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Olympos Naoussa reopened in 2022 after thirty years in a 1926 building on Nikis Avenue.
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SinTrofi's zero-waste philosophy shapes kitchen and cellar: the menu changes daily by season and market availability, as does the biodynamic wine list.
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The Makedonia Palace Hotel restaurant on the waterfront holds panoramic views over the Thermaikos Gulf and Mount Olympus.
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This small Ladadika room operates September to May only, closing for the summer, and runs a seasonal menu built around whatever the team finds at the market.
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Mezen's never-ending philosophy: small plates arrive continuously until you signal otherwise.
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Clochard operates at the intersection of French bistronomic discipline and Greek ingredient pride.
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Born during the pandemic, Iliopetra sits at the foot of Ano Poli with a handful of tables and a daily-changing menu.
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Operating since 1967 on the edge of Ano Poli, Nea Folia serves dishes that have largely vanished from city-centre menus: liver with cabbage.
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Since 1977, Diagonios has stood on the Egnatia corner and produced what many locals regard as the city's most reliable souvlaki and gyros.
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Ergon Agora combines a greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, bakery, and coffee roaster under one roof with a restaurant serving Greek food from 09:00.
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Ten tables on renovated Stratigou Kallari Street, led by chef Manolis Papoutsakis who also runs Charoupi.
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Tsinari has stood on this Ano Poli corner since 1865, originally a cafe during the Ottoman period.
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Awarded the city's best all-day restaurant, Canteen on Fanarioton Square serves brunch from 10am daily and extends to 7pm on Sundays.
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The city-centre gyradiko on Vasileos Irakliou serves consistent gyros until 3am on weekends.
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Billed as the world's first feta bar, Mia Feta combines a retail Greek cheese counter with a casual dining concept built around feta and regional cheeses.
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Palia Athina is the reliable large-format taverna for group dinners in the city centre, generous portions of grilled meats, village salads.
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Directly across from the original Diagonios on Egnatia, Nea Diagonios runs the same late-night kalamaki and gyros format until 3am on weekends.
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Set on a cobbled Ano Poli street, Rouga is known for its fairy-light courtyard, circus-figure decor, and the Greek custom of complimentary ouzo and homemade.
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Mezen's never-ending relay of small seafood plates arriving until you stop them has made it one of the most imitated formats in Thessaloniki.
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Chef Manolis Papoutsakis's no-reservation meze room in Ladadika brings Cretan ingredients to a walk-in format.
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Since 1967 Nea Folia near Ano Poli has served the old Thessaloniki dishes: kavourmas of Xanthi beef, smoked mackerel with samphire, soutzoukakia of buffalo.
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Thessaloniki's oldest surviving ouzeri, trading in some form since 1865 near the Kapani market.
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Canteen on Gounari has established itself as the reliable all-day room in the city centre with strong brunch trade, good coffee, and a menu that stretches.
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Rouga near the port runs the classic tsipouradiko model: tsipouro arrives first, then a procession of small cold and hot plates including taramosalata.
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Among the most consistent gyros counters in the city centre, Giotis loads pork or chicken strips into soft pita with the regulation tomato, tzatziki.
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Palia Athina serves the reliable mid-century Greek taverna repertoire: moussaka, stifado, pastitsio, and simple grills.
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Diagonios has kept the same corner on Egnatia since 1977, serving the city's most consistent pork souvlaki skewers until 3am on weekends.
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Ergon Agora combines a grocery-deli marketplace with a full-service restaurant across two floors on Pavlou Mela.
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One of the most dependable tsipouradika in the centre, Akti Ntovil follows the house format of cold tsipouro plus rotating meze plates arriving.
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The Makedonia Palace dining room on the waterfront offers modern Greek cuisine with the best views of the Thermaikos Gulf in the city.
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Small, intimate, and reservation-only even at the casual price point, Iliopetra near Ano Poli was the most talked-about opening in Thessaloniki in early 2025.
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SinTrofi's zero-waste kitchen and biodynamic wine cellar in Ladadika represent one of Thessaloniki's most principled dining propositions.
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Chef Giannis Loukakis's Ladadika restaurant operates at the creative edge of northern Greek cooking.
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The 1926 waterfront landmark reopened in 2022 as one of the city's most ambitious restaurants under FNL-recognised chef Dimitris Tasioulas.
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Clochard's monthly-changing menu and exceptional Greek wine list make it the most wine-forward bistro in Thessaloniki.
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Founded in 1926, Mavri Thalassa in Kalamaria is Thessaloniki's most storied seafood institution.
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Tucked into a covered atrium off Aristotelous Square between Irakliou and Tsimiski, Ouzeri Aristotelous serves the full Thessaloniki meze repertoire: stuffed.
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Chef Manolis Papoutsakis opened Charoupi in 2017 to bring Cretan ingredients and technique to Thessaloniki.
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A Thessaloniki institution for grilled meats, Xanthopoulos on Ippokratous has been turning out pork chops, kokoretsi, and lamb skewers since the 1960s.
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Nea Diagonios operates across the road from the original Diagonios, with a slightly larger room and the same Egnatia Street late-night format.
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Mourga straddles the boundary between casual and fine dining: handwritten menus, organic-market sourcing, and a kitchen with genuine creative ambition.
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The more accessible side of chef Manolis Papoutsakis's Thessaloniki operation, Deka Trapezia serves Cretan-rooted meze in a casual no-reservation format.
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Since 1967, Nea Folia at the edge of Ano Poli has served the old Thessaloniki dishes: kavourmas of Xanthi beef, smoked mackerel with samphire.
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Mia Feta Feta Bar bills itself as the world's first feta bar, combining a Greek cheese retail counter with a communal-table dining room that celebrates.
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Bougatsa Giannis opens at 8pm and closes at 3pm the next afternoon.
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Diagonios keeps the Egnatia corner open until 3am on Friday and Saturday with the same pork souvlaki it has served since 1977.
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The 50 Best Discovery bar in Ladadika keeps its doors open until 4am on weekends.
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Directly across from the original Diagonios, Nea Diagonios operates the same late-night kalamaki and gyros format until 3am on weekends.
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The Doxis and Katouni Street bar strip in Ladadika operates at full capacity from midnight to 5am on weekends.
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Valaoritou Street and the surrounding creative district run later than Ladadika, with bars and music venues operating until dawn on Friday and Saturday.
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Giotis on Vasileos Irakliou serves the city centre's most consistent gyros until 3am on weekends.
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Casablanca Social Club on the Vasilissis Olgas waterfront stays open until 3am with live music on Thursdays and Fridays.
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Bantis opens at 05:30 in Dikastirion to catch the dawn crowd: bakers, market workers, and the people just leaving the bars.
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Since 1967, barely changed.
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Trading in some form since 1865 near Kapani market.
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Chef Giorgos Zannakis's tiny room at the foot of Ano Poli was Thessaloniki's most talked-about opening in early 2025 yet still flies under most tourist radar.
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Inside and immediately around Kapani market, four or five traditional ouzeries serve market workers and neighbourhood regulars at midday.
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On Giannitson near the port, Rouga is known to the port workers and city regulars who have been eating the tsipouro relay lunch here for years.
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The walk-in bar counter at Mourga that most visitors to the restaurant district walk past without knowing it exists.
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Thessaloniki's best bougatsa for 2 to 3 euros at the marble counter.
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The pork souvlaki at Diagonios since 1977 for 2.50 euros a skewer, or 4 euros in pita with tzatziki and chips.
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Tragano on Dimitriou Gounari near Navarinou Square sells the city's most reliable wood-oven koulouri (sesame bread ring) at 0.70 euros plus a rotating set.
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Since 1865 near Kapani market, Ouzeri Tsinari serves fried whitebait, chargrilled octopus, and taramosalata with ouzo or tsipouro for under 12 euros.
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The gyros pita at Giotis is the city centre's most consistent for under 3 euros.
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The ouzeries tucked inside and around Kapani Market serve the cheapest meze in the city: a half-carafe of tsipouro and three meze plates for under 10 euros.
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Xanthopoulos has served pork chops, lamb skewers, and kokoretsi from a charcoal grill since the 1960s for prices that have barely moved in real terms.
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Koukos at Vogatsikou 10 across from the Metropolitan Church serves the city's most celebrated tyropita recipe (passed down since 1953) for under 2 euros.
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The tavernas and cafeterias around Aristotle University campus serve the cheapest sit-down meals in the city: daily specials of moussaka, pastitsio.
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Directly across from the original Diagonios on Egnatia with the same format: kalamaki skewers and pita gyros for under 4 euros until the early morning hours.
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Terkenlis has run from this Tsimiski and Aristotelous corner since 1948, producing the tsoureki that became synonymous with Thessaloniki across Greece.
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The Modiano Market reopened in December 2022 after restoration and now houses food vendors, cheese counters, cured-meat traders, and a handful of small.
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Rouga near the port serves the authentic tsipouradiko relay for 10 to 14 euros per person including tsipouro: taramosalata, marides, saganaki.
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Palia Athina serves the reliable Greek taverna repertoire for around 12 euros per person: moussaka, stifado, and simple grills with domestic wine.
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The trigona panoramatos at the Elenidis Centre branch for under 3.50 euros.
