The Shop Agora

This place always makes me wish I had a bigger stomach. I’ve tried so much here and always been impressed: dolmas, tiropita, spanakopita, avgolomeno soup, the dip variety, the falafel… And I always pick up something to go as well, whether a few chocolates or some zaatar. Of course, all this wonderful food is only made more delicious by the great service of the owner and the perfect pace of the place. You can feel comfortable grabbing a quick solo bite at the bar or whiling away hours chatting with a friend in one of the small booths. Enjoy!

I’ve come to The Shop Agora several times for their wine (excellent rose selection) and specialty foods and finally had a chance to go for dinner this week. The food is incredible! Every thing we ordered was well executed and delicious. I’d highly recommend the gazpacho spanakopita. In my opinion, Agora is by far the best greek food on Capitol Hill. There is limited seating, so I may recommend take out, but every time I stop by there are open tables. They also have a bar to try wines and order food.
The owner Nico makes every experience at Agora feel so personable. He’s always so inviting and kind.

What an awesome little store, and an equally impressive restaurant. A true hidden gem. I cant think of a singe thing they could do better. Excellent service, amazing food, and an endearing ambiance. Fantastic wine selection, too.

Home cooked style food with a warm atmosphere and friendly service. Greek god done right with strong flavors, well prepped and not too much oregano or garlic. The soup is a hidden gem, the gyros are top notch and the tzatziki is perfect. An amazing wine section and other delicious foods for the home. Don’t forget to get a rice pudding.

Consistently the best Gigantes and lamb sliders. Very good rotating wines at the bar.

Stopped in after a brunch at Smiths. There was an inviting sign on the sidewalk that offered a free wine tasting.
Upon entering, we were immediately greeted with a welcome and an invite to taste wine. So we did! They had 6 wines that we tasted as we browsed the shop. Lots of ethnic foods, a cheese case and lots of of great choices of wine that you won’t see at the grocery store. And best of all, they were very reasonably priced! We brought home a $ 12 bottle and can’t wait to try it.
There was also a small seating area in the back of the shop. Although we had just eaten, looking at the menu, it looks like sandwiches and cheese plates for the most part. We decided we definitely need to come back and have a try!

Charming spot /​feels like you’re in Greece! I stopped by Agora with a plan to take a soup to go (based on a recommendation from a regular). I ended up dining in, and had a delicious lentil soup and Greek salad (wow, the feta is incredible), and chatting with Nikos and some other patrons. I’m excited to bring my boyfriend and family members back here! The dining area is small, but perfect, and they have beautiful wines and pastas and European specialty foods in the market part of the shop. If I lived in the neighborhood, I would probably be a regular. A wonderful gem!

Great little shop to have in the neighborhood. We stop in for lunch and late dinners and an occasional glass of wine. My husband often stops in with friends for lunch. The proportions are almost tapa sized. Soups are generally good and the avgolemono soup is excellent. The food ranges from excellent to okay, but never had anything awful. The restaurant area is small with two cozy 4 person booths and bar seating. Very nice take-​out and to go counter.
Wonderful wine shop. Good place to stop for specialty gifts. Neighbors of mine all have favorites, one neighbor likes the truffle salt and another stops in regularly at the take out counter. Other neighbors stop here regularly for wine.
I belong to the wine club, which I highly recommend. If you like Niko’s taste in wine (I do!) then the wine club is a treat.

My son and I each had a dish of avgolemono, and we split the lamb sliders. Everything was good, and the service was perfect. Reasonable prices, and quick service. Quiet.

Love this place for a quiet dinner spot. Good but not great gyros. Nice wine. Great lamb burgers.

The best dolmades I have ever had! I visit the area every year or so and I make sure to pick some up each visit. The baklava was good as well.

I stopped in looking to grab some food because the café was right next to my car. Instead of taking my food to go, I sat at the bar and savored the Avgolemono. Then I had rice pudding. Super delicious. The café was a wonderful respite on a busy day. It has great food and a great feel. Made my day!

So so disappointed in the Shop Agora.
Recently — I picked up some soup, 10 pack of pita, za’tar, sumac and cookies — and the spices turned out to have gone bad, and pita had fungus. Boxed cookies were incredibly stale.
The owner is friendly and on occasion I get a fancy bottle or olive oil or vinegar as a gift, but stay away form most other things.

Dude, Liz from 2012, the Baklava was the best I’ve ever head.

This is the best place in Seattle to find good Greek olive oil. The dolmades and tzitzki are fantastic, and it has a great selection of wines. It’s too bad there isn’t an outdoor space because then you could spend all day here.

In a neighborhood full of charming shops and restaurants, The Shop Agora stands out as one of the most genuine local joints. The delicious food and well selected wine are upstaged only by the friendly owner and staff.
The Shop Agora is a great choice for dinner when you crave a mild atmosphere, a chat with a stranger, or a break from the trendy, loud, crowded bar/​restaurant you usually hit up.
Recommend you order the spread sampler and ask Niko what wine to drink.

Had a nice time exploring this shop the other day — I had always thought that it was just a store and was happy to learn that they serve food too! My girl and I tried several dishes — bacon and blue cheese wrapped figs, dip sampler, spanikopita with tzatziki. All of it was tasty and none of it broke the bank. This would be a cute place to get some christmas/​hosting gifts and I’d probably come back for a little bite.

The Shop Agora is the perfect place to buy your wine, olive oil, and ingredients for delicious cooking. I often stop in for a glass of wine at the wine bar or to taste different wines on Saturday or Sunday when the shop hosts wine tastings. Nikos, the owner, is knowledgeable and super friendly. He has helped me pick out yummy wines for gifts and entertaining.

Awesome atmosphere for noshing on greek food late at night. Very personalized attention by Niko. I learn a lot about food and wine when I eat there.

Great wines, wonderful food, outstanding service and awesome company. Since moving to the Capitol Hill area, I have frequented this place and met some of the nicest people, starting with the owners. Their menu, small but with very tasty options. The lentil soup is awesome! As for wines they have a great selection, and you simply have to attend their wine tastings on the weekend afternoons to find your next favorite wine.

I had a Groupon so decided to pop into this place and see what I could find. I love Mediterranean/​Italian anything, so it seemed I should have no difficulty spending my Groupon and more. The terms of the Groupon itself, however, were pretty limiting and that made it harder to shop than I would normally expect. I did, however, succeed in buying some delicious balsamic vinegar, some pretty tasty truffle butter, and a not-​so-​impressive piece of baklava (on the plus side, it was really big).
The shop is cute and well-​arranged, and it’s a fun place to poke around and see what’s available. I’m not much of a wine drinker but their selection seemed decent. There’s a little bar/​eating area in the back which I’d like to try sometime. The gal who rang me up was nice and handled the Groupon without any issues. Prices are high enough that I wouldn’t make this place a regular stop, but it’s definitely worth checking out, especially with the holidays approaching!

My new favorite spot for wine and deliciously wonderful Greek food. They have burrata!!! (really, enough said right there) Incredible falafel, giant beans, and cookies. I can’t say enough about their phyllo dough, which they make in-​house and is both egg-​free and exceptionally flaky. So if they have spanakopita, got the spanikopita. Nikko, the owner, is extraordinary and has a story for every wine they have. And the wine! Excellent selection.
The setting’s a bit odd (it’s a storefront with a bar and some booths), but the food and wine can’t be beat.

The shop is adorable, owners amazing, and snacks/​bar are unpretentious but delicious.

I’m sorry, Agora, you have failed to impress me.
I came here on a hungry Thursday night thinking I’d get a quick (15 min), cheap, good bite. I must’ve been misinformed. Their dining space is essentially around the bar and two tables, which I have no qualms with. I ordered the duck sandwich, and waited. 15 min later the waitress tells me they’re low on arugula and asked if it’s okay to substitute with other greens, and I said it’s fine. Another 5 minutes later the sandwich came and it consisted of a generous portion of salad and the duck sandwich itself. I have not much to say about the sandwich other than it wasn’t the best or the worst sandwich I’ve ever eaten. The salad however, was mysteriously salty. So salty that every time I chewed down some veggies, my mouth went numb for a sec. They did give me another salad after I told them about it, but this time the salad was… very vinegary. And finally, the rice pudding I ordered for dessert (cuz I was still hungry) was bland. Sorry, but I make better rice pudding myself :(All in all, I don’t think this place fits my needs. It may for others, just not this girl here.

A wine shop with a dessert menu and cookies?! Oh, this place totally speaks my language.
I decided to host a casual little get together for a Sunday afternoon/​evening and had a glass of white and shared a bottle of red with Timothy & some other peeps. Overall I love the eclectic, homey atmosphere which fits right in on 15^th avenue, but as with any new place, there are a few things to iron out:
— the corkage fee is a bit high, and while I suspect it’s due to the inflated rent in the neighborhood, paying as much for corkage as you did for the actual bottle of wine seems a bit steep.
— the cookies are $ 1 /​ea. and for what you get it seems slightly overpriced. I enjoyed the almond cookie with powdered sugar, but the sesame one was pretty dry and tasteless. I’m not sure if they’re homemade or just unpackaged and displayed in an attractive way (which apparently worked on me, ey!), but they’re 3 – 4 bites at most and I think something around 75 cents feels a bit more fair.
— I love the selection of flavoured salts and olive oils, and appreciated the open tasting display on the shop tables.
I’ll likely swing by to pick up a veggie sandwich or some olive tapenade next time from the cold case so I can give a review on the eats!

I have been a frequent customer of Agora’s Phinney Ridge location, and I was so excited about the opening of the 15^th Ave shop. I was thrilled to be there for opening on Friday night. We were immediately met at the door with the smell of the delicious French Onion soup, an array of sample hummus, truffle popcorn and pita, and above all, a roomy, beautiful and cozy bar where we could take a load off and enjoy ourselves. Hannah and I each tried a couple of the red wines offered by the glass, and we each went home with a bottle of the St. George.
I love the larger array of specialty cheeses and deli items at this store. I am also excited to have more freshly made food options. Even though I live across the street from the Phinney store, I have already started making dates with friends to meet up at the 15^th Avenue location.
Above all, what makes Agora special is the personal touch that Nikos and Alexis bring to the shop. They are knowledgeable owners who are passionate for the products they offer and the neighborhoods they serve. Do yourself a favor, and stop into my new favorite «spot» on the hill!

After my first visit, I’m almost embarrassed to say I’ve been in back 4 or 5 times in a week. I’m a bad planner, the shelves here are full of delicious treats, and I only live 2 blocks away, so … SHOPPIN’!
The selection of pastas, pestos, cheeses, spices, etc. to take home and cook with are one thing, the selection of delicious bites at the bar are something else. I can’t speak for the wines, but I’ll get to them eventually!
And then there’s the cherry on top. The staff. They are warm, not pestery or fake, and the other night when I popped in to shop for dinner, Nikos (sp?) knocked my socks off.
I noticed the café had pancetta-​wrapped dates on the menu. Since they have a little deli case, I asked if they had pancetta for sale, as I was planning to pick some up at the QFC next door, but would much rather have bought it there. Nikos said, «We don’t have any packaged for sale yet, but do you want me to see if the chef is willing to spare you a little? How much do you need?»
10 minutes later I was out the door with a little chunk of gold that turned my dinner into a little dream come true.
A cute little shop with delicious, quality Mediterranean imports (including wines) a little snacky/​wine bar, and shop owner that says «What do you need? If I can, I will get it for you.»
SCORE!