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Traditional Thracian and Macedonian cooks adapt to the seasons: in winter, rich game such as boar and venison is served; in summer, there are mussels and other seafood from the Aegean, as well as fruits and vegetables from the fertile plains. The relatively cooler climate here is reflected in rich chicken soups, roast chicken, stuffed vegetables, and stewed lamb and pork.
Small plates (mezedes) are a fundamental part of the Thessaloniki dining experience. Specialties include medhia (mussels), which come from farms outside the bay and are served in styles that include saganaki (sauted in a pan with tomatoes, peppers, and feta) and achnista (steamed in broth with herbs). Also look for soutzoukakia (Anatolian-style meatballs in tomato sauce, seasoned with cumin). Peinerli (an open-faced boat of bread filled with cheese and ham) is a Black Sea specialty brought here by the Pontii, Greeks who emigrated from that area.
Meals are complemented by generous amounts of wine, ouzo, and tsipouro, the local version of grappa. Try the excellent barrel or bottled local wines, especially reds under labels such as Naoussa or Porto Carras or a little bottle of Malamatina retsina, considered the best bottled version in Greece. Throughout the city, little shops and cellars specialize in a Macedonian treat called a submarine (or ipovrihio), a spoonful of sweets such as visino (black) cherries in syrup, dipped in a glass of ice water. As for dinnertime, you can arrive around 8, earlier than most Greeks like to eat dinner (many places do not open before then)—but it's much more fun to come at 9 or 10 and mix with the locals.
Excellent food and true Greek filoxenia (hospitality) await at the combination tourist shop, café, and three-meal-a-day restaurant. Recommended are the loukanika (sausages); rolled, spiced, and spit-roasted meat; and the excellent yemista (stuffed tomatoes and peppers) and papoutsakia (eggplant halves baked with cheese, spiced ground beef, and garlicy tomato sauce). If you want to try the specialty of the area, katsikaki sti souvla (roasted goat on a spit), order at least a day ahead. The krasi hima (house barrel wine) is locally produced, and the owners also serve homemade tsipouro (the Greek version of grappa) in a small carafe served with snacks.
"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.
Choose from traditional foods such as moussaka or try the highly recommended fresh local pasta. The regional vegetables are especially delicious, and fresh frozen yogurt is made with local fruits. Self-serve cafeteria-style lunch is available, but this is also a taverna-restaurant. Reservations are not necessary, but be warned: tour buses do stop here.
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.
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