Posted by Lauren
Tonight was so much fun! I met Megan and Amy at a popular Greek restaurant in downtown Los Gatos. Delivering fresh, authentic, and affordable Greek cuisine in three Bay Area locations, Opa is one of those places I should visit more often. Someone remind me why this is only my second time there… WTF was I thinking?
Opa!
27 N Santa Cruz Avenue, Los Gatos, CA 95030
Website – Yelp
We each started out with a glass of red wine. Don’t you love stemless wine glasses?
An adventurous starter – flaming cheese! Saganaki ($10) – Greek cheese grilled to perfection. Served with warm pita bread. Topped with fresh lemon juice. Our waitress lit the tiny skillet on fire and we watched it burn down for about 20 seconds before she set it on our table to devour…
The cheese looks strange in the skillet, but don’t let looks deceive you. It was delicious, especially with Opa’s ooey gooey pita bread. I wanted to order 85% of the appetizers and need to go back for the zucchini chips and/or dips/spreads!
Megan picked a pita sandwich ($11 – $13), I’m not sure which type [because I wasn't paying attention]. They offer gyro, pork, lamb, beef, chicken, seafood, and a veggie option. Each sandwich is “dressed with Tzatziki sauce garnished with tomatoes, onions and mint… served with a side of Opa! fries or rice.” If I were ordering, I’d choose a lamb pita because… lamb rocks!
p.s. Opa! fries are the BOMB. People still say that, right? Their Opa! fries are “freshly sliced potatoes topped with crumbled greek feta cheese and a side of [the] famous Opa! sauce!”
Amy and I split one of the pita pizzas and a salad. Our pizza pick, above, came pre-cut, which I kind of thought was weird. The Amalia Pizza ($11) - Tomato sauce, melitzanosalata spread, mozzarella, sliced roma tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions, roasted garlic, chopped jalapeno and feta. The pizza toppings were great, but I wasn’t a fan of the pita crust. It seemed too thick – it is hard to believe it was actually a pita!
The salad was the better pick of the two. Horiataki ($11) - The traditional village salad. Ripe red tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, peppers, fresh oregano tossed in [the] Opa! vinaigrette topped with crumbled feta cheese. I was surprised when this lettuce-less salad landed on our table, but I did not miss the lettuce one bit! The huge chunks of tomato were really refreshing (I’m usually not a tomato lover) and the massive amounts of feta didn’t hurt either ;)
Amy, myself, and Megan – we chatted for almost 3 and a half hours before calling it a night!! Amy needed a caffeine fix at the 2.75 hour mark, so she ordered a Greek coffee.
Such a small cup :) Amy, please move up to the Bay Area for reals so these dinners can happen more often!
Jamie Eason’s LifeFit Trainer 12-Week Plan
A few days ago, Janetha from Meals + Moves linked to Jamie Eason’s Livefit 12-week weight lifting program and my interest meter instantly shot up. I’ve been looking for a detailed (and free!) program to follow to increase my time in the weights area… You can read more about the “Why” behind Jamie’s program in an article she wrote here.
Week 1, Day 1 – Chest & Triceps
I did the wide pushups + dumbbell bench press as a superset and then the narrow pushups (TOUGH! Did them on my knees…) + standing dumbbell triceps extension as another superset. Next, I finished the triceps pushdown with 30#s and then… I had to set up the bench + cables for the flat bench cable flyes.
I waited for the guys to clear out of the cables space and then quickly set up the bench + grips. I felt very out of place! The flat bench cable flyes were really tough too! I only had 10#s on each cable, but I could barely complete the three sets!
Before I left the gym, I ran on the ‘mill for 22 minutes to get to 2.5 miles.
While running, I read a bit of Breaking Dawn (guilty face) and the time flew by! Nevertheless, I was thoroughly sweaty when I hopped off the machine and bicycled home!
Tomorrow is a back + biceps day! I’ll keep you posted on how the lifting goes… gonna get beefy! Hahaha just kidding ;)
Question: Have you ever been to Greece?
The closest I’ve been to Greece is in my head – aka when I followed along with Ann Brashare’s narration and Lena’s trip to Santorini in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Santorini looks beautiful!!!
-Lauren
13 comments on “Opa! Los Gatos + LiveFit”
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Aha I found Livefit the other day – can’t quite get my hang around the no cardio bit of phase one, and I’m not hardcore enough to follow the meal plan, however the workouts have some pretty good bits and pieces! Ha and I know the feeling about waiting for the guys to move out of the way at the gym – I braved the smith machine the other day and felt so proud of myself!
Have been to Greece a couple of times – once when I was tiny (so have no recollection!) we hired a yacht and sailed around the greek islands for a few weeks (my granddad used to be a pro at sailing!) and went a couple years ago with some girlfriends as a post-exam/pre university thing – we went to Corfu, spent the days sunbathing and the evenings drinking and dancing! Loved loved loved the food – especially feta, I’m an addict! Also loooove halloumi cheese aswell (think tht’s from Cyprus?)
Looks like an awesome evening :)
Love reviews from Los Gatos restaurants, will have to make a plan to check some out when I go home.
We went to Greece two years ago and it was pretty fantastic. Athens and Mykonos! We hired a historian to show us around Athens and it was the best decision, we learned so much and really had an appreciation for the ancient city. Food was also great….we just asked for the best thing they made, no menus required. It didn’t disappoint.
I’ve never been to Los Gatos!!
But I have been to Greece hahaha. I’m kind of sad I went when I was only 10 or 11, but it seriously was as amazing as the pictures look. The food, the ocean, the history…we had great memories from that trip!
Ohh that looks like such a great restaurant! I am all about that cheese appetizer and the fact that feta was on everything… YUM! I even looked at the website and it says one came to Walnut Creek this summer! Yay! I’ll have to check it out! And sadly, I haven’t been to Greece either. But my parents took a 3 wk trip there a few years ago and said it was absolutely incredible… I’m dying to visit Santorini someday!
All I wanna do is go to Greece and eat all the Greek foods all the time. True story: Greek might be my favorite cuisine that I can regularly manage to eat in a healthy manner.
Mmm…I love flaming cheese! All of that looks delicious!
I want to go to Greece SO badly. My boyfriend is Greek, speaks Greek and his whole family is Greek. Hopefully I’m a shoe-in for a trip there :)
It was the the gyro pita and all those pics look so good I want some even though I just had some yesterday! I would probably pick the lamb if I were with my mom, it was about $3-4 more though.
The sisterhood of the traveling pants totally inspired me to have this crazy desire to go to Santorini. I always say that’s where I want to go on my honeymoon. It’s so pretty! Or maybe I should go and get a Kostos of my own… hehe. Seriously though, that restaurant sounds awesome. I love mediterranean food! Definitely one of my favorite types, if not my favorite.
Kostos is SOOOOOOO hot. I’m in love with him.
– Nicole
ps- we can share :)
oh one more thing…can we go to the gym sometime together and you can show me that routine? I need to start lifting and I need ideas!
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I am going to Greece for my 30th birthday in 2012! Cannot wait. ALthough I CAN wait to be 30… I am loving Jamie’s plan! On week 4 and feeling strong. Hope you are liking it, too. Thanks for the holler!