Greek Coffee Culture Slowly Conquering Europe

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Greek cafés have established a growing presence in the heart of Brussels’ EU quarter, bringing Greece’s distinctive coffee culture to a neighbourhood dominated by European institutions, according to a report by POLITICO’s Eliza Gkritsi in Brussels.

Cafés including To Meli, Papillon, Caffeine and Cherry have become popular gathering places for EU officials, lobbyists, journalists and members of the Greek and Cypriot communities living in Brussels.

At the centre of the Greek coffee presence is the freddo espresso, Greece’s iconic iced coffee, along with the freddo cappuccino.

Gkritsi, writing for POLITICO’s European edition, describes how Greek cafés have established themselves among the established Belgian and Italian coffee businesses in the European quarter, offering customers not only coffee and food but also a distinctly Greek social atmosphere.

The phenomenon has strong links to Greece’s economic crisis of the 2010s.

Many Greek café owners and employees in Brussels moved to Belgium during the crisis, when Greece faced severe economic difficulties and unemployment exceeded 27 percent.

According to Gkritsi, the owners of To Meli moved to Belgium in 2013 in search of better opportunities before opening their first café six years later. Several employees also found their way into the Brussels café sector through family members and friends who had already established themselves in the city.

The businesses have since recorded substantial growth.

Financial accounts cited by POLITICO show that To Meli’s revenues increased by almost 300 percent between 2013 and 2024. Greek-owned Papillon has performed even more strongly, with its revenues increasing fourfold, according to café manager Vassilis Tsourapis.

A Greek Social Tradition

The popularity of the cafés reflects more than a preference for iced coffee.

Greek coffee culture traditionally centres on socialising. The expression pame gia kafe, or “let’s go for coffee”, often means sitting down for an extended conversation rather than simply buying a drink and leaving.

That tradition has found a natural audience in Brussels’ EU quarter, where people working for European institutions and organisations regularly meet over coffee.

During weekdays, the Greek cafés attract EU officials, journalists and lobbyists for meetings and informal conversations. At weekends, however, the cafés can become gathering places for Greeks and Cypriots living in Brussels.

Gkritsi describes To Meli’s original location near the Schuman roundabout as taking on a different character when the EU institutions fall quiet at weekends, with Greek and Cypriot customers replacing the weekday political crowd.

A Cypriot EU official who has lived in Brussels for 10 years told POLITICO that the café serves both professional and social purposes, describing it as a place for friends rather than simply another venue inside the Brussels “bubble”.

Freddo versus Shakerato

The rise of Greek coffee culture has also created an informal rivalry with Italy, whose coffee tradition remains deeply established in Brussels.

The modern Greek freddo emerged in the 1990s. According to Gkritsi, Greek coffee importer Kafea Terra developed the drink in 1991 while seeking a way to promote Italian Illy espresso in Greece during the summer.

The freddo involves shaking espresso with ice to create the chilled drink and characteristic layer of foam.

Its resemblance to Italy’s shakerato has occasionally prompted debate over whether the Greek drink represents a distinct coffee tradition or simply a Greek adaptation of an Italian one.

Gkritsi recounts how an Italian colleague initially argued that the freddo was essentially a shakerato marketed as Greek. After trying a freddo espresso herself, however, she acknowledged that the two drinks were different.

The strength of the Greek drink also came as a surprise. A typical freddo espresso contains two shots of espresso, giving it considerably more caffeine than some customers might expect.

A taste of home for Greeks abroad

For Greece’s diaspora, the importance of the freddo extends beyond its popularity as a summer drink.

The iced coffee has become closely associated with contemporary Greek life and provides Greeks living abroad with a familiar taste of home.

Its popularity in Brussels also reflects the wider story of Greeks who left the country during the economic crisis and subsequently established new lives, businesses and communities elsewhere in Europe.

Greek cafés have consequently become more than commercial enterprises. They provide meeting points for a diaspora while simultaneously introducing international customers to an increasingly recognisable element of modern Greek culture.

In the heart of the European Union, where political negotiations and policy discussions dominate daily life, the Greek café offers a different kind of connection — one built around coffee, food, conversation and community.

(Source: POLITICO Europe / Eliza Gkritsi)

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