Eliá Taverna Expands in Chester Heights

One might think of the businesses in the Chester Heights section of Eastchester as being frequented only by their neighbors down the street. Eliá Taverna, a Greek restaurant that celebrated its one-year anniversary Feb. 17, begs to differ.

“This location is phenomenal. I absolutely love this area,” says Rui Cunha, owner of Eliá (pronounced ell-YAH, meaning “olive” in Greek) Taverna. “It's so convenient, right off of the Cross County and the Hutch” and “at the bull’s eye” of numerous municipalities—Eastchester, Pelham, Mount Vernon, and New Rochelle.

“A lot of traffic comes through here, and there's plenty of parking,” Cunha says.

In fact, patrons are coming from Connecticut, Queens, and Long Island—even from Astoria, widely considered to be the Greek capital of New York, which Cunha considers to be a great compliment.

“We doubled our projections,” Cunha said of Eliá. “Even our takeout business is phenomenal, and lunch business has really taken off in the past five months.”

The thriving business, evidenced by the wait for a table on weekend nights and even mid-week, resulted in the restaurant’s recent expansion into the back half of the space formerly occupied by a stationer that recently closed. The new room allows for both spillover seating and a party room that can accommodate up to 40 guests.

“We want an intimate feeling, like someone's dining room in their home,” Cunha says.

Eliá Taverna is the third restaurant to occupy this spot on New Rochelle Road in the past decade. The two previous restaurants, both Italian, were Spaghetti Western and, more recently, Babbone.

Before the restaurant opened its doors a year ago, some people expressed concern that it might struggle to succeed, Cunha said, given the recession and that the Italian restaurants didn’t have longevity.

Cunha attributes the success of his restaurant to several factors, including the paucity of Greek restaurants in the area, the "refreshing" cuisine, the price point, and the renovations he made to the space before taking occupancy.

“I redid the whole place—gutted it, redid the electrical and plumbing, gave it a fresh new look. I did everything myself. I opened up the windows, which had been covered up by sheet rock.”

The dining experience is further differentiated from Eliá’s predecessors and other establishments in part due to the Greek custom of plate breaking to celebrate special occasions. Diners tend to be a bit timid at first when invited to smash a dish in honor of their birthday, until they realize the wait staff is serious. 

“We break about 6-12 plates a week,” Cunha estimates.

On account of the lack of storage space, the restaurant doesn’t have a liquor license yet. However, a license for beer and wine is in the plans, now that the expansion next door allows for more room. Meanwhile, diners can always bring their own. 

Patch readers who bring a printout of this article to Eliá Taverna will receive a complimentary dessert, valid through April 30, 2011.

Eliá Taverna, located at 502 New Rochelle Road, Bronxville, is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. Take-out and delivery are available. Reservations are accepted, except for Friday and Saturday nights. Phone: 914-ONE-GYRO; www.eliataverna.com.