14 Best Restaurants in Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki and Central Macedonia

One of the better and most creative seafood restaurants in Thessaloniki offers a menu that maintains the delicate flavors of its ingredients but also manages to add a modern twist. For instance, the marinated sea bass tartare, seasoned with fleur de sel, lemon, and olive oil, is then covered with a sprinkling of roe, bringing to mind a wave gently breaking against your tongue. The only thing better than the delightfully light scallops in saffron sauce with caviar and mushrooms may be the restaurant's signature dish, mithopilafo (mussels with rice), an old favorite. As for the desserts, try its take on halva, with loukoumi (Turkish delight) ice cream, toasted pine nuts, and marinated raisins or the sumptious toasted almond millefeuille. It's a perfect way to end one of the memorable meals here. The attractive dining room is breezily decorated in light blue and gray hues, with exposed chrome accents and cream-color wood tables and chairs.

Diners at this side-street Thessaloniki institution rub shoulders with lawyers, students, out-of-towners, and workers from the Bezesteni market. Complete with an outside terrace, this family-run taverna sits opposite an old Turkish bath (loutra means "baths"). Try grilled koutsomoura (baby red mullets), grilled eggplant, mussels in rice pilaf, or smelt or shrimp sautéed in a casserole with cheese and peppers (saganaki). Do sample the owner's own retsina from the barrel and check if they have the exquisite kazan dipi, a marvelous flan with a slightly burned top, sweetened with a hint of rose water. For extra atmosphere, there's the bouzouki music every Friday and Saturday night.

This lovely, unpretentious little restaurant in the trendy Ladadika district has become a local favorite. Delightful Greek-Mediterranean dishes are tastefully presented to reflect the chef-owner's culinary stint in France. As one would expect, the menu, written in chalk on a blackboard at the front of house, varies according to what's been netted at the local food market. The grilled fish is succulent and well-seasoned, showing a delicate touch, and the seafood risotto with a tomato pesto is a staple that keeps people coming back again and again. The great prices ensure Omikron always stays busy.

Low-key and extremely popular, this ouzeri in the art-grungy Bezesteni neighborhood has good food, great service, and a friendly atmosphere typified by Thessalonians relaxing over lunch or dinner. The fish soup is highly recommended, as is the braised monkfish and any of the hearty salads. Wash it all down with the distilled spirit made from grapes called tsipouro, and top it off with the dessert or fruit that is offered on the house.

"Ouzo's Mansion," established as Greece's first ouzeri franchise in 1993, attracts a mainly young crowd. The chefs here are trained in a style that is essentially Mediterranean and focused on meat, with some French and Turkish influences. Pick from irreverently named items, such as "transsexual lamb" (it's chicken) or "Maria's breasts" (cones of fried phyllo filled with ground meat) on the exhaustive but inventively twisted menu. Don't forget to order from the eclectic choices of ouzo.

The food may be costly, because as the name (which means "the islands") hints, fish is king here. However, when you discover the quality, Ta Nissia doesn't seem overpriced thanks to the freshness of ingredients and artful preparations by owner-chef Yiannis Alexiou. You're in the city here, but the lightness and decor of this place may make you feel as if you've been transported to some Cycladic island. Dishes can be exquisite: taste sensations include squid stuffed with cheese and herbs, veal with smoked eggplant puree, and artichokes in saffron sauce. On the extensive wine list, check out the very pleasing house rosé

Ordering your meal at this establishment in the heart of the bustling Ladadika district is quite an experience. The waiters bring their own eccentric individuality to this often mundane ritual, and the menu is printed on a "newspaper" with photos from old Greek films and articles heralding the dishes you're about to munch on. The taverna itself is done up as a deli (as a matter of fact you can buy Greek charcuterie and cheeses), which gives a rough idea of the fare served. There is a wide array of cheeses, smoked meats, and fish (served either straight up or cooked in spicy sauces). It's food that goes great with a beer or an ice-filled glass of ouzo on a hot summer evening.

This casual, friendly place in the midst of busy Modiano Market is known for great garides (prawns), served in many different ways, and its humor: the name translates as "the meteoric step of the prawn." The locals also come time and again for the tamaras (white cod roe), butter beans with chestnut, and homemade dolmadakia (stuffed vine leaves). Order your ouzo and a selection of mezedes, and take in the bustle of market life.

A tree shades the terrace and blue, multipaned storefront of the Tsinari Ouzeri, the last remaining Turkish-style coffeehouse (opened in 1850) and the only one to have survived the fire of 1917. During the 1920s it became the social hub for the refugees from Asia Minor who lived here. Now a café and ouzeri (a bar where appetizers are sold), it is especially popular before siesta time (12–2 pm) and gets busy again after 9 pm. Have an ouzo and share delicious appetizers such as melitzanonsalata (pureed eggplant salad), octopus, or charcoal-grilled sardines.

Crowded and lots of fun, this café in a converted 1920s-era Viennese-style coffeehouse has a good buzz and it offers a great view of the White Tower if you choose to sit on the terrace out front. Decent Greek and international bar dishes range from mushroom orzo with Cretan gruyere and truffle oil to homemade beef, pork, and red pepper sausages. There is also a selection of quality Greek micro-brewery beers. Another branch in Ladadika follows the same concept and is a fun place to hang out in the former warehouse district.