A proper cafe near Teesside University

If you are after a cafe near Teesside University that feels like the real thing, The Greek Spot is a short walk from campus in the centre of Middlesbrough. You will find it on Dundas Street, a few minutes from Centre Square and the Cleveland Centre, which makes it an easy stop between lectures or on a break from work in town.

This is a small family run Greek bakery and cafe. Everything is baked fresh every morning, the phyllo is stretched by hand, and the coffee is shaken Greek style. It is the sort of independent spot you end up going back to, not a chain you pick because it happens to be there.

Coffee near Teesside University, the Greek way

Start with the coffee, because that is what most people come in for first. The freddo espresso is shaken until frothy and poured over ice, the freddo cappuccino adds a layer of cold milk foam on top, and the Greek frappe is the foam topped classic that Greece runs on all summer. If you would rather something familiar, the flat whites, lattes and cappuccinos are made properly too, and there is a hot chocolate for when it turns cold outside. It is a good shout for coffee near Centre Square when you want something with a bit more character than the usual takeaway cup, and it costs about what you would pay anywhere else in town.

• Freddo espresso, iced and shaken, £4.20
• Freddo cappuccino with cold milk foam, £4.50
• Greek frappe, £4.00
• Flat white, £4.20
• Iced latte, £4.50
• Espresso, £3.00

Fresh pastries for a quick breakfast

If you need breakfast on the way in, the counter is full of it. The bougatsa here is the savoury kind, handmade phyllo filled with feta and mizithra cheese, warm and flaky and easy to eat on the move. The cheese pastry with sesame and honey is another quiet favourite, and the double sausage and cheese brioche will keep you going through a morning of lectures. For something sweet there is baklava layered with walnuts and cinnamon and soaked in syrup, light syrup soaked portokalopita, and kataifi nests that come three to a portion in flavours like praline and pistachio. Plenty of the counter is vegetarian, though the sausage and meat fillings are not, so ask in store if you need to check what is in something.

• Bougatsa, feta and mizithra, £5.00
• Cheese pastry, sesame and honey, £5.30
• Baklava with walnuts, £5.00
• Portokalopita, Greek orange cake, £5.00
• Kataifi nests, praline or pistachio, £5.20

Lunch near Teesside University without the queue

Come lunchtime, the baguettes are the thing to know about. The xoriatiki baguette is basically a Greek salad in bread, with feta, tomatoes, Kalamon olives, olive oil and oregano, and there are ham and avocado and mortadella versions if you want something less sharp. Alongside them you will usually find savoury phyllo pies on the changing counter, like spanakopita with spinach and feta or tiropita with cheese, plus peinirli, a boat shaped baked dough filled with cheese that is the Greek answer to pizza. For students and town centre workers it is a proper independent alternative to grabbing a meal deal, and you are in and out quickly when you are short on time.

• Xoriatiki baguette with feta, tomatoes and Kalamon olives, £6.50
• Ham and avocado baguette, £6.50
• Mortadella classico baguette, £6.50
• Peinirli and savoury phyllo pies from the changing counter

An independent cafe near Teesside University

There is a window bench that looks straight out onto Dundas Street, which is the spot to claim if you want to sit with a coffee and a pastry and watch the town go by. The cafe is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm and closed on Sundays, so it works for an early coffee before campus, a mid morning break or a late lunch once the rush has passed. As an independent cafe in Middlesbrough town centre it has the kind of unhurried feel that is hard to find on a busy high street, and it is close enough to nip back to when you have a gap in the day.

Gyros in the evening for later

The daytime cafe is only half the story. In the evenings The Greek Spot switches to dinner, with gyros, chicken gyros and skepasti chargrilled to order. Evening food is delivery only and runs exclusively through Uber Eats from 5pm to 9pm, Monday to Saturday, so if you find a favourite over a daytime coffee you can order it to your door later that night. It is an easy way to round off a day on campus without cooking, and it keeps the Greek flavours going long after the counter has closed.