Minneapolis eats Greek and Mediterranean food across two very different registers: the Nordeast dining rooms that have run since the days when Greektown meant something specific, and the counter service Lake Street and Hennepin spots built for a fast lunch or a post-bar plate. This guide covers both, plus the fried chicken and wings counter that has nothing to do with Greece but everything to do with how this corridor actually eats.
№ 01
Spitz Mediterranean Street Food
$$
518 E Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55414 · +16125844922
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The rice bowl carries the kitchen, loaded with roasted chickpeas and enough Mediterranean seasoning to justify the counter service format. The gyro is the other order worth making, built with sauce and meat in the right proportion, and the fries pull double duty as a side or a meal starter. A Monday gyro discount rewards regulars who treat this as their default quick lunch.
What to ordergyro, rice bowl, fries
№ 02
Christos Greek Restaurant
$$
2632 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55408 · +16128712111
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Christos has held its Minneapolis dining room for decades on the strength of straightforward Greek-American cooking: saganaki, moussaka, souvlaki, done without gimmick. The kitchen leans on scratch preparation rather than shortcuts, and the staff runs the room with a personal touch rare in a place this size. It is not reinventing anything, and that consistency is the entire point.
What to ordersaganaki, moussaka, souvlaki
№ 03
La Mama Restaurant
2000 Nicollet Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404 · +12072406138
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The lamb shank is the reason people keep bringing friends here: a long, slow braise that leaves the meat falling off the bone, paired with a mezze platter built for sharing and baklava to close. The room is small and easy to overlook from outside, but there is more seating inside than the exterior suggests, and the kitchen's consistency has built a loyal word-of-mouth following in Minneapolis.
What to orderlamb shank, mezze platter, baklava
№ 04
A & J Fish & Chicken Inc.
$$
500 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55408 · +16128221111
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This Minneapolis counter pairs fried chicken with catfish and tater tots, and the combo plate is the move for a first visit. Bread comes on the side, along with coleslaw and a house sauce worth asking about. It is halal, counter service, and fast, the kind of strip-mall stop built for people who know exactly what they came for.
What to orderchicken wings, catfish, tater tots
№ 05
Soho Cafe
$
2532 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55405 · +16123777996
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A late-night Hennepin Avenue standby for a pizza slice or stromboli after the bars let out, running quick service into the small hours. The gyro pita has stayed the most dependable order over the years even as other items have slipped; wings have drawn recent complaints about size and missing sauce, so stick to the pizza counter's core lineup.
What to orderslice, stromboli, gyro pita
№ 06
Gardens of Salonica
$$
19 5th St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413 · +16123780611
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A Northeast Minneapolis institution that has outlasted the era when Greek restaurants defined that stretch of the city, still serving saganaki, moussaka, and souvlaki to regulars who return after years away. Service sometimes runs on a single person handling both the floor and the kitchen pass-through, which fits the room's unhurried, familiar character. Many still call it the best Greek kitchen in the Twin Cities.
What to ordersaganaki, moussaka, souvlaki
№ 07
New York Gyro Lake Street
$
312 W Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55408 · +16123535550
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A Lake Street counter built around delivery and takeout, with the gyro as the safest order and the family platter as the riskiest, since portioning between rice and meat has drawn complaints. One of two Minneapolis locations under this name, it functions best as a quick door-to-door order rather than a sit-down destination, and regulars report more consistency than the occasional bad platter suggests.
What to ordergyro, family platter, chicken
№ 08
Golden Fingers
1914 Chicago Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404 · +16122364056
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A Mediterranean counter with an unpredictable streak: chicken biryani sits on the menu next to gyros topped with a cheddar cheese sauce, an odd pairing that is either the draw or the problem depending on the order. Results have varied on gyro meat texture, but the strip-mall counter's willingness to mix registers keeps regulars curious enough to come back and ask questions.
What to ordergyros, chicken biryani, hummus
Frequently asked
What is the best Greek restaurant near me in Minneapolis?
It depends which neighborhood you are in. Gardens of Salonica in Northeast Minneapolis and Christos Greek Restaurant are the two long-running Greek dining rooms in this guide, both ranked by Insider Score, which reflects the volume and consistency of customer feedback, not a paid placement. No restaurant pays to be listed here.
Is Spitz Mediterranean Street Food good for a quick lunch?
Yes. It is counter service with a fast-moving line, built around a rice bowl and gyro, and its price tier and format make it one of the fastest orders in this guide for a weekday lunch.
Which spot on this list is best for a group dinner?
La Mama Restaurant is built for that: a mezze platter for sharing, a slow-cooked lamb shank as the centerpiece, and a room people return to specifically because they trust the kitchen with guests.
Are these rankings paid placements?
No. Every restaurant here is ranked by its Insider Score, a measure built from the volume and pattern of customer feedback. No restaurant pays for inclusion or position on this list.
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The data first, then the verdict
We start with the review record, not a press release. Every room here is a real kitchen with a strong rating across a meaningful number of reviews, ranked on our 10-point Insider Score. We weight consistency over time and the rooms locals return to, not the ones tourists pass through once. The list updates as the data does. How we work →
Hodan Abdi
Staff Writer · Top of Minneapolis
Hodan Abdi is a Staff Writer at Top of Minneapolis. Raised in Cedar-Riverside two floors above the Somali mall her aunt worked in, she now lives in Eagan and covers the whole metro ring. She writes the guides, sweeps the suburbs, and covers the Somali and East African tables as the beat she knows best.
