were amazing and so was the hummus. The service was fast and the food cane out hot and fresh. Really worth a visit if you are craving for some great chicken gyros and generally good Greek food.

Really poor meal. We had chicken souvlaki which was poorly cooked and came with lumpy rice. The "optional" service charge of 10% wasn't optional as it had been added to the total. The whole experience was dreadful.

Had a lovely meal here with my fiance one evening, and came back a few weeks later for lunch! The staff are knowledgable about gluten free options (I have coeliac disease) and the food was amazing. Also, they were very welcoming of my dog, which was a big plus. Would definitely recommend.

Had a lovely meal here with my fiance one evening, and came back a few weeks later for lunch! The staff are knowledgable about gluten free options (I have coeliac disease) and the food was amazing. Also, they were very welcoming of my dog, which was a big plus. Would definitely recommend.

Good food and good service. Just a shame that there were so few customers the night we went, which meant that the atmosphere was somewhat subdued.

Enjoyed our meal, very friendly owner.

Won't be going again , only reason we paid the service charge was because of the lovely lad serving us

this food was not authentic for me.

We absolutely loved our visit here - authentic Greek cuisine with a personal touch! The menu offers a great choice, whether you're looking for meze or 3 course. The food was beautifully presented and tasty, with an incredibly personal service. If we had discovered this place earlier during our stay, we would have visited twice. We even received recommendations for places to visit on our journey home - fabulous service!

Was Abit taken back by the prices chicken gyros £20 seems Abit steep to me, When the “Sirloin Steak” is £19, Overall was a nice evening But again maybe a few pounds on each dish over priced

First time giving this restaurant a try as a takeaway. We wanted this to be our next go to …. What a complete disappointment… All of the elements tasted like they had been frozen and the lamb was flavourless, the chicken was dry and the veg, was so watery! The chips ok but otherwise cold. For the price of our order - rubbish value ….. definitely avoid! Will not return!

Not a greek in site (although the staff working were lovely and friendly) but two of the party of four had food that was cold in the middle and very tough. When mentioned it was laughed off. Watch out on the bill as the service gets added automatically. The venue was clean but could of done with being a little warmer and a place for coats rather than the back of your chair.

Amazing food, lovely staff more than happy to help with explaining menu items and offering suggestions! Great experience! Will definitely be dining again!

Absolutely beautiful food the staff are really helpful and welcoming with plenty of advice to help you decide what you would like. Great value for money. If your in Chippenham I highly recommend a visit 5 star service

We came on a Tuesday night, it was quiet, but that didn't stop the excellent food or service. My colleague and I opted for the sharing platter, and took the recommendation for tzatziki too. Oh, my word. The tzatziki is what made the dish. The sausage, pork souvlaki, hot fresh chips and pitta were amazing. The chicken was a little dry, but to be honest, with the salad and dip it was barely noticeable. I had the baklava for dessert and it was rich, fragrant with cinnamon and tasted divine. Highly recommended.

First time visiting this restaurant pleasant staff very nice food back ground music a bit loud but on the whole a pleasant night

Booked our December Xmas meal at the end of Oct via fb messenger. It took Athena 12 days to confirm our booking. No mention of preorder at that time. Arrived at Athena, our booking was clearly lost and I was asked if I could show...

Shared tapas. Food and service was fantastic.

I had dinner here with friends one Saturday evening. The staff are friendly & there's a good atmosphere. I thought the menu was quite limited. The food was freshly cooked but for me I was a bit underwhelmed. It was all very pleasant, but nothing...

Ok but felt it was overpriced compared to other Greeks we have been to. Would have liked a little more authentic choice. Windows be rushing back.

Cannot fault this place. The portion sizes are massive. Prices are fair and the drinks are quick and delicious. New favourite

Good Food, Decent service but some of the dishes were a tad unusual and just not greek

Generous portions but with a Greek restaurant I was expecting a Greek salad and I got a fresh, undressed and distinctly un-Greek salad. Great chips but the meat was dry and overcooked - or just reheated. Restaurant prices for OK takeaway food.

Brilliant. I can say no more!!!

Very nice restaurant with plenty of seating and nice service. Food was really good and something different. Photo is of the sharing main.

Spur of the moment decision to eat out and like the look of the menu. Staff friendly and helpful and would definitely listen to any recommendations. We opted for the sharing platter with a suggestion to have tzatziki on the side. Which went well!

Good location. Reasonable prices. Friendly staff.

Nice food! Delicious. Highly recommended for Friday night 👌

A celebration was ruined by poor quality food and poor service, with drinks forgotten and incorrect. Food was mediocre, lacking flavour and freshness. Once visited, never to be repeated.

Lovely food ...Nice service by a great waitress will definitely go back

I highly recommend . Always tasty fresh food. Restaurant is always clean and smell inside is nice.

I wanted the lamb but they had none. Settled for the chicken kebabs in the end. Portions were big but pricey at £18 for a main. Tasted good though. Was quiet on a Monday night so the food didn't take long to prepare. I can't rave about the place but I wasn't disappointed either. I would give it another go and hopefully they have the lamb in stock!!!

We ordered chicken giro(£20) served with chips bread, tsatziki and salad, and beef moussaka (£16) served with salad. The portion size was good. The chips and salad were lovely. The moussaka was a bit bland. The chicken was probably frozen and boiled, lacking in flavour or texture or presentation. The bread was dry and hard. Overall way too expensive for the quality. Should be smaller portions and much cheaper. Had much better take-aways.

Chippenham is limited on non English restaurants, so we choose to go here. We arrived around 6pm on Tuesday night, there was no one else there. We selected two different dishes, I went with chicken gyros, the wife wanted chicken souvlaki and selected rice in place of chips. It took an age before our food was served. Mine was as expected good amount of chicken meat, I enjoyed what I ate. The wife's as soon as we saw the plate, the rice had been well over cooked, it now now just mush, we sent it back, all they did was try and dry the rice out, never going to happen. Their next idea was to take the rice off, the wife by this point didn't want it anymore and I had by now finished my meal. It didn't look worth the money with just one skewer. No we will not be going back

I have not bin to this restaurant but I have looked at the menu and it seemed to expensive for what you get. So I would not bother

Fantastic evening for my daughters birthday, Staff very attentive Food was beautiful Friendly environment and will definitely be going back

Lovely atmosphere and great food!

Great food, literally have a dish for everyone's taste. Dtsff are friendly and polite, very helpful if unsure about any of the dishes. Would recommend this place highly.

Our most recent 2 visits have been poor - the quality of service and, most importantly, food has really been lacking. I thought maybe just a one off bad day but it's sadly been reinforced with another poor experience. Loved coming here in the past...

Really love this place - food is great. I'm not a great fan of the 'Greek Night', but others love it. Worth checking when booking though.

The service was good and the staff friendly. That’s where the positives end. My husband ordered calamari, very underwhelming. I ordered vine leaves which were certainly quantity over quality. They were pretty tasteless. I ordered Moussaka for my main course, very watery and mushy and...

Visited Athena on a Thursday night with friends. The restaurant wasn’t busy but there was still a nice atmosphere. We opted for the meze platters for both staters and mains and both had a good and varied selection of Greek food including options for the...

Food very tasty and plenty of it . We ordered 3 bottles of sparkling water for the table and they were 10 pounds each which I thought was a bit steep !!

Great food and service and waiter was very knowledgeable of the menu would visit again when in Chippenham.

Great food and service to match 👌 will visit again.

Worst Greek Restaurant I've ever experienced. They don't even cook on charcoal !!? How can you serve Pork or Chicken souvlaki that's been grilled ??? Nothing authentic about this place.

Tempted in by the menu and by the entertaining waiter who suggested I go in as everything was much more delicious inside! I laughed and went in, and I'm glad that I did. I had calamari for a starter and seabass as a main, all...

Overpriced(from Londoner's perspective) and Adequate at best. Wouldn't go back. I guess you can't expect much at such a tiny town mainly serving as gateway town for tourist to Cotswolds. Would give 2 stars, but the service was actually really good. The guy who I believe was the floor manager was super friendly and knew what he was doing. He wouldn't be out of place at Michelin level restaurants.

We had a great evening here with friends. Nice food, attentive staff and very friendly atmosphere. Some good vegetarian options too, we have booked to go back very soon. Thanks Athena. Lyndon S

Had a good meal 5 years ago so decided to return, unfortunately not the same to be said on this visit. The sharing plater stank, and the pork gyros was vile, almost as if the pork was gone off! Not really what I expected. Definitely won’t return.

Garlic mushrooms? Where is the garlic? Sea bass? Ideally its needs cooking. Is this a sushi restaurant? Pretty sure its greek 🤣 Gyros, might aswell go to the kebab restaurant down the road for a £20 donner. Pretty poor. Waiting Staff are excellent.

We had not tried this restaurants and decided to give this place a try. I am afraid the dinner was very disappointing: as a starter we had olives (tasteless) and a Greek pastry or Spanakopita (oily). The main was a Chicken Souvlaki which was not...

The food was absolutely delicious, from the starters to the sharing platter, everything was really tasty and good portions. The service was also perfect and the staff super friendly, can’t wait to go back!

Super friendly staff, with okay food, but unfortunately the entertainment would prevent us from going back or recommending it to friends and family. A reasonable number of vegetarian options, and the shared Gyros was more than enough for the two people who ordered it (and to share with others on the table with all the sides it came with!). There was a musician who was entertaining (this was on a Friday night at 19:30), but the music was exceptionally loud (too loud to speak over) and many would find his humour and interactions with the guests intrusive and crude.

Excellent food, great service. Not cheap. Would recommend though

Myself, my daughter and youngest son had the most amazing lunch here today, the food was fresh, presented beautifully, and the main factor! It tasted delicious, the service was great, the staff friendly and helpful. If you fancy a meal out in Chippenham this is a great choice.