Longtime Satellite Beach restaurant has new owners, glorious gyro | Restaurant Review
Niki’s Rainbow Restaurant & Bar in Satellite Beach was not what we thought it would be.
Habitues of the restaurant years ago during the ownership of the wonderful Ladis family, we thought we’d grab brunch and get home before last week’s storms. What a surprise: no brunch was to be had. Instead, we found a stylish lunch-and-dinner venue with a second dining room, formerly the business next door, for special events and overflow crowds; and spirits.
Gone are the old murals; it has been redone with textured white walls, and part of the counter now is given to bar space. The new chairs and booths are dark gray, entirely tasteful and immaculate as ever.
The menu is unlike most, with large, color photographs of the food, and they do make it look good. Still there are the Greek specialties at which the Ladises excelled, as well as diner-style fare such as triple-decker and other sandwiches, and meat and seafood entrees.
We may have selected something from the Middle Eastern section of the thing had we known in advance that the new owners are Lebanese, but we wanted to see how the new proprietors did with old favorites.
Having heard that the spits remain in place from which to have meat sliced with each order, we went with a gyro ($9.50) and a Greek platter ($20) preceded by avgolemono.
The avgolemono was grand, nearly identical to that which was worth driving for so many years before: not a soup with clear, citrus-tinged broth, but the creamier, chicken-rich, lemony version of the thing, which alone is worth the trip back.
The foods on the combo platter — spanakopita, moussaka, pastitsio and grape leaves — were similarly delicious, however inartistically they were arranged on the plate.
Perfect for the season are moussaka (Greek lasagna, with eggplant and finely minced meat) and pastitio (minced meat and tubular pasta), because they are hearty dishes redolent of cinnamon, allspice, cloves, etc. The bechamel was grand too.
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As for the spanakopita (spinach pie), how nicely flaky was that filo wrapping, and how neatly chopped was the spinach within. The egg in which it is mixed wasn’t dry, either, which leads some of us to never order the dish in certain restaurants.
Grape leaves were spot-on too, with tender, rather than stringy or woody leaves, and a good, dense filling of meat and rice. These are topped with tomato sauce, though they do not taste soaked in it.
If the platter had a problem, it was that the food seemed to have been reheated, though I may be wrong. Regardless, it deserved more thoughtful plating, as good food should be a feast for the eyes as well as the nose and mouth.
The gyro was glorious: so fat with slices of seasoned meat, tomato and onions dressed with tzatziki that you had to give up, put it down and use knife and fork. It remains one of the best in the region.
And now a word about coffee. You can tell a lot about a restaurant by the quality of its coffee, and by that is not meant it should be some higher-end blend from an exotic roastery. Coffee well-measured, made in a clean machine and poured from a clean pot is indicative. Here, it indicates good things; this was great coffee.
See you at Niki’s. Until then, the best of holidays to you all.
Niki’s Rainbow Restaurant & Bar
Three and a half stars
Address: 570 State Road A1A, Satellite Beach
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Call: 321-773-8696
Online: nikisrainbow.restaurant.
Surcharge: None
Other: Large event room; outdoor seating; full bar with cocktail menu; vegan entrees
About our reviews
Restaurants are rated on a five-star system by FLORIDA TODAY’s reviewer. The reviews are the opinion of the reviewer and take into account quality of the restaurant’s food, ambiance and service. Ratings reflect the quality of what a diner can reasonably expect to find. To receive a rating of less than three stars, a restaurant must be tried twice and prove unimpressive on each visit. Each reviewer visit is unannounced and paid for by FLORIDA TODAY.
Five stars: Excellent. A rare establishment to which you’d be proud to take the most discerning diner.
Four stars: Very good. Worth going out of your way for. Food, atmosphere and service are routinely top notch.
Three stars: Good. A reasonably good place with food and service that satisfy.
Two stars: Fair. While there’s nothing special about this establishment, it will do in a pinch.
One star: Not recommended. Don’t bother.
Dowling is a freelance food and lifestyles writer based in Melbourne. Join the conversation at facebook.com/groups/321FlavorWhereBrevardEats.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Niki's Rainbow in Satellite Beach has fresh look, great Mediterranean food
