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Kalyvia Restaurant: Greek Cuisine at its Best. A Landmark Restaurant in Toronto’s Greek Town since 1990. Award Winning Combo A la Kalivia for Two to Perfection. A Definite Five Star Rating.

Recently, Toronto by Night and its sister publication Ottawa by Night Journal visited the established Kalyvia Restaurant on the hustle and bustle of Danforth Avenue (Greek Town). We discovered a true winner, serving an authentic Greek Cuisine at a moderate to inexpensive fare.

This landmark Restaurant is a pioneer for Greek Cuisine and it is open from Monday to Sunday from 11:00 am to twelve midnight seven days a week nonstop.

A little bit of history: It all started here in 1990. Kalyvia will be celebrating 23 years of success at this address. Mike and Peter Tsafatinos, the founders, are from kalyvia, a little village near Sparta in Greece. After many years of success and hard work, they have decided to pass on their talents of creation to their two sons, Jimmy Tsafatinos, acting here as owner and manger following the Greek tradition assisted by his cousin and associate, Jim, both are following into the family footsteps.

Let’s elaborate on the Menu: Cold and hot Appetizers are for you to enjoy, including the yogurt garlic dip Tzatziki, the puree of eggplant dip Melitzanosalata and the chickpea Humus puree tahini and garlic,to mention but a few . A good starter is to order their popular fried squid lemon Calamari or the shrimp Garides sautéed in a white wine sauce.

At your next visit, asked to be served their famous and generous Combo A la Kalyvia for Two to share with the one your love with spinach pies Spanakopitakia, the char broiled octopus Oktapodi Skaras with a lemon twist, vine leaves Dolmades, Loukaniko and Tzatziki, it is an award winning platter.

One can eat here from a simple pork or Chicken and Lamb Souvlaki on a bun or pita to a full Souvlaki dinner. This one recommends the chicken Souvlaki Dinner on a skewer (served with Greek salad, rice, roasted potatoes, tzatziki and garlic bread), marinated to your liking ,now,that’s Greek to me!
At the Grill, Jimmy the Chef and owner has spent most of his adult life growing up in the restaurant and it shows in the presentation of their menu. He is ably assisted by gifting young Chef Nick. Both excel in preparing the ever popular Gyros and Shawarma platters (a mountain of fresh cut meat from the Grill served with golden potatoes), it is the new craze of today,it is meant for the big appetite.

They both remember the Seafood lover in you by proposing the Seabass Fish (served as a whole)or the Pikilia Super Special Platter for both seafood and meat lovers.At your next visit , do not hesitate to ask for the Kalyvia Seafood Platter (with the treasures of the sea in your plate). It includes shrimps,scallops, swordfish, fried calamari, broiled octopus served with vegetables on Horta.

For the Vegetarians, a definite must is to taste the Vegetarian Mousaka (homemade variety of vegetables topped with béchamel sauce), melting in your mouth, it is something to write home about.

A special mention of honor goes to Mr. Vasilios in preparing the Traditional Greek Cheese Saganaki (flamed with fanfare at your table with Brandy), keeping up with the Greek tradition.

You do not rate a restaurant by the size or the décor; it’s the food that makes it good.

For this landmark restaurant ,serving Greek gastronomy with style, and a service done with friendliness. The Toronto by Night and its sister publication,Ottawa by Night Journal,takes great pleasure in awarding