Mamakas: The Ossington taverna that brought the Aegean to Toronto

The name Mamakas comes from the Greek word mamakia — loosely, “mama’s boy.” It’s a term of endearment, and for Thanos Tripi, the restaurant’s sole owner, it carries the full weight of a childhood spent learning to cook at the side of the women who raised him. “It’s a nod to the matriarchs of the Tripi family who raised us in the kitchen,” he says, “with a lot of love, and recipes that have been passed down through generations.”

Opened in August 2014 on Ossington Avenue in Toronto, Mamakas was one of the first restaurants to plant a flag for serious Greek cooking outside of Greektown — and twelve years later, it hasn’t loosened its grip.

A Tofu Factory Turned Taverna

The original space — a one-storey cinderblock building that had previously served as both a tofu factory, an auto body shop and one of the coolest furniture stores in the city — was, in Thanos’s words, “a blank canvas.” He designed it alongside his close friend Anwar Mekhayech, founder of the acclaimed Toronto design firm DesignAgency, and what they built is deceptively simple: an open kitchen, a white marble bar, and the kind of warm, textured room that makes you feel like you’ve been invited into someone’s home.

“The idea was to keep the design simple so it feels like you’re eating in someone’s kitchen,” Thanos explains. And it works. The kitchen is the first thing guests see, hear, and smell when they walk through the door. “It’s the first thing guests see, hear and smell when they walk in, and it instantly transports you somewhere else.”

Cuisine Shaped by the Sun, the Sea, and the Soil

Thanos describes his concept as “rustic, elevated Aegean cuisine,” and the menu — developed alongside Culinary Director Chef Rafael Freitas da Rocha — delivers on that promise without pretension. The food is rooted in the flavours of the Mediterranean, with a particular debt to the Mani Peninsula in the southern Peloponnese, where Thanos’s family is from and where he still spends his summers.

House favourites include the house-made pita and dips, heirloom tomato horiatiki salad, spanakopita, locally sourced lamb chops, Mediterranean octopus, and fresh whole fish — the kind of dishes that bring people back season after season. “Our goal has always been to offer an authentic expression of modern Greek cuisine while respecting the generations that came before us,” Thanos says.

An All-Greek Wine List with Nearly Extinct Grapes

The wine program at Mamakas is entirely Greek — a bold commitment that pays off beautifully. Overseen by General Manager Crystal Robitaille, the list highlights both PDO and PGI indigenous varietals, including some grapes that are rare or nearly extinct, championed by winemakers working to revive and preserve them. There’s also a strong selection of low-intervention wines for those who lean natural.

Behind the bar, Michael Corteling — who has led the Mamakas cocktail program for more than ten years — keeps things Mediterranean in spirit, precise in execution.

From Ossington to Summerhill

The Mamakas Food Group has grown steadily around the original restaurant: Koukla, a late-night meze bar; Agora, an elevated grab-and-go market concept; and Trapezi, a private dining experience. Supporting Thanos across all of them is his long-time Managing Partner, Faith Orfus.

And in fall 2026, after more than a decade on Ossington, Mamakas will open a second location in Summerhill — at Tricon’s The James on Price Street — a move that’s been three years in the making. The new space will offer the same hero dishes and spirit that regulars love, with the addition of a private dining room.

But the original Ossington location — 85 seats inside, 60 on the patio, still humming with the warmth of that first cinderblock room — remains the heart of it all.

For more recommendations in Toronto, it’s here!

Written by Fabie Lubin
Photography by Alison Slattery

Updated on October 13, 2026

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