Welcome To Dallas - VOLOS TAVERNA

When Volos is mentioned, I have thoughts of the beautiful port city in Thessaly near the Greek mainland.. not far from Athens, Greece.

Now, Volos will hold new thoughts (and yummy ones, too) in our minds as Zizikis opens the Volos Taverna in Addison.

Costa and Mary Arabatzis decided to open a sister concept of Zizikis and will focus on delicious Greek cuisine and influence Dallas has come to love with Zizikis. The Volos menu will be a bit smaller - and their vision is an affordable, exclusive and friendly wine bar with a selection of scrumptious mezzes, or Greek appetizers - as well as some of variations on some of the favorites from the Zizikis menu.

Costa created the small plated items and they are all priced perfectly for either a romantic dinner for two, the family or a night out with friends. The menu features a wide variety of appetizers as well as several new dishes.

Costa describes one on his new dishes “a beautifully sautéed chicken with lemon and a white wine sauce, served with gigante beans from Greece, they're like fava beans, they're BIG. They're done with a little prosciutto and some roasted tomatoes or bell peppers"

They added in two more dips to compliment their famous artichoke hummus dip. The eggplant dip or Greek caviar (Tarama) is certain to be a favorite and they will introduce flatbread to the menu, which has not be a selection until now.

Most of the establishment located at 5000 Belt Line Road at the Addison Walk will be the bar with the rest being seating for patrons for food. The bar is long with breathtaking dark colors and certainly is a sight.

You can also visit the original Zizikis at Travis Walk, the Preston location or the Lakeside Market in Plano. Whichever location you decide, one of the Zizikis family of restaurants will certainly become one of your favorites!

Going Greek In Dallas

Ziziki’s is a fast growing, upscale greek restaurant with an outstanding line of Greek and Italian Cuisine. They opened the very first Ziziki’s at Travis Walk in July of 1994. Since 1994, the owners, Mary and Costa Arabatzis, have been providing outstanding food in a warm and inviting environment. The opening of this restaurant marked the beginning of a long road to success!

With the owner’s restaurants blooming in Dallas, they decided to make a life changing decision to move to Maui, where they would open an additional Ziziki’s restaurant. You may be thinking to yourself, “Why Maui?” The couple choose Maui because they had a growing family, and what better place to raise a family than on an island that is truly magical. The opening of this new location in Maui seemed as if it was going to be a successful business decision, but the business was soon affected - as so many businesses were - by the 9/11 attacks on the United States. This tragedy nearly wiped out business for all of Maui’s restaurants. With sales slipping and cost rising at all of the locations, the Arabatzis were faced with another important decision.

After a lot of soul searching, the couple decided to close the Maui location and return to Dallas to focus on the growth of their other locations. In order for the growth of the Dallas locations to continue, they had to make some changes. These changes would involve managing operations themselves, and address the rising food cost. After realizing the changes that needed to be made they quickly addressed them. With the smart business decisions of the owners following the 9/11 attacks and the devastating impact it had on the economy and business, Ziziki’s remains no less than brilliant!  There's more than just great food at Ziziki's - there's great ownership.

Given that it has been 15 years since the original Ziziki's location opened, it comes as no surprise that the brand has expanded, and continues to be successful. Since the original opening of the restaurant they've added on two additional private dining rooms, which are a great place to host a private party or a company lunch, and an expanded kitchen to accommodate the needs of the additional seating.

In addition to the original Zizikis at Travis Walk, Mary and Costa have opened two other locations in the Dallas Area. They opened their second location in North Dallas in the Shops of Spanish Village, but in 2005 moved the restaurant to the renowned Preston Hollow location which is located at the corner of Preston and Forest.

In 2008, Zizikis announced the opening of their third location, in Plano, which has a modern approach to Zizikis traditional bar. It is located in the Lakeside Market area of Plano.

So the next time you are craving a delicious Greek meal or just a unique place to hang out, stop by one of our three locations and be a part of our history in the making!

Valentine's Day - From The Greeks?

If we were in Greece on Valentine’s Day, we might be visiting the Pink Palace Hotel on Corfu, or heading to the Athens Backpackers Hotel for their “Big Pink Party”.  Or maybe - just possibly - we might be just spending a warm sunny day on one of the Greek Isles.

Because Greek mythology traces Valentine’s Day to the marriage between Zeus and Hera - Valentine's Day in Greece is known as HIGHLY romantic. Handsome young men and their beautiful women spend the entire day together proclaiming their love to one another because Eros (as Greeks say, but known as Cupid in Roman mythology) is the cause of the emotion and love - and is very present during Valentine's Day.  Eros was the young son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty and I think we can take it from there and remember the history.


Unfortunately many of us aren't lucky enough to spend Valentine’s Day in Greece - and for those of us who aren't there, we can to bring the romance of Greek tradition to us on Valentine's Day.

Start your dinner off at Ziziki’s in Dallas with Greek Paella or maybe their Greek God’s Platter made up of Pistachio, Spanakopita and Lamb Souvlaki, or choose a prix-fixe menu offering customized for the Valentine's Day. Enjoy the atmosphere at Ziziki’s, it's enough to make you fall in love with the warm modern décor and music.

After dinner enjoy a cup of Greek finely ground cup of coffee from Ziziki's Coffee Bar and possibly some Baklava Ice Cream Cake or a warm piece of Chocolate Liquor cake, surely to warm up your senses.

If we can’t be on the Greek Isles, bring the air of love from Greece to us by visiting Ziziki’s this Valentine’s Day.