Find Meze for Days at This Washington Square Spot
If you think you know Greek food, Kanella will change your mind. You will find that trademark blue awning and a selection of kebabs on the menu, but that’s where the comparison with your standard gyro spot ends.
What to order
- With an extensive meze menu starting at just $10, expect lots of dips, including favorites like beets with yogurt, drizzled with honey and walnuts, hummus with tahini, and mutabal, a Turkish dish of eggplant, yogurt, and garlic.
- The Taste of Kanella sampler ($45 per person) is perfect for indecisive diners who want to sample a bit of everything. You get two options from the meze menu, one entree and one dessert. But everyone in your party must participate together.
- The desserts rotate out by season, but the sticky-sweet baklava ($10), topped with pistachio, is always worth saving space for.
Make a night of it
Kanella is a BYOB, but there’s a wealth of great places to get a drink in the area, including Enswell, which offers $14 Negronis during happy hour, and the new lounge from the Next of Kin team, Static!, though you should prepare for a long wait at that door.
Best for
If you’ve got a party that isn’t quite sure what they want, a handful of meze plates will cure that indecision with the sheer variety of ingredients and options. Besides the dips, there’s a variety of veggie plates, like a shepherd salad with feta, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions, and a hearty halloumi cheese covered in dates, apricots, and walnuts, too (both $13).
Insider tip
Quality Turkish coffee and Greek frappes (both $5.50) are not easy to find in Philly, but Kanella serves both. The frappe is an iced, light coffee drink made with Nescafé kernels, and it adds something special to dinner.
