Greek food in Palo Alto

Palo Alto has a small but well-rounded Greek scene. Emerson Street downtown holds the two sit-down restaurants, a few blocks apart: one built around a wood-fired grill and listed in the MICHELIN Guide, the other a farm to table taverna with a veranda and weekend brunch. California Avenue has a casual pita and rice-plate kitchen. University Avenue has a gyro counter that stays open late on weekends. Add the mezze menu at Stanford Shopping Center and you can eat Greek food at almost any price and almost any hour.

Every restaurant on this page was confirmed as operating in October 2026 through its own website or ordering page. Menus change with the seasons, so treat any dish named here as an example. For the wider picture of Turkish, Israeli and Lebanese food in town, see our Mediterranean and Middle Eastern guide.

Palo Alto's Greek restaurants at a glance

Evvia and Taverna sit about four blocks apart on Emerson Street, so it is easy to walk past both and compare menus. Nick the Greek is around the corner on University Avenue. Kali is across town on California Avenue, about 10 minutes away by car or a short Caltrain hop.

Evvia Estiatorio, 420 Emerson Street

Evvia is the Greek restaurant most locals name first. It has been on Emerson Street for about three decades and estiatorio simply means restaurant in Greek. Two couples founded it, George and Judy Marcus and Kenny and Angie Frangadakis, to share the cooking of their Greek heritage. The same group later opened Kokkari Estiatorio in San Francisco and the two are still run as sisters.

A large open kitchen and a wood-fired grill anchor the dining room. Evvia describes its food as traditional Greek dishes made with California produce, meat and seafood. Its site names classics such as avgolemono, the lemony egg and rice soup; keftedes, Greek meatballs; dolmades, stuffed grape leaves; and kapama, a spiced lamb stew. Grilled fish and lamb come off the fire. The wine list leans toward Greek and California bottles.

Evvia is listed in the MICHELIN Guide without a star. It takes reservations on its website and says it will not take or change bookings by email. Its events information lists a chef's table for up to 18 in front of the kitchen, a covered patio for up to 40 and inside dining for up to 80. The patio is the quieter place to sit. Our fine dining guide compares Evvia with the city's other guide-listed rooms.

Taverna, 800 Emerson Street

Taverna opened on a downtown corner in April 2018. Longtime friends Thanasis Pashalidis and Hakan Bala founded it and bill the food as Greek farm to table cooking. It is open every day, with weekday lunch, weekend brunch from 10:30 a.m. and dinner every night. Lunch and brunch run until 3:30 p.m., when dinner begins, so the kitchen serves straight through the afternoon.

The dinner menu follows the way a Greek meal unfolds. Cold bites include tzatziki, melitzanosalata made with eggplant, fava, spicy feta and tarama, or all of them on a pikilia platter. Hot bites include halloumi, spanakopitakia and keftedakia meatballs. Small plates run to octopus, saganaki and fried calamari. Larger dishes include moussaka, gigante bean stew, lamb rib chops and a whole fish. Sides include house made pita, Greek fries and steamed horta greens.

The veranda is the spot on a warm evening. Three private rooms seat 25, 40 and 70 guests and parties of eight or more order from a family style menu. That makes Taverna a natural choice for rehearsal dinners and big birthdays. Taverna's website also links to a second Taverna in Portola Valley.

Casual Greek: pitas, gyros and plates

Kali Greek Kitchen, 451 California Avenue

Kali Greek Kitchen has served the El Camino Real end of California Avenue since 2017. It comes from Caglar Vural, who also owns Cafe Brioche on the same street. The menu centers on pitas and rice plates, with combos, salads, soups, dips and sides. It also sells thick frozen Greek yogurt, a good finish on a hot day. The ordering site lists the same hours every day, 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., for pickup or delivery. The restaurant sells Greek beer and wine, so bring ID. Our California Avenue guide covers parking and the car-free blocks.

Nick the Greek, 322 University Avenue

Nick the Greek is a chain with more than 100 U.S. locations and a counter in the 300 block of University Avenue. Its Palo Alto page sums up the food as gyros, souvlaki and stuffed pitas served hot off the spit. The menu splits into pitas, bowls, plates and fries, with falafel, salads and frozen Greek yogurt too. It opens at 10 a.m. daily and closes at 10 p.m. most nights or midnight on Friday and Saturday. That makes it one of downtown's later kitchens. See our late-night food guide for more.

Zaytinya, Stanford Shopping Center

Zaytinya, from chef José Andrés, is not strictly Greek. Its mezze menu draws on Turkish, Greek and Lebanese cooking, served as shared small plates with Mediterranean wines. It suits a group that wants Greek dips alongside Lebanese and Turkish dishes. Our Stanford Shopping Center guide covers parking and layout.

What to order: a short Greek glossary

Greek menus use a lot of words that are easy to learn. These turn up on more than one menu in town.

• Mezedes. Small plates for sharing, the start of most Greek dinners.
• Tzatziki. Yogurt with cucumber and garlic, served as a dip or a sauce.
• Melitzanosalata. A smoky eggplant spread.
• Tarama. A spread of cured fish roe, often pale pink.
• Saganaki. Cheese fried in a small pan until crisp outside.
• Avgolemono. A soup of egg, lemon and rice, often with chicken.
• Moussaka. Layers of eggplant, spiced meat and béchamel, baked.
• Gyro and souvlaki. A gyro is meat shaved from a vertical spit. Souvlaki is meat grilled on skewers. Both are often wrapped in pita.
• Horta. Boiled or steamed wild greens dressed with olive oil and lemon.
• Bougatsa. A phyllo pastry, often filled with custard.

At a sit-down dinner, a simple plan works well:

1. Order two or three dips for the table with warm pita.
2. Add one hot meze such as saganaki or grilled octopus.
3. Choose one grilled main for every two people.
4. Share one dessert and ask about Greek coffee.

Vegetarian, vegan and allergy notes

Greek cooking is one of the easier cuisines for meat-free diners. Dips, village salad, gigante beans, zucchini cakes and horta are vegetarian by tradition. Many are vegan too, though tzatziki, feta and yogurt sauces are not.

• Taverna does not label vegetarian or gluten-free dishes on its menu. Ask your server.
• Nick the Greek says it offers vegetarian, vegan-friendly and gluten-friendly items. It also warns that its kitchen handles dairy, eggs, wheat, soy, nuts and sesame and that fried items share a fryer.
• Kali Greek Kitchen shows what each dish contains when you build an order online.
• Pita and phyllo contain wheat. Grilled meats, salads and many dips are naturally free of gluten, but cross contact is common.

None of these restaurants states halal or kosher certification on the pages we checked.

Booking, timing and groups

Evvia fills on Friday and Saturday nights and on big Stanford weekends such as commencement in June. Book a week or more ahead for those dates. Weekday lunch is easier and draws a business crowd. Taverna also books through its website and handles large groups with its private rooms and set menus. Weekend brunch on the veranda is popular, so reserve for a table outside.

For a quick meal, order ahead. Nick the Greek takes orders through its website and app and says rewards points only apply to orders placed there or scanned at the register. Kali lets you schedule pickup in advance, which helps for an office lunch.

Going further: Kokkari in San Francisco

If Evvia wins you over, its sister restaurant Kokkari Estiatorio is in San Francisco's Jackson Square. It shares Evvia's founders and its approach to Greek cooking. Pair it with a day in the city using our San Francisco day trip guide, or browse San Francisco food tours if you want a guide to the city's neighborhoods.

Frequently asked questions