He worked initially as a tailor for some years, before opening an ouzeri.

I know someone in just about every hotel, taverna, kapheneion, and ouzeri in this part of town.

The ouzeri was recently renovated and is now known as Dimitris Café.

Ouzeri usually play up their connection to Greece's islands as I Trata does.

Questions & Answers What is an Ouzeri?

Sometimes in these ouzeri, a meal is made of several rounds of mezedes, which average about $3 to $4 a plate, shared communally.

Late last fall, my husband, Spiros, and I - accompanied by ouzo-loving friends - visited ouzeri around Athens.

In these cities the cradles of rebetiko were likely to be the ouzeri, the hashish dens (tekedes) with hookahs, coffee shops and even the prison.

Currently, Koukounaries is a popular tourist destination during summer with numerous hotels, hostels, camping sites, tavernas, restaurants, bars, "ouzeri", and cafes.

On summer evenings jugglers and circus performers delight passers-by on their way to the popular ouzeri near the Exhibition Hall, in the middle of the park.

Janson began to tell his companion a tale of wandering into an ouzeri while waiting for the Minoan Lines ferry at the Zea Marina.

One of the nicest ouzeri is Cafe Dioscourou, near Anafiotika at the end of Dioscourou Street.

Plaka offers the visitor a chance to relish a favorite Athenian pastime: sitting in cafes or ouzeri, which serve ouzo by the glass and appetizers called mezedes.

Where to eat: Metaxi Mas Also tucked away in the old town is this good-value little ouzeri that serves plates of salad, local cheese, and fried small fish.

And the psito oktapodi (grilled octopus) - a mainstay in ouzeri-- was thinly sliced, in a small pool of olive oil and sprinkled with fresh oregano.

Ouzeri Lakis Near the Victoria metro stop close to central Athens, Ouzeri Lakis is tucked into an courtyard ringed by apartment buildings.

To enjoy this drink, Greeks frequent ouzeri, which can range from simple establishments with a small selection of mezedes to restaurants or tavernas with full menus, usually the latter in large cities like Athens.

Greek restaurants include Moyses in Wellington; The Santorini Greek Ouzeri and Costas Taverna Greek Restaurant and Ouzo Bar in Christchurch and Zorba Greek Restaurant in Auckland.

After a morning of shopping in the international boutiques of the hilly Kolonaki district, we stopped at Kafenion, an impeccable ouzeri where varieties of that milky, iced, licorice-flavored aperitif can be sampled (the differences being lost on me), along with delicate versions of mezedes and small main courses.