A City in a Bite: Thessaloniki-Style Street Food

John Papadimitriou | November 14th, 2025

From postmodern bougatsa to wood-fired pizza and pirozhki, Thessaloniki’s street food scene is evolving, balancing tradition with innovation.

Thessaloniki’s history as a city of refugees has infused its cuisine with the flavors of Pontic Greeks, Asia Minor refugees, Jews, Armenians and many other communities. Many of the city’s everyday food habits were shaped by those arrivals – take the bougatsa, for instance, brought by Asia Minor Greeks to forever change the city’s mornings. These flaky pastries, filled with custard or cheese, remain a staple of Thessaloniki’s street food, as does the iconic sesame bread ring, or koulouri. Some would also add gyros, wrapped in pita or stuffed into a bun, to the list of local classics.

Over time, however, tastes have evolved. Dietary preferences have shifted, and the city’s population has diversified – particularly in the past decade, with the arrival of digital nomads. As a result, Thessaloniki’s street food culture has changed, or rather, matured. From Aristotelous Square and the famed Ladadika district to the Toumba and Kalamaria neighborhoods, new street food hangouts have sprung up alongside traditional bougatsa shops, souvlaki joints and food trucks.

Perhaps the turning point came in 2013 with the invention of the bougatsan – a playful hybrid of bougatsa and croissant – introduced by the café Estrella and garnering praise from The New York Times. As tourism grew, especially after the pandemic, eateries with a more international outlook began to flourish. “Today, Thessaloniki is a contemporary gastronomic destination, particularly after joining UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network. In many cases, its elevated street food scene is now synonymous with high gastronomy – both for the quality of its ingredients and its cooking techniques,” notes chef and marketer Theodoros Pastourmatzis, who represented Greece at the 2025 Balkan Food Festival in Belgrade.

Having worked for years in the restaurant business, Pastourmatzis decided about a decade ago to launch his own food truck, promoting primarily Greek products. That idea evolved into The Greek Cantina, an energy-autonomous mobile kitchen that travels across Greece and abroad, serving flavorful quick meals made with local ingredients – such as a juicy Greek beef smash burger.

With Pastourmatzis as our guide, we explored new street food spots, as well as a few timeless favorites. Because while innovation in food is always exciting, some classics – such as Mama Tereza, the legendary food truck at the port where every night owl eventually ends up – never fade.

Snack Grill Express

Nearly a century of flavor lives on at Snack Grill Express in Toumba. It all began in 1926, when the great-grandfather of current owner Sakis Vassiliadis opened a tiny, nameless grill house serving just a few simple meze. Passed down through generations, the spot remains one of the city’s enduring street-food landmarks. The hand-painted sign that still lights up the facade was added in 1980 – the same year the place finally got its name. “My father called it Express, inspired by his years in Sweden and the idea of modern, fast service,” Sakis recalls. Today, he continues to make the gyros himself: trimming and seasoning the meat, then slow grilling it over charcoal until it’s crisp on the outside and juicy inside. Served either wrapped in pita or as a plate, it’s a local favorite – rivaled only by another house classic, the stuffed burger with mushrooms and Roquefort.

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7 Malakopis

Maverick

Half-brothers Dimitris Kassis and Apostolos Petridis opened Maverick in the summer of 2024. Lifelong food enthusiasts, they envisioned a street kitchen serving sandwiches made entirely from ingredients they cook themselves. The dish that perfectly sums up their philosophy is the brisket sandwich: beef brisket slow-smoked in their custom-built smoker right beside the truck, tucked into multigrain sourdough bread, and layered with braised sauerkraut, roasted-garlic mayo and mustard vinaigrette. “We wanted to be in direct contact with people, not hidden behind four walls,” says Dimitris, as he shapes the patties for their much-loved smash burgers.

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179 Ethnikis Antistaseos, Kalamaria

Feyrouz

In Arabic, “lahmacun” literally means “dough and meat.” The version at Feyrouz features ultra-thin, hand-rolled dough topped with minced beef seasoned with a blend of Levantine spices, then finished with Syrian-style baba ghanoush (a smoky eggplant purée), yogurt, a colorful salad and a drizzle of pomegranate dressing for freshness. Feyrouz also offers two vegetarian interpretations: one with wild Syrian thyme and a mix of 14 spices, and another with eight vegetables, fresh herbs, tabbouleh and hummus. All these options are made following traditional family recipes from Antakya handed down to Andreas Kiltsiksis, now lovingly served in Thessaloniki.

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125 Mitropoleos

Salento

Thessaloniki discovered the charms of Salento in 2020, when this newly-opened eatery introduced a homemade slow-fermented dough inspired by the pucce of southern Apulia, and in particular the once-Greek region of Grecia Salentina. At Salento, the dough ferments for 72 hours before it’s baked in a wood-fired oven; the loaves are then split and filled. Classics range from slow-cooked pork with coleslaw and barbecue sauce to a seafood option with shrimp, iceberg, mozzarella, truffle cream, peppers and vinaigrette. Everything is mixed and cooked in-house – from the doughs to the fresh meats. Responding to public demand, the team has also added lasagna and salads.

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76 Eleftheriou Venizelou

Mama Tereza

When Mama Tereza first opened in 1987, Thessaloniki’s street food scene revolved almost entirely around gyros and souvlaki. But this humble food truck quickly changed the game with a new late-night obsession – the pork belly sandwich. Operating exclusively after midnight, it became an instant cult favorite among the city’s night owls. “Before the pandemic, we used to hand out the bread and pork belly, and everyone would add their own toppings – it was almost self-service,” recalls owner Ierotheos Kritikos. Over the years, he perfected the cooking of pork belly, slicing it as thin as bacon so it crisps beautifully on the grill. Instead of a single slab of meat, each sandwich is stacked with three or four delicate slices that practically melt in your mouth. Guests can customize their sandwich with a wide range of add-ons – but the secret of its loyal following lies in the simplicity of those smoky, caramelized strips, served hot in the small hours of the night.

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15 26is Oktovriou

Estrella

When Estrella opened in March 2013, no one imagined it would redefine Thessaloniki’s brunch scene within a year. That’s when the café introduced the now-famous bougatsan – a playful hybrid inspired by the city’s traditional bougatsa. Picture a buttery French croissant filled with warm, fragrant custard made to order. “Our cream is always warm because we prepare it fresh for each bougatsan,” says co-founder Kostas Kapetanakis. The invention took off, soon spreading to Athens and earning a special mention in The New York Times in 2017. Today, Estrella operates ten locations across Greece, Cyprus and Portugal, serving a creative brunch menu that includes modern takes on local favorites – such as a Thessaloniki koulouri topped with soft scrambled eggs.

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48 Pavlou Mela

Crats Fried Chicken

Founded in 2021, the Greek chain Crats set out with a simple goal: to offer high-quality yet affordable comfort food made exclusively from locally sourced poultry. Today, its menu features around 40 items divided into three main categories – chicken wings, chicken fillets and chicken burgers. The chain’s signature dish is its premium burger, served on a buttery brioche bun with a double layer of crispy fried chicken fillet, available in several variations. One of the most popular is the Jalapenos Double Crats Burger, with bacon, cheddar, iceberg lettuce, tomato, jalapenos, mayonnaise and barbecue sauce. Beyond burgers, Crats offers everything from fried wing buckets and tortillas to bite-sized chicken fillets – all prepared fresh and served in a flash.

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7 Aristotelous Square

Agapi – for authentic pirozhki

Since opening in 2006, Agapi has been delighting locals with homemade pirozhki prepared fresh every day, using dough mixed and shaped on the spot. In a small workspace tucked behind the cozy storefront on Chalkeon Street, the team kneads, fills and either bakes or fries each pastry to order, depending on the recipe. The best seller is the one filled with three cheeses, though the menu offers many other tempting combinations as well: spinach and cheese; chicken with mushrooms; red beans; minced meat; and potato with tomato and olive. Another house specialty is the khachapuri – the iconic Georgian cheese bread, made according to a cherished family recipe brought from Tbilisi when the owners moved to Greece in 1994.