Food & Cuisine in Thessaloniki

Thessalonian cuisine is a blend of spices and condiments from the East and the flavours from the Mediterranean region and has been so right from the Byzantine era. Lately, however, due to a size able influx of population from Constantinople and Asia Minor, Thessalonian cuisine was influenced by the tastes that they brought along. And last but not least, the waters around Thessaloniki ensure an abundant supply of fish and other marine life so that seafood figures prominently in Thessalonian cuisine.

'To the Thessalonian, the eating of food is an important ritual. Mealtimes are meant to be 'halara' (relaxed), unhurried and long.'

In our Thessaloniki restaurant guide you will find the city has a number of small restaurants and taverns, many right near some of the great markets and shops in Thessaloniki, which serve the best of Greek, Mediterranean and other food & cuisines. It also provides some useful information about dining out in Thessaloniki and the types of food you can expect to enjoy, while our Greece restaurant guide looks at cuisine and dining out across the country.

Food & Cuisine in Thessaloniki

Eating out in Thessaloniki is a great experience, and you can inaugurate proceedings with an interesting and extensive array of appetisers called 'meze', served in most Thessaloniki restaurants. Mezedes are wholesome and filling. Bougiournti, an appetiser with peppers and tomatoes baked with lashings of feta cheese, is highly recommended. If you are adventurous, then ask for tzigerosarmas, a soft pastry case stuffed with liver risotto. Thessaloniki is famous for its many small restaurants that offer a mind-boggling spread of meze throughout the day.

Thessaloniki is also known for souvlaki, a huge dish in which pork slices are served in circular pita bread to the accompaniment of sadziki, a sauce made with yoghurt, cucumber and garlic. With onions, tomatoes and potatoes served with the pita bread, souvlaki is a meal in itself. Step into one of the many souvlaki shops (soublatzidika) all over the city and make a meal of it. Then there is mpougatsa, a pie that is filled either with meat (mpougatsa me kreas), potato (mpougatsa with patata) or cheese (mpougatza me tyri). A variant of this is a dessert that is widely regarded as one of Thessaloniki food & cuisine specialities - the mpougatza me krema, a cream-filled pie served with cinnamon and powdered sugar.

If you have a sweet tooth then eating out in Thessaloniki is the thing to do. A variety of rich, sweet, creamy concoctions occupy pride of place in Thessalonian cuisine. There is tsoureki, which is a sweetened bread eaten in Greece during Easter but relished all around the year in Thessaloniki! There is samali, made from almonds and semolina, cazan dipi, the crème brulee of the East, and Panorama Triangles, a sticky syrupy cream-filled sweet. Or you can try bougatsa, which is sweetened cream filled in layers of phyllo pastry, dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar - sinfully sweet, of course! And for a slightly unusual taste try the taouk kiouksou, a dessert made from chicken and sweetened cream.

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Eating Out in Thessaloniki

There are different types of restaurants in Thessaloniki including tavernas and bakeries which serve wholesome authentic food. You can pick up a quick snack or sit down for a leisurely meal. While most of them serve Greek and Mediterranean cuisine, there are also many restaurants serving other international cuisines to suit the palate of tourists who come from all over the world.

The ideal way to sample food & cuisine in Thessaloniki is to visit one of the tavernas and order a range of mezedes. With the abundant supply of fresh Mediterranean vegetables and seafood and meat, these tavernas serve a variety of cold and hot dishes. Olives are indispensable to Greek food & cuisine and are found in almost every dish. So is feta cheese, which again finds its way into almost every salad. Stuffed vine leaves (domades) and salads made from aubergines and olives are two other famous Thessalonian specialities. Do not miss the tyropita, a local cheese pie, and the souvlaki and gyros, which consist of grilled meat filled in pita bread. Round this off with desserts like baklava (a sweet made with honey and nuts) and cream pies (mpougatsa) from the traditional bakeries.

Ladadika and Bit Pazar are the best areas as far as food is concerned. Ladadika was once the main trading hub for olive oil, and was one of the few localities to survive the fire of 1917. It is a very pleasant experience to stroll down the streets of Ladadika with its vivid colours and old structures, scouting for a good eatery! Bit Pazar was home to an old Turkish market and has some traditional eateries serving authentic food. Miami, among the others on the sea front, is well known for the delectable seafood it serves. It is a great hit with both tourists and locals. Kastra and Ano Poli are two other areas where there are interesting eating options and though not mandatory, it is customary to tip.

Thessaloniki Nightlife

Thessaloniki boasts of a pulsating nightlife with many open-air dancing venues. You can shake a leg at Mylos, which is actually an old windmill but now home to many nightclubs. Or hop across to the Piano Bar, which is another popular night club. The area near the airport has some interesting hot spots with live bands.

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