Reservations for tables in taverns and restaurants in Thessaloniki, which have stews and spit meats on their menu, are at an all-time high. The phones are constantly ringing, as it seems that many are choosing to celebrate Easter away from home this year.

From the main gastronomic destinations it seems to be the mountain of Hortiatis, where there are many traditional taverns with meat, says Nikos Nyfoudis, representative of the Thessaloniki Catering Initiative. “It’s going crazy, we have a lot of reservations for Sunday and the second day of Easter,” he says characteristically.

However, apart from the people of Thessalonica, many reservations are also made by the tourists who are in the city, as the caterer, with a meat restaurant in the west of the city, Stavros Sotiroudis, says. “There is a great demand for tables for Resurrection night and Easter Sunday. On the one hand, many people want to go out to eat and on the other hand there is also internal tourism”, adds Mr. Sotiroudis.

Slow market movement – Traders pessimistic

The market of Thessaloniki moves at an Easter pace, with consumers doing their shopping either for the festive table or for gifts for their loved ones. The traffic in the shops and Kapani on Holy Wednesday was sluggish, while on the contrary, table reservations for the evening of the Resurrection, Sunday and Easter Monday in the taverns and restaurants of the city, which have grilled spits on their menu, are high. .

In the central market of Thessaloniki, Kapani, the presence of people since the morning was limited. With prices for lambs and goats starting at 9.99 euros, butchers try to “tempt” customers to buy meat for the oven or the Easter spit.

Most consumers seem to have chosen to “shrink” the amount of lamb for this year’s festive table. However, as the president of the Panhellenic Federation of Butchers, Savvas Kessidis, told the Athens/Macedonian News Agency, those who decide to do their shopping at the last minute will obviously “be big losers as they won’t find a trace of goat or lamb in the market”.

As for the rest of the shops, unlike those that have the traditional Easter items, candles, buns, chocolate eggs and children’s toys, the professionals keep a “small basket”, according to the market data so far.

The president of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce, Pantelis Filippidis, speaking to APE-MBE, emphasizes that “clothing and footwear are in a tragic situation”, with businessmen optimistic that the Easter gift that will go into their bank accounts, might stimulate the purchasing power movement, even at the last minute. Mr. Filippides states that “the fund will be made after the holidays, but with the existing image we are not at all optimistic”.