At number 12 Kofidou Street, in the heart of Kalamaria, a beautiful, contemporary meze restaurant has been welcoming guests since summer 2025. FilosoFia tou Meze is an excellent choice for anyone who loves good food and appreciates the value of home cooking — the kind of place that will have you planning your next visit before you have even left.

This new venture began with a simple but ambitious idea. Owners Sofia Giannikaki and her husband, Giorgos, wanted to take the warm atmosphere and home-cooked food of the gatherings they used to host for friends and family and bring them outside the home, into a space where many more people could enjoy the same experience.

With the gods of Mount Olympus as a backdrop…

Inside and out, FilosoFia tou Meze is light, fresh, bright and welcoming. Soft pastel shades are combined with touches inspired by the sea, Greek nature and Greek mythology. The artwork, inspired by the work of My Greek Games, features figures of the gods of Mount Olympus, creating a connection between the present day and the timeless Greek philosophy of hospitality.

Here, you can enjoy an authentic Greek tsipouro-meze experience, with every meze prepared by hand using carefully selected ingredients and an unmistakable sense of freshness. The generous portions offer excellent value for money and are guided by the philosophy at the heart of the restaurant’s name: the philosophy of meze, with the capital “S” taken from the first letter of the owner’s name, Sofia.

Meze for a table, exactly the way you like it

Tasty seafood, tempting meat dishes, fresh and generous salads and handmade dips form the foundation of the menu. These are the very dishes Sofia used to prepare at home for her friends, children and family, now served in the same warm, homely style. There are no unnecessary flourishes, excessive garnishes or experiments that might interfere with the simple, authentic flavours, while the ingredients are sourced from small-scale producers whenever possible.

Naturally, the homemade meatballs are one of the highlights, prepared with plenty of fresh herbs and their own special “philosophy”. Among the meat dishes, the slow-cooked beef cheeks are particularly memorable, melting in the mouth, alongside beef tongue, offal and handmade pork or chicken pan-fried dishes. The extensive menu also features Thracian kavourmas with egg, traditional spicy spetsofai, grilled black pork meatballs and chicken roulade with batzos cheese.

For starters, the handmade dolmades bring back memories of Sunday lunches around your grandparents’ table.

For seafood lovers, meanwhile, there is a wide selection of fish and seafood dishes to enjoy throughout the year, including plenty of options during periods of fasting. This comes as no surprise: Sofia’s father was a boat engineer and an experienced amateur fisherman who would always bring the flavours of the sea to the family table.

Perfect with ouzo or tsipouro are the marinated anchovies, sea bresaola-style pastourma, horse mackerel, Alonissos tuna and other savoury seafood, alongside a selection of Greek cheeses and the owner’s handmade dips. Excellent accompaniments include the bean salad with herring, Mount Athos-style tarama fritters and octopus salad. Make sure to try the grilled prawns with ladolemono, anchovy and squid meatballs, and the classic cod with garlic dip.

The salad selection includes a Politiki salad that truly lives up to its name, beetroot with its own distinctive twist, lemony potato salad, as well as the classic Greek tomato and cucumber salad, Cretan salad, lettuce and other seasonal choices.

Everything is designed for sharing at the centre of the table, accompanied by a good glass of tsipouro — bottled or draught, with or without aniseed — ouzo or a carefully selected Greek wine, available by the bottle or from a wine bag. Just as a proper Greek feast with friends should be.

A wonderful dining experience

The comments from guests of all ages on Google are particularly noteworthy for a restaurant that has been open for only a short time and was created by people with no previous experience in the hospitality industry. Diners describe it as “a new meze restaurant worth visiting”, praise “the owner’s kindness and smile” and describe the food as a “surprise”, highlighting the “very good-quality ingredients” and the distinctive interior design. Many consider it an “excellent new choice” and a genuine “gastronomic surprise”.

These comments demonstrate that passion, love, delicious food and impeccable service are the ingredients for a truly wonderful dining experience. It is exactly the kind of experience Sofia had already mastered around the tables she used to host at home, bringing her love of good food to every dish.

Tip 1: The kitchen operates daily from 12:00 to 22:30 and on Sundays from 12:00 to 18:00 (the restaurant closes at 20:00). The restaurant is closed every Tuesday.

Tip 2: Don’t look for delivery. I FilosoFia tou Meze is all about the ritual of enjoying food “here and now”.