Thessaloniki has been known by Greeks for its vibrant city culture. During my three-day city stay in the city, I realized why. The city contains excellent local specialities and cheerful taverns with live music. I hope the below reviews of only a handful out of many many many restaurants and bars/coffeehouses in the city will give you an idea of where to go for dinner and for drinks. My advise is to skip out on foreign cuisine altogether!

Tsimiski Street

Tsimiski Street is the city’s most famous shopping street, here you can find various fashion shops of international brands, boutiques and high end international department stores. There are many different restaurants and bars in this street, especially in the side alleys. However, I noticed a shop on the corner of the main street called Goody’s Burger House, which is a Greek fast-food chain. If you’re interested in fast-food I would advise you to visit this place rather than McDonald’s. I had the mighty Greek burger and a glass of Fix beer. How cute is the wooden plank on which they serve the food?

Another staple in Greece is the Mikel Coffee Company. You’ll find these coffee houses scattered all over town.

The one thing that has left me confused about this place is the phrase on the logo: “Maybe It’s Knowledge Entering Life”.If anyone knows what this means, please let me know in the comments.

Regardless of the strange phrase, the coffee is amazing. If you visit Thessaloniki on a summery weekend day you’ll find the Mikel Coffee Company on the Promenade insanely busy, but that’s because it’s such a nice place to go and cool down with a Cafe Freddo.

Ladadika

This is the most mental area of Thessaloniki. Yes, it has very cute traditional taverns, but it also has big crowds and loud music blasting from the bars. In one single street, you’ll hear four or five different songs pumping from the speakers. It goes without saying that this area is very popular with the student population.

I had to have dinner in the area, but I wanted to stay away from the crowds so we found a little square (Plateia Morihovou) with restaurants surrounding a cute little fountain. Of course the crowds are unavoidable (especially on Friday evening) but at least the loud music blasting from the speakers had seized, instead we were listening to live ‘bouzouki’ music at the restaurant. We chose Kouzina and had a delicious mixed grill.

I couldn’t leave the area without at least having one drink so we also visited the Gambrinus Beer Bar, which had the perfect location at the edge of Ladadika with a great view on all the youthful ramblings in the streets.

Coincidentally I also had a “first” in this bar, namely my first red beer. I never even saw (or noticed) red beer on a menu so when I saw Staropramen Granat I knew I had to try it and it was delicious. I didn’t do the research but I guess red beer is similar to the “Herfstbock” which seems to be really popular in The Netherlands at the moment.

Kamara

In the area surrounding the Arch of Galerius, there is an amazing local tavern. My friend who I visited the city with used to study and live here and eat at this tavern all the time. It’s called Lola and basically everything on the menu is delicious.

We ordered calamari, shrimp saganaki (a must-try when you’re in Greece), sardines and fried courgette.

I also had my first ever try of Retsina wine, which is a Greek resinated white wine. It has a unique flavour thanks to the ancient method of sealing the wine with pine resin. The word Retsina can only be used for resinated wines in Greece (and parts of Cyprus). The logo of this particular brand of Retsina is a little bit giggle worthy.

They have a big selection of ouzo but I didn’t sample any of them.

If you’re in Thessaloniki and you’re looking for a place to eat, go to Lola; not only is the food really delicious the restaurant looks really cosy and the owners are friendly.

Museum

When I plan busy sightseeing days, I prefer to eat at the sights or museums rather than searching the city for a nice place to eat. This has worked for me in the Acropolis museum in Athens and in Thessaloniki I visited the outdoor restaurant of the Archaeological Museum.

I had a “simple” salad and a coffee it was great place to relax my legs after the busy sightseeing.

Two Food Items to Try in Thessaloniki

I’ll end this article with two food items that you should try when you’re in Thessaloniki. The first is Koulouri a donut-shaped small bread with sesame – essentially the same as Simit which I tried in Istanbul.

The second is Bougatsa, a breakfast pastry which I had every morning in the hotel with a mug of hot chocolate. Delicious!

Conclusion

Every Greek city seems to be home to cosy taverns with delicious food and lively crowds and music. Thessaloniki seems to put the standard up a notch by displaying bars and restaurants in every nook and corner of every street. The Lonely Planet Website describes it perfectly when they write:

“Thessaloniki is fuelled by optimism, hedonism and just a dash of chaos”

This is the last city I visited in Greece; from Thessaloniki my friend and I travelled to Sofia in Bulgaria. I will write about this gorgeous city in my next blog post.