Recently crowned a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, is where history and flavor collide. Its tag as Greece’s food city becomes quickly evident through its café culture, markets, street food, and the overwhelming choice of places to sample the local cuisine.
Thessaloniki is perched on the Thermaic gulf, which has long been recognized as a vital trading hub in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is also a gateway to the Balkans and central Europe due to its strategic location.
Over the last 2,000-plus years, countless peoples, armies, and goods have passed through the city, exposing inhabitants to a vast spectrum of ideas, including culinary ones.
Two Millennia of Cultural and Culinary Development
As the Byzantine Empire’s second most important city for over a thousand years, Thessaloniki embraced intricate cooking techniques and spices that added complexity to sweet and savory dishes.
From the 15th to the 19th century, the Ottoman era transformed Thessaloniki into a vibrant multi-ethnic hub where Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions mingled. This period introduced phyllo dough and a thriving coffee culture; robust Middle Eastern flavors took root. The arrival of Sephardic Jews, expelled from Spain, brought a new wave of bakery and pastry expertise.
In the 1920s, 1.5 million refugees, Orthodox Christians of Greek descent, returned, bringing Turkish-inspired products and flavors, further enriching Thessaloniki’s already dynamic food story.
Step forward to now, and Thessaloniki is not just about the past, though it is honored. With five universities, a sense of youthfulness, creativity, vibrancy, and economic buoyancy is palpable in this ancient city.
Exploring this City of Gastronomy
During a recent extended visit, I challenged myself to better understand the city’s gastronomic credentials. I will share with you my appetizing discoveries.
Thessaloniki’s Markets
Markets present a window into a region and a snapshot of daily life. Central Thessaloniki has three main bazaars, each with a particular atmosphere and style.
Kapini Market
Kapini Market, the city’s oldest open-air market, showcases the region’s fresh produce. Across its sprawling laneways, fishmongers, butchers, farm-fresh fruit and vegetables sellers, dried and preserved goods stalls, and laden-shelved delicatessen-style stores showcase the area’s treasures. Here are just some of what we found.
Succulent stone and Kiwi fruit from the fertile plains of Viera. Flavor-packed Greek cuisine essentials like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and zucchini come from Serres and the Thessaloniki Plains. Olives and an abundance of olive oil from Halkidiki.
Local desserts use highly prized honey from the Halkidiki pine forests and the wildflower meadows around Mount Olympus. Sheep or goat milk feta, Kasseri, a semi-hard cheese with a slightly tangy flavour, and delicious Macedonian creamy yoghurt are abundant.
Sheep, goats and cattle graze in the lush hinterland, providing high-quality meat used in traditional dishes such as soutzoukakia (spiced meatballs) and paidakia (grilled lamb chops). Kavourmas, a spiced and preserved meat, is also specific to the region.
Thessaloniki’s coastal areas are known for their seafood. Thermaikos Gulf mussels are particularly prized.
Modiano Central Market
Modiano Central Market dates back to 1930 and is a short stroll from the nearby Kapini Market or the central Aristotelous Place. It was Thessaloniki’s central undercover market, housing the best shops and products in the city. Abandoned by its tenants in the 1990s, it fell into disrepair.
Thanks to protective heritage orders, the bones of the building remained. Refurbished by a private company and fashioned on Madrid’s Central Market, it reopened in 2022. Modiano is now more of an upscale retail space highlighting refined food products of the region, from spices and oils to wine and cheese.
Vatikioti Market
Vatikioti Market can be found in the laneways between the upper end of Aristotelous Place and the petit Athonos Square. Housed under the vaulted steel and glass laneway ceilings are stalls with spices, dried herbs, preserved fruits, nuts, teas, and fresh produce. Shops with wicker ware and artisans making chairs and furniture are in adjoining lanes.
Cafes, Bakeries and Street Food
Bougatsa is the ultimate Thessaloniki breakfast and is found in many bakeries and cafes. With its Ottoman and Byzantine influences, the flaky phyllo pastry is filled with sweet custard or savoury cheese. Variations of these pies include spinach, leek, or mushroom and are an ideal on-the-go snack.
The local bakery Pradosiako at the top of Aristotelous Place or the long-established Bougatsa specialist bakery Serraikon beside the gentrified Modiano Market are great places to get your Bougatsa.
Bakeries are also a sweet and savory lover’s delight, yet with names like melomakarona, amygdalotá, moustokouloura, or mamoulia, it is hard to know what’s what. Our credo became, if it looks good, try it, and we were rarely disappointed.
One omnipresent savoury snack piled high in most bakeries and street stalls is koulouria, a Byzantine-era sesame-topped, bagel-esque bread ring.
Another emblematic sweet is Trigono, a phyllo triangle cone soaked in syrup and filled with custard cream. Created by refugees from Asia Minor, this pastry now has a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Certification as a product specific to Thessaloniki.
Gyro has to be one of Greece’s most famous street foods. Usually, pork or chicken meat shaved from a vertical rotating spit is served in a pita. It typically includes yoghurt-based tzatziki, onions, tomato, and potato fries. This grill shop on Vasileos Irakleiou Street beside Modiano Market has outstanding gyro and other grilled meats.
Types of Places to Eat
Meze culture is strong in Thessaloniki, and you’ll find excellent mezedopoleía (restaurants specializing in small tapas-style dishes) in every neighbourhood, offering small and large plates designed for sharing in a relaxed atmosphere.
A variation on the meze restaurant is the ouzeri (serving the traditional Greek spirit ouzo) or tsipouro (an anise-flavored un-aged brandy). Here, the food supports the conviviality. The briny and fresh flavors of seafood, salty and tangy feta and olives, bold, herbal, or spicy elements, and light meat dishes all work well with ouzo. Meanwhile, tsipouro’s robust flavor pairs well with rich, fatty meats, smoked or grilled foods, and rich, tomato-based dishes.
A taverna is a neighborhood restaurant serving traditional Greek home-style dishes. Tavernas offer an affordable chance to try classic Greek food in all its abundant, generous glory. Some will have live folk music.
From our experience, most tavernas don’t invite dessert orders. Instead, the hosts provide a complimentary sweet. This big-heartedness is further extended with a mini carafe of tsipouro or a similar spirit, and shot glasses for each person. This after-dinner tradition is said to help with digestion.
Where to Eat Out in Thessaloniki
Seafront and Aristotelous Square
Leof. Nikis Road follows Thessaloniki’s esplanade and runs between the old port at Ladadiki and the famous White Tower. Stretching just under a mile, the road is lined with restaurants offering sea views. The through road separates you from the sea and the ever-popular wide oceanfront promenade.
Partway along Leof. Nikis Road is Aristotelous Square, one of the city’s iconic landmarks, with its own selection of cafes and restaurants. All are tourist-friendly.
Ladadika
The northeastern end of the seafront esplanade was Thessaloniki’s original port during Ottoman times. It was a central trading hub with its warehouse and wholesale storerooms. This quaint area, abandoned for many years, has recently been redeveloped and is now one of the city’s most popular dining districts.
Bounded by Saliminos, Tsimiski, Ionon Dragoumi, and Leof. Nikis streets, the meandering laneways and alleys house many eateries and bars. You could visit every evening and try a different establishment each time. All were filled with contented diners during our explorations.
At the specialist Full of Meze, we found excellent dishes like stuffed mushrooms and lightly battered, flash-fried whole small fish.
Dining outdoors at Palati Greek Taverna beside the Morichovou Square fountain also proved exceedingly tasty. A plate of grilled garden fresh vegetables like peppers, zucchini, onion and aubergine was deceptively simple and full of flavour. Meanwhile, the fall-off-the-bone Macedonia lamb shanks on a fava bean puree were incredibly satisfying.
Valaoritou
The region across Tsimiski Street in Ladadika, up to Valaoritou Street, springs to life after dark with bars, café, and various eateries. This well-known nightlife district shines with mingling and dancing crowds filling the streets.
Nearby, we found a tucked-away spot, Stou Mitsoul, a casual taverna-cum-ouzeri, filled with locals and buzzing with life. Fire is central to the cooking process as it was in the traditional kitchen of yesteryear. Our over-fire shrimps with colorful lentils and the fire-grilled cooked eggplants with mince and feta show how simple, fresh ingredients in a knowledgeable hand can be so uncommonly delicious.
White Tower
On the eastern end of Leof. Nikis Road, beside the parks and in the streets immediately behind Thessaloniki’s famous landmark, the White Tower, is another collection of cafés and restaurants.
Over a languid lunch at Oval Bistronomy, we sampled the best version of soutzoukakia smyrneika, a dish introduced by Greek refugees from Asia Minor back in the 1920s: Oven-baked, oblong beef meatballs spiced with cumin, garlic, and a touch of cinnamon and swathed in a hearty tomato sauce. Delightfully flavorful and understandable why the dish is now a staple on many Thessaloniki menus.
The Wine Around Thessaloniki
Now a notable destination for enthusiasts, Northern Greece, including around Thessaloniki, is celebrated for its outstanding wines.
Local regions such as Naoussa, Goumenissa, and Amyntaio are lauded for their indigenous grape varieties like Xinomavro, which produces robust reds with complex flavors.
The Epanomi region is known for its exceptional whites, especially from the Malagousia grape, offering aromatic and well-balanced wines.
Two other prominent wine regions are Halkidiki and Drama.
With its Aegean Sea location, Halkidiki produces elegant wines from indigenous and international grape varieties. It is particularly noted for its Assyrtiko and Athiri whites and robust reds from Xinomavro and Limnio grapes.
Further east, Drama boasts a mix of high-altitude vineyards and a Mediterranean climate, producing some of Greece’s finest wines. Excelling in red and white wines, with international varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay thriving alongside local grapes, Drama’s winemakers create complex and balanced wines highly regarded locally and internationally.
As with the food, let the establishment’s service staff guide you in discovering the region’s wines.
If You Go
When to Visit
Thessaloniki has a Mediterranean climate. Summers are hot, dry, and mostly clear, and the winters are cold and partly cloudy with rain. July and August are the hottest, while May and June, plus September through mid-October, are very pleasant times to be in Thessaloniki.
Where to Stay
Thessaloniki offers various accommodation options, from guest houses to quality Greek-branded hotels. International chains like Hyatt and Marriott have a presence. MonAsty, just off Aristotelous Square, part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection and Elisabeth’s Boutique Hotel in Valaoritou, provided more than adequate facilities.
Getting There
International carriers like British Airways, Alitalia, Lufthansa, Qatar and Turkish Airlines fly into Thessaloniki International Airport via their hubs. There are also short, direct domestic flights by local carriers like Aegean and Olympic Air from Athens and other major Greek regional airports.
More Information on Thessaloniki
Find more traveler information on Thessaloniki here and here.
Pass Partout Tourism Marketing Thessaloniki assisted with some of the author’s travel arrangements.
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Read more of Michael Cullen’s writing.
