I saw the metal shroud hanging over Odara last week, and was hoping they were just keeping odd hours. Sadly, it looks like it’s permanent. The Mediterranean restaurant was one of the cozier, friendlier places on that stretch of Graham Avenue (which happens to be on my walk home), and I could never figure out why it wasn’t more crowded. Was it the location, the prices, or is East Williamsburg just anti-hummus?
Yelp reviewers gave it an average of 4 and 1/2 stars — but it only had seven reviews. (Compare that to the 28 reviews for Variety Cafe, which is two doors down and serves only coffee and muffins, and to nearby Mother’s, which has 26 reviews in just over three months.)
Odara’s $9 dollar chicken stew — which was more like a roast chicken in a thick gravy, over rice with fava beans and spinach — was a personal favorite. But chicken stews come and go; it’ll be harder to replace the friendly couple who served everything with a smile, and if you were lucky, sent you home with an extra bowl of lentil soup to eat the next day.
Anybody have strong feelings about Odara?
melissa
June 10, 2009
i loved odara too — i just walked by yesterday and saw it replaced by a french resto “sel de mer.” my favorite dish was rice w/ lubia which was a very reasonable $7 and fed me for 2 meals last winter. i don’t know why it wasn’t more crowded — the food was home-made and well above average… any recommendations on where to go now?