Stalactites and its historic location on the corner of Lonsdale and Russell has seen quite a bit in its 40-year-plus tenure. A right of passage for any Melburnian, the Greek tavern with simple origins has grown into one of the city's most beloved restaurants and dining institutions.
Speaking with Nicole Papasavas, a third-generation owner and operator whose parents, uncle and grandparents opened Stalactites in 1978. Nicole practically grew up in the restaurant, from cleaning tables, folding napkins and colouring in placements on school holidays to fielding text messages from the staff at 4am, Nicole has seen it all.
The Stalactites' moniker comes from its ornate ceiling, a homage from Nicole's Grandfather Konstantino to his childhood village outside of the caves of Diros in Greece.
When Nicole's family first opened Stalactites, Melbourne was a vastly different city. The venue was primarily a communal space, a place for Greek migrants to reconnect with the culture.
"Back in the 70s and early 80s it was very much a meeting place where they could come together and share their stories and have that connection with home."
Much has changed since those early days, most notably in the sheer size of the restaurant.
"It operated just like a little Greek tavern, it was quite small at the time. It only took up one of the shops on the corner, and over the years it's just kept growing and growing. Now it takes up the whole corner building," says Nicole.
The communal aspect of Stalactites has remained constant, and now, with the multiculturalism of Melbourne, walking into Stalactites is like a snapshot of the city with diners of all backgrounds enjoying Greek cuisine.
The food is the heart and soul of Stalactites and it's what's kept steady queue of diners out the door every evening.
The famed 'taverna-style' dishes remain relatively consistent over the years. "The menu hasn't changed that much in the 45 years that we've been there," Nicole explains.
From house-made Tarama dip served up with warmed pita, and perfectly golden saganaki, to Fasolada, a traditional Greek bean soup—it's comfort no matter your origin. The Souvlaki and Gyros are undoubtedly the stars of the show, and their popularity results in over 4000kg of meat per week, "that doesn't even count the cutlets and skewers and other dishes," Nicole laughs.
The salty and smokey flavours given to every piece of chicken or lamb that's kissed across flames instantly elevate it to another level, packed between the warm pita, with lettuce, tomato, onion, and lashed with the house Tzatziki and it's just about impossible to beat. 
One of the biggest changes to Stalactites however has been its introduction of gluten-free options with it being the first Greek restaurant in Australia to receive a Coeliac-accreditation.
There's also been a strong focus on vegan and vegetarian options, this plant-based dining aspect however is not so much of a new invention and more a retrospective move, Nicole explains that this is almost a throwback, with both her Grandparents being vegetarian, it was much more common in that time because of the cost of meat, "lamb was just so expensive for Greeks, you don't go to Greece and get a lamb souvlaki."
You'll find dishes across the menu from the Horta which is a warm chicory salad with lemon and olive oil, fritters served up with hummus and hand-rolled Dolmadaki.
Stalactites remains one of Melbourne's top late-night venues, although dropping its 24-hour offering, it's still open to a respectable 2am across the weekend, appeasing the late-night Souvlaki crowd.
"Late night was quite difficult to manage...now we don't have to worry about our staff burning out and I don't have to wake up to 100+ messages because someone has smashed a window or something", says Nicole. 
The consistency of Stalactites is what has sustained it through the decades, growing with the city and introducing new diners every day to the brilliance of Greek cuisine.
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Image credit: Stalactites (supplied)