THESSALONIKI 2026

CLOCHARD
MODERN BISTRO

Mitropoleos 11, Thessaloniki Centre
+30 2310 239805
www.clochard.gr
€75-100 per person
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

A reference point on Thessaloniki’s dining scene for more than forty years, Clochard is currently located on the ground floor of the Excelsior Hotel and is preparing to move to a new and impressive space. It successfully bridges the urban cuisine of the past with more contemporary dishes that stand out for their deep flavour and for a number of well-balanced influences from French cuisine. Its exemplary service and noteworthy wine list raise the bar considerably.

DEKA TRAPEZIA
CONTEMPORARY GREEK CUISINE

Str. Kallari 4, Thessaloniki Center
+30 2310 251010
www.dekatrapezia.gr
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

The reference on the menu to “free-form meze” might suggest something simple and casual. Yet the culinary techniques required to prepare the inventive dishes devised by Manolis Papoutsakis together with head chef Paschalina Kamtsiki, as well as their overall level of flavour, go far beyond the classic meze taverna. The excellent list of wines and spirits further confirms the refined and creative approach of the kitchen.

DIAGONIOS
MEAT RESTAURANT

Pl. Fanarioton 2, Thessaloniki Center
+30 2310 260958
€25-35 per person

Restaurant with outdoor seating

The story of Diagonios begins in 1977. As the owners themselves note, from its early days to the present the restaurant’s main priorities have been outstanding quality, prompt service, a friendly atmosphere and the complete satisfaction of its customers. Its handmade soutzoukakia, gyros and salads, all prepared on the premises with pure ingredients, are well known to everyone. We fully agree with all of the above when it comes to this historic and wonderfully original place, whose change of ownership has not altered it in the slightest.

KITS KAI S’EFAGA
TRADITIONAL GREEK CUISINE

Olympou 89 , Thessaloniki
+30 2315519191 & +30 6988241725
€40-60 per person
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

The cuisine of Eleni Todoulou Fevga and Maria Fallia “tells stories”, ranging from the culinary traditions of the mountainous Tzoumerka region to recipes drawn from old Macedonian family chests. It is food with memory and roots, yet presented with such technical precision and such attention to detail that it wins you over from the very first bite. All this unfolds in a deliberately kitsch setting. The name hints at it and the décor proudly confirms it, offering a playful wink before the serious work on the plate begins. Greek traditional cuisine at its finest in this remarkable restaurant, which continues to evolve more and more with each passing year.

LOCAL
MODERN BISTRO

Paleon Patron Germanou 17, Thessaloniki Center
+30 2310 223307
www.localthessaloniki.gr
€30-50 per person
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

A reference point for Thessaloniki’s social life for more than 25 years, Local is an all-day café-bar restaurant that pays close attention to every detail. The opening of the new space, Local Tapas, and above all the appointment of Giannis Evangelopoulos to lead the kitchen mark an even greater focus on the cuisine, which has also brought the restaurant its star. Among its strengths are well-chosen dishes, solid technique and the deep flavour of classic favourites such as the outstanding smash burger or the impeccable schnitzel with Iberico.

MANITARI
MODERN BISTRO

Th. Sofouli 57 (Sofouli Center), Kalamaria
+30 2310 415289
www.to-manitari.gr
€35-60 per person
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

At Manitari, the talented consultant chef Dimitris Pamporis proposes a creative yet comfort-driven urban cuisine, executed with knowledge and finesse by head chef Thodoris Kaloidis. The steady response of the restaurant’s now well-established clientele is also due to the fact that Giannis Ziagas, the restaurateur-owner, places particular emphasis on the quality of the ingredients, the wine list and the warm, attentive hospitality.

MAVRI THALASSA
FISH RESTAURANT

Nik. Plastera 3, Kalamaria
+30 2310 932542
www.mavri-thalassa.gr
€75-100 per person
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

The iconic Mavri Thalassa in Thessaloniki carries a century of history on its shoulders, although it became even more renowned when Alexandros Tokidis and his wife, Sonia Margaritou, took the helm, leading it to the outstanding position it holds today. Their access to superb ingredients is remarkable, while the precise way they handle them in the kitchen beautifully highlights the unadorned flavour of the sea, offering a range of excellent raw preparations as well as expertly grilled fish.

MAITR & MARGARITA
GASTROTAVERNA

Fragkon 3 & Str. Sfetsou, Thessaloniki
+30 231 400 7586
www.maitrandmargarita.com
€35-50 per person

Restaurant with outdoor seating

At the always packed and hugely popular Maitr & Margarita, Sokratis Beligiannis and Roi Apoikou create inventive specialities that lean towards bistronomy while also embracing a more comfort-driven side, and they do so remarkably well. Wine is taken very seriously here, and the work they have put into their list stands on equal footing with that of the kitchen.

ΜΑRRONE RESTAURANT
MODERN BISTRO

Themistokli Sofouli 111, Kalamaria
+30 231 041 9179
€35-50 per person

Open all year round

Chef and co-owner of Marrone, Konstantinos Slampakis, cooks with a fine comfort approach rooted in modern Greek and Mediterranean cuisine, supported by very solid technique and carefully selected ingredients. One of his greatest strengths is fish cookery. It begins with delicate raw preparations and extends to excellent pasta dishes and specialities featuring outstanding large fish.

OLYMPOS NAOUSSA
CONTEMPORARY GREEK CUISINE

ON Residence, Leoforos Nikis 5, Thessaloniki Center
+30 2310 275715
olymposnaoussa.gr
€65-90 per person
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

Thessaloniki’s legendary restaurant is being impressively revived by the Tornivoukas family (Excelsior, City Hotel, Eagles Palace) together with Grivalia. Chef Dimitris Tasioulas has devoted himself with passion to the demanding task of bringing this historic restaurant into the present day. The first years were marked by some missteps, as well as by a strong insistence on modernising the traditional urban cuisine that once defined the restaurant. It has now found its rhythm and is developing its own identity, always in dialogue with the history of the space and of the surrounding area. The kitchen shows solid technique and a number of very strong ideas.

PALIA ATHENA
MEAT RESTAURANT

Imvrou 24,Thessaloniki
+30 2310 912292
€35-70 per person
Open all year round

The atmosphere is that of a carefully kept koutouki, with laid tables, stoves, dozens of posters, hundreds of wine bottles and shelves loaded with opened bottles one would hardly expect to encounter in a Greek restaurant, let alone in a small taverna in Thessaloniki. From Tignanello and Château Cheval Blanc to a dozen Amarone labels and outstanding Burgundies. Palia Athina counts more than forty years of history in the city, while since 1985 Manolis Georgakakis has gradually built its legend, pouring his soul and passion into the place. The soutzoukakia are excellent and the kokoretsi is beautifully prepared, yet the absolute highlight at Palia Athina is a wide range of outstanding cuts of beef, grilled to perfection. In a word: an experience.

SALONICA
CONTEMPORARY GREEK CUISINE

Makedonia Palace Hotel, Leof. Meg. Alexandrou 2,Thessaloniki
+30 2310 897197
salonikarestaurant.com
€50-75 per person

Restaurant with outdoor seating, private parking or valet service

Sotiris Evangelou remains the guarantor of the culinary philosophy at Salonica, the restaurant at the Makedonia Palace Hotel, whose cuisine overflows with Greek character and deep flavour that is unlikely to leave anyone unmoved. Together with Dimitris Tziovaras, his right hand in the kitchen, they interpret Greek cuisine sometimes in a more classic and traditional way and at other times through a contemporary lens, further establishing Salonica as an iconic place to dine in Thessaloniki.

SINTROFI
GASTROTAVERN

Doxis 7, Ladadika
+30 2310 540260
€25-50 per person
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

Bistronomy of a high standard bearing the signature of Giannis Loukakis at one of Thessaloniki’s most dynamic and noteworthy restaurants. Ever present at Sin Trofi is Alexandros Barbounakis, co-owner and the driving spirit behind an open-hearted concept that highlights Greek products, often through inventive and unexpected combinations.

TRIGITIS
GASTROTAVERNA

17is Noemvriou 12, Pilaia
+30 2317 700903
€20-30 per person
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

A simple and tasteful gastrotaverna by chef Giorgos Katakalidis in the relatively new neighbourhood of Konstantinopolitika in Pylaia, which opened in April 2023. The search for quality seasonal ingredients, excellent cheeses from small dairies and, above all, cooking carried out with care, passion and professional mastery make this gastrotaverna stand out in the city that essentially “gave birth” to the category. Deep flavour and well-balanced touches of restrained creativity.

PSI BY MEZEN
FISH RESTAURANT

Skra 8,Thessaloniki
+30 2310 268763
psibymezen.gr
Open all year round

Although the terms “fish butcher” and “delicatessen”, with which chef Grigoris Chelmis and his Mezen-Salonica team describe their new venture, are still unfamiliar, the restaurant Psi serves a very flavourful, distinctive and “holistic” fish cuisine in a space of sparkling cleanliness. The approach fully expresses the chef’s nose-to-tail philosophy. Alongside fresh and dry-aged fish from the Michaniona fish market, served in a variety of ways, the menu also includes fish charcuterie such as sausages, salami, pastrami, bacon, pastourma and apaki. These can be accompanied, here as well, by a selection of wines or spirits.

XAROUPI
TRADITIONAL GREEK CUISINE

Doxis 4, Ladadika
+30 231 052 6262
www.xaroupi.gr
€25–50 per person
Open all year round

Restaurant with outdoor seating

At Xaroupi, one of the very few restaurants dedicated to regional cuisine that one can find across the country, chef Manolis Papoutsakis re-engages with Cretan tradition with knowledge and respect. In doing so, he contributes meaningfully to the renewal of the cuisine of his homeland. His refined dishes preserve the deep flavour of the ingredients for which Crete is renowned. The constantly evolving wine list features labels exclusively from the Cretan vineyard.

VOUKAKRATO
GASTROTAVERNA

Kalapothaki 6, Thessaloniki
+30 231 022 0059
www.voukakrato.gr/
€35–50 per person
Open all year round

With a name that alludes to the antidoron, the blessed bread distributed after the Divine Liturgy, and to akratos oinos (undiluted wine), the restaurant of Nikos Tsompanidis on Kalapothaki Street, centred around open flames, a grill and a wood-fired oven, serves a wide range of very well-crafted meze along with numerous dishes, many of which carry a light bistronomic touch. Voukakrato has a particular fondness for fish, although its menu does not stop there. You will also find a good number of appealing bottles from the Greek vineyard at attractive prices, so it is well worth taking a close look at their carefully curated wine list.

The upward arrow next to the stars indicates those restaurants that are performing at the upper end of their rating and are considered more likely to move up to the next rating level in a future evaluation.