Gardens of Salonica New Greek Café & Deli

Gardens of Salonica is on my list of top 5 casual restaurants for entertaining out-​of-​town guests. The space is unique and inviting, with original sculptures from Northeast Minneapolis’ legend Zoran Mojsilov, air plants, stained glass windows, and advertisements for tours of Greece. The food is out of this world — get literally anything on the menu and you’ll be happy. The perfect spot to relax on a Saturday afternoon.

Ordered takeout via postmates. gyros were fantastic. They threw in extra skordalia– it was good and garlicky. We had fries on the side and they were delicious. Thin and crispy and came with vinegar for dipping. Lots of flavor in everything!

This is my new favorite Greek place in Minneapolis! Service was a little slow, but it’s a cute place and the gyro meat was so dang good!

I have had beyond-​great food here almost every time. The wait-​staff is excellent and knowledgeable — don’t hesitate to ask questions. They have great wine specials. The only time I’ve had not-​so-​great food was the first time I ordered a special. Stick with the tried-​and-​true menu items and you’ll never go wrong.

Back in the Cities for a visit, we had been here 20 years ago and still had fond memories of the place. Came for lunch and were not disappointed. Server knew the menu well and had a sassy/​fun attitude… we got along well!
We selected a trio of appetizers, fries, soup, something I couldn’t pronounce and a dessert (chocolate & hazelnut). We enjoyed our meals and the homey ambiance.

Awesome, as always! We come here often and are always impressed with the freshness. Brought a new friend today and he also thought the food to be very good. Great food, great service!

Amazingly fresh gyro. It was probably the best one I’ve ever had in the twin cities. The fries are amazing too but you don’t get much of them so paying an extra $ 2 isn’t worth it all the time. My only complaint is that falafel isn’t on the menu which seems strange for a place that sells gyros. But the prices are very reasonable and the food is otherwise amazing!

The food here is amazing. The gyro meat, tzatziki sauce, anything made with film dough, lamb chop, desserts. Everything we have had, we love. Staff is very friendly also.

Great, locally owned service. High quality and delicious light meals as well as full entrees.

A bad choice, the food was strange, sometimes uncooked and under seasoned. The service was lazy and the décor was weird. It is also pricey and it sure feels over priced.

I was with a large group and they sat us at a very comfortable size table. I was pleased with how spaced out the tables were; we could all hear each other well. Our server (s) was very young and seemed a little green. We had the menus for about 20 minutes, conversing amongst ourselves and collaborating our order so we could share a bunch of things. When the server came to take our order, he was out of four of the items we asked for and had to check about a fifth. It would have saved us time and effort if he would have told us they were out of certain things when we first got the menus. Oh, well. The food came out quickly. The gyro was very good, as was the moussaka. There was a nice presentation for the saganaki. The server flambéed it table side. The octopus was disgusting, just totally drenched in oil. It was actually tender, but had some fatty pieces that were chewy along with it? I wanted to spit it out, to be honest. I usually love octopus, but obviously not today. To sum, most of the food was pretty good, but I probably won’t return.

Garlicky heaven. I was just here last night with a couple girlfriends, after a couple years of not visiting this gem of a place. Why did I stay away so long?! Its a funny little space with bizarre (which to me means AWESOME), often phallic sculptures made of wood or stone or metal. The place feels like 2 restaurants the way it is separated and I think it would be an awesome space for a private party on one side.
Anyway, onto the food. Get ANY of their dips on the appetizer list and get the greek fries. OMG, get the fries. I haven’t tried any of their entrees, but I would recommend coming with friends and sharing a bunch of stuff. The boughatsa’s (maaaaybe I spelled that correctly) are delicious too. And the dessert list is filled with lovely things.
Only downfall, they were out of several things that we wanted, which was a bummer.

This place is one of our favorites. We do carry out regularly and dine in occasionally. The food is great but service can be a little slow so grab a glass of wine an relax.

Super good!
I had the Gyro with fries and I asked if they could incorporate cheese in there some where and they said the best thing they could do was give me a side order of feta cheese… so they gave me a plate of a big block of cheese! Which I wasn’t expecting… But I am a lover of cheese and I accepted it.
The store was simple and welcoming. The service was good, a little slow considering it was pretty empty, but I’m not complaining to much because I was extremely satisfied by the food.
I would definitely go back for some lunch with a girlfriend.

This is a sweet traditional greek cuisine venue in Northeast Minneapolis that’s worth checking out!
There are two separate dining areas that hold two completely different looks. There’s also very substantial artwork and structures both in and outside of the restaurant that’s make great conversation pieces.
I’ve eaten here a number of times and plan on going back a number more!
The food is very good with some familiar and unique variations then what you’ll find in greek cuisine. I was instantly charmed when first finding out that they work with organic and local ingredients whenever possible.
Some of the foods that stands out in my dining experiences are:
Fava dip — Better than hummus! They use yellow split peas rather the garbanzo beans.
Psito — Seasoned and roasted leg of lamb (I LOVE lamb!). It has a more distinct flavor than beef, so if you’re not a lamb fan, you CAN’T judge this dish! Also served up with roasted lemon potatoes. This is a wonderfully hardy entrée.
Baklava — This ISN’T like the other baklava that I’ve had. I had originally resigned myself to stop eating baklava until I tried Gardens of Salonica’s version. It doesn’t have that sickly-​oversaturated-​sweetness that most contain. I found out that they add the honeyed syrup after baking it rather than before. This detail made all the difference in the world!
Besides the great food, I’m even more drawn to their efforts in drawing community together. A couple events that they offer, that anyone can participate in, are their monthly Symposia series (featured speaker, meal, and folks to dine with) and their bi-​annunal trips to Greece. It’s on my bucket list!

Good food, awful service! Our waiter was unfriendly and rude. Asked for substitutions (salad instead of Greek fries) just plainly said «no!». Would give it another shot on a different day hoping said server could not wait on us. Went 4÷24÷13. He was the one that does NOT look like Patton Aswalt.

This is closer to a 3.5, but we did enjoy our night with Santa & mrs. Claus here tonight hah!
We were both impressed with our waitress off the bat as she rattled off extensive details of their many specials. They all sounded good but we ended up trying the combination plate, grilled saganaki, gyro sandwich and a spinach feta boughatsa.
The pita, saganaki, tzatziki, and gyro were quite good and id like to come back on a Friday for their fresh gyro. The boughatsa could’ve been fresher and we felt the bill was a bit high ($ 5 for a bottle of nordeast after they were out of our first two choices!), but overall this is good Mediterranean fare that I would consider coming back for.

Let me preface this by saying, my crew literally stumbled upon this place. We had meant to go elsewhere, but didn’t want to wait an hour for a table. We were just walking around looking for a restaurant and finally decided that Greek food sounded good. Two of us had the Mousakas, and the other 2 chose the Makaronia me Souvlaki. Mousakas is meant to be a down-​home comfort food type of dish, so I was satisfied with the dish. I’ve definitely had better versions, but it hit the spot for the night. My friends did not love the Souvlaki entrée. The pasta was quite bland, and the dish was a bit expensive for what it turned out to be.

Best Greek fare in Twin Cities, hands down. Great service and great quality food with authentic greek recipes. Don’t miss this place! Get the skordalia if you like garlic dips! Baklava, gyros, greek salads, greek beer.

Three of us had a nice lunch today – first time visit.
First of all, this place is a little hard to find. They have a small beige colored sign that projects out from the building. This is in stark contrast to Conga, which is on the opposite corner and marked with huge letters and super bright colors.
STARTERS: We had Lentil Soup, Cod Soup, Ambelodolmades, and Octapodi. All of it was very good. I’m not a big fan of sea food… but my friends liked the Cod Soup and the Octopus.
LUNCH: We had Gyros with Home Cut Fries, Stuffed Calamari, and ¼ Chicken with Spinach. Again, everything was very good.
SERVICE: Our service was first rate. Our server was very nice and – BTW – very funny. The atmosphere was also nice; warm and intimate.
A little on the pricey side. We dropped 95 bucks for two apps, two cups of soup, and three lunches (plus tea, coffee, and lemonade).
There’s a huge sculpture hanging above the dining room that we all decided looks like a giant calamari!
–Daddy Maxx Retro

Nice atmosphere and friendly people… food was average but I would come back with friends…

Arguably the best gyro I’ve ever had, and I don’t mess around when it comes to gyros. The rest of the food is pretty tasty to boot. Fresh cut fries with vinegar is a nice touch. Had a specialty pork gyro one time that was just great. Desserts are yummy too.
The décor is fantastic to boot, as is their server, Joe.

Greek food has always been a favorite category of mine and I consider Gardens to be top notch in the Twin Cities. I would give it five stars but the service is so slow I can’t even handle it. Every time I come here I have to plan on leaving an extra 45 minutes of buffer time because I never know how the service will go. One time I swear it took 25 minutes for feta cheese and pita bread. They must have been milking a goat in the back to make some fresh cheese. Regardless, Gardens keeps me coming back because of the authenticity of the food, flavors in the entrees, and freshness in the ingredients. It’s very obvious they don’t cut corners and that they put care into the food they make.
Love: spanakopita, gyro, souvlaki, Plaki fish dish with tomato wine sauce, greek salad, moussaka, and skordalia potato garlic dip, house fries
Loathe: Nothing!

Very nice surprise. Enjoyed the pace of the meal and the food was different than I’ve had elsewhere and the portion sizes were perfect. I’d never had Moussaka before, though enjoyed it quite a bit. Great ambiance and helpful wait staff.

Great place with A LOT of vegan options– always a nice relief. A group of four went for lunch and tried three different appetizers (hummus) — Greek salad and the boughatsa (fillo filled pastries). The owner even came out to meet us!
For my boughatsa, I had the lemon leek garlic option (vegan) — very good. Another in our party tried their most famous: spinach feta boughatsa, and another patron had the beef mushroom burgundy… There were zero complaints from us in this arena!
The owner, Amy, send the four of us off with complimentary chocolate hazelnut boughatsa to share… Delicious!
We all agreed we will be back! Fun fact: 2013 they were voted one of the most healthy dining establishments too!

What can I say? 5 stars, this should be a 10, happy to have gone to say the least.
This café & Deli is nothing short of amazing. I have been eating here since 2009, and I have never been disappointed.
I remember one of the first times I visited this beautiful, quaintly situated, restaurant. I decided to take a friend out to eat because he was down in the dumps emotionally. I took him for a drive and we ended up parked in front. I told him how I knew this place would cheer him up. We got out in NE Minneapolis and went inside to Greece. My friend is Italian and he is also a major food critic, we ordered some beers and the staple (for me and most others I assume) the gyros with greek fries, and he was extremely impressed, as was I. The ambiance was intriguing, and the food was spectacular…
The server greeted us promptly and we proceeded to the bar, where we were seated. The art décor inside was relaxing, beautiful, and modest, yet it was impressive all the same. The wood floors, beautiful art, and relaxed atmosphere inside made me feel comfortable. My eyes were satisfied right as we entered. I felt like I was literally taken to Greece, I could feel the culture, and I could tell this was not just another attempt at authentic, it was actually the real thing.
The beers were great, but what I was more impressed with were the main course for our evening: the Gyro sandwiches we ordered, they were savory, generously portioned, and served in an elegant presentation. I was very impressed, and I did not have to spend much for our meal. I left full, or rather satisfied, and happy to have taken in some culture.
I Thoroughly enjoy this venue. The food and service is amazing and definitely made from scratch, with creativity and a dedication to greek cuisine.
Impressive, I will be back.
We are lucky to have a restaurant like this in our midst. It is exactly what I imagined a greek deli & café to be.
I would suggest this place for a casual, or business lunch, or a dinner time date. Your date will be impressed with your style.
This is a stand out place. In a time where a restaurant’s titles and claims delegate a crowd, Gardens does not disappoint. Gardens will keep the crowds coming back with a more than satisfactory display of art and food authenticity.
I will be back very soon!