A History of Baklava

Somewhere around 800 B.C., Greek seamen and merchants traveling to the East discovered a seriously sweet treat, which they brought back to Greece.

This tasty discovery was a combination of different ingredients - such as chopped nuts, honey and dough – and it was the precursor to Baklava.

The Greeks then refined this creation by rolling the dough paper thin (the beginnings of flaky filo pastry) and then alternating multiple layers of the dough, honey and nuts.

Today, Baklava is a truly exclusive treat. The layers of filo dough filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with honey or syrup is a wonderfully sweet pastry. Baklava is the perfect ending to any Greek meal and is just simply - divine. Zeus would be proud.

At Zizikis, we offer two wonderful Baklava desserts on our menu, made only of the finest and freshest ingredients. We have Baklava Ice Cream Cake which is one of our exclusive specialties. Our secret recipe homemade Baklava is layered with vanilla bean ice cream – for a truly melt in your mouth treat. For the traditionalist, we have Yayakatina’s Baklava. Layers of filo, walnuts, cinnamon and our own Ya Ya homemade syrup complete this very tasty treat.

At Zizikis you can experience the finest Greek Restaurant in Dallas– just make sure you save room for dessert and enjoy a true taste of Baklava.

More About Chef Costa and Mary - Owners of Zizikis Restaurants

The Ziziki's family of Greek restaurants are owned and managed by Costa & Mary Arabatzis; long-time residents and business owners in the Dallas area.

Award-winning chef, Costa Arabatzis - is no stranger to the industry, he began his restaurant career as Assistant Dishwasher in his father's restaurant in sunny California. (also where he was born)  He winded his way around positions, and eventually became Assistant Manager and then, Cook.


In 1986, Costa and his father found themselves in beautiful Hawaii, where they opened the Greek Bistro on the island of Maui - and it's still a local and visitor must-try restaurant.

Costa moved to Dallas in 1990 and eventually opened Ziziki’s Restaurant with partner Mary Cloutier Arabatzis, and recently was awarded winner of the Taste of Addison - Taste The Competition contest.


Mary Arabatzis hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota and is a graduate from Drake University in Des Moines with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism.

Mary 's been in big D since 1980, and has tons of feathers in her cap with regard to her former career in marketing and media relations. She was Media Supervisor at Tracy-Locke, Vice President – Media at Bozell, Inc. (currently Temerlin-McClain) and also Vice President, Media Director of NWAyer Dallas.

With regard to her position at Ziziki's, she is responsible for all the locations 'front of the house': that is - management of staff, sales & marketing, and the development of the wine list. And she's been nothing short of FABULOUS - Ziziki’s has been awarded “The Award of Excellence” by The Wine Spectator every year since 1995 - among several other outstanding awards for customer service.


For full bios on Costa & Mary - visit Ziziki's Taverna's about us page.