Salt and Pepper Give Anthony's Restaurant Mixed Reviews

Name: Anthony's Restaurant & Sports Bar

Cuisines: Greek, Italian

Payment: Cash, Diners Club, American Express , Visa, MasterCard, Discover

Alcohol: Full Bar

Price: $

Address: 7234 Centreville Rd, Manassas VA

Hours of Operation: Sun- Thurs: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fri-Sat: 11 a.m.  to 11 p.m.

 Salt's Take: The first thing I noticed about Anthony's was the atmosphere. I felt so lonely. I got there about nine at night and there was only one couple in the dining room.  Across from the entrance, in its own closed-off sectio, were a few people at the bar. The restaurant was a little too dark for me, so that, coupled with my outright singularity, I decided to get my food to go.

 Anthony's has been at its current location since 1995. And you can tell. The dining room, while it was impeccably clean and well decorated (by 1995 standards), reminded me more of a cafeteria than a restaurant. I was surprised that there weren't buffet lines along the walls or a food scale next to the register.

Anthony's offers a wide selection of food. Everything from sandwiches and burgers, to omelets, steak and pasta. I wasn't very hungry, so I decided to just order a sub. I decided on the fried fish sub which consisted of a fried fish fillet and tartar sauce on a toasted submarine roll. While the fish was flavorful, it was a little overcooked and came off rather tough. On the whole, the sandwich was typical, nothing to brag about. I do wish that it would have come with lettuce and tomatoes which is standard on most of their subs and sandwiches.

The staff was friendly. The gentleman who took my order was very nice. We had a good conversation as my food was being prepared. While the food wasn't exceptionally good, I would probably give the restaurant another chance.

 Pepper's Take:

Anthony’s is another place I pass by, at least five days a week, and frankly, I was never that impressed by the shopping center where it's located.  My first visit to Anthony's was years after I moved to Manassas.

Anthony’s is split into two sections, the main restaurant and the bar area separated by an internal door. When I walked in the main entrance (restaurant) there were several servers standing around and the place appeared to be empty, so I decided to just go to the bar area of the restaurant. The bartender/server came over almost immediately and took my order. The food arrived within 10-15 minutes and the regulars definitely were friendly, perhaps too friendly, but it was nice to see the type of people the place attracts. It certainly attracts loyal, friendly customers, who couldn’t have nicer things to say about the place, even though I never asked their opinion.

Back to the food. I ordered a chicken souvlaki sandwich, which was amazing. The chicken was well-marinated, cooked to a juicy perfection; not tough like many other places. The lettuce was very finely shredded, which I had not seen done before, but tasted very good, the tomatoes were fresh and perfectly ripe. An appropriate amount of feta cheese adorned the souvlaki. I declined the onions, and therefore have no valid opinion on their freshness or deliciousness. Lastly, the dressing.  The souvlaki was accompanied by Italian dressing and not the typical tzatziki sauce. I preferred the Italian way better. It also came with chips which tasted like Ruffles. You have the option  of upgrading to fries for $2 more, which I am glad I didn’t, because I was stuffed with the souvlaki alone.

Anthony’s Manassas location opened up a while ago and it appears to have retained many loyal customers over the years. The bar area has five TVs, two game machines, and includes booths as well as bar seats. Anthony’s also offers catering from their Falls Church location and banquet services from the Manassas location. Unfortunately, I could not take any pictures inside the place, as the regulars were asking many questions about me and what I do and I didn’t want to invite any more questions and risk having my identity revealed! I barely got in a snap shot of my delicious food, and I had already eaten part of it.

All in all, I think Anthony’s would definitely be worth returning to for a quick bite or with friends to hang out, maybe even for a family dinner. I must admit, the food was MUCH, MUCH better than I had anticipated.