Greek Dishes by Region: Traditional Greek Food and Where to Eat It

Greek food is regional. The souvlaki and moussaka you know from home are only the start of Greek cuisine. Every region of Greece cooks differently: pies in the mountains of Epirus, Venetian-style stews on Corfu, chickpeas and sesame on Rhodes, wild greens and raki on Crete, and Ottoman and Jewish dishes in Thessaloniki. What they share is olive oil, fresh vegetables, bread, feta cheese, herbs and a habit of sharing plates. This guide is for travellers, not cooks: it is not a set of traditional Greek recipes to make at home, though every Greek family will tell you theirs is the best. First comes the menu, every famous Greek dish with the place it belongs to. Then we go region by region, from Athens and Thessaloniki to Crete, Santorini, Naxos, Rhodes, Corfu and the Peloponnese, with what to order there, when it is in season, and where to stay so dinner is a short walk home. If you are still planning the route, our Greece itinerary connects most of these places.

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Short answer

• Eat each dish where it comes from: bougatsa in Thessaloniki, dakos in Crete, fava in Santorini, pastitsada in Corfu.
• Order several plates for the table and share; Greeks rarely order a starter and a main each.
• Follow the season: greens and Easter lamb in spring, tomatoes and fish in summer, stews and pies in winter.

Where to eat it

Where to eat each Greek dish, region by region

Region 1 of 9

Athens: souvlaki, gyros, meze and the classic Greek taverna

Athens is the best place to learn the whole Greek menu, because cooks from every region of Greece have moved to the capital. Start with Greek street food. A souvlaki wrapped in pita bread, or gyros shaved off the vertical spit with tomato, onion and tzatziki, is the cheap lunch of the city, and the best places are busy grill shops around Monastiraki and in the neighbourhoods. In the evening, go to a taverna or a mezedopoleio (meze house) and order small plates to share: tzatziki, fried courgette, grilled loukaniko sausage, saganaki and a Greek salad. Old-style magirefta restaurants cook moussaka, pastitsio, stifado and gemista in the morning and keep them warm in trays; you point at what you want. Walk through the Varvakios central market on Athinas Street to see the fish, meat, olives and spices of Greece in one place. Sweet tooth? Loukoumades with honey are a late-night Athens treat. First visit? Read how many days in Athens before you plan the meals.

Order hereSouvlakiGyrosMoussakaSaganakiLoukoumades

Region 2 of 9

Thessaloniki: bougatsa, koulouri and Greek street food

Many Greeks will tell you that Thessaloniki, the second city, has the best food in Greece. Its cooking mixes Macedonian, Ottoman, Jewish and Asia Minor traditions, and the city eats out all day. Breakfast is bougatsa, filo pie filled with warm custard and covered with icing sugar and cinnamon, or with cheese or minced meat, and a sesame koulouri from a street cart. At lunch, go to the Kapani and Modiano markets, and around them small restaurants serve soutzoukakia, meatballs with cumin in tomato sauce, a recipe brought by refugees from Smyrna in 1922. In the evening the Ladadika district fills with ouzeri and tsipouradiko bars, where every round of tsipouro comes with a plate of meze: mussels, grilled peppers, htipiti, the spicy feta dip. Finish with trigona Panoramatos, filo cones filled with cream. The food is also cheaper than on the islands.

Order hereBougatsaKoulouriSoutzoukakiaHtipitiTrigona

Region 3 of 9

Ioannina and Epirus: Greek pies, mountain cheese and lake trout

The mountains of Epirus, in the north-west, are the home of the Greek pie. Here pites are a whole meal, and almost anything goes between hand-rolled sheets of filo pastry: wild greens in hortopita, spinach and feta in spanakopita, cheese in tiropita, leek, pumpkin, or meat. The town of Ioannina, on a lake, has bakeries that make round pies in huge trays; buy a slice warm in the morning. In the villages of Zagori and in Metsovo, the cooking is shepherds’ food: lamb and goat, kontosouvli roasted on a spit, trout from the rivers, and strong mountain cheese such as metsovone. Ioannina is also known for its sweets, including baklava and syrup-soaked pastries. Few international visitors come this far, so the food is aimed at Greek travellers, and that is a good sign. Combine it with Meteora, two hours to the east.

Order hereHortopitaSpanakopitaKontosouvliBaklava

Region 4 of 9

Crete: dakos, kalitsounia, Cretan cheese and raki

Crete has its own Greek cuisine, and for many food lovers it is the best reason to visit Greece. The Cretan diet, the model for the Mediterranean diet, is built on olive oil, wild greens, pulses, cheese, a little meat and lots of herbs. Start a meal with dakos: a hard barley rusk topped with grated tomato, crumbled mizithra cheese, olive oil and oregano. Then order kalitsounia (small cheese or greens pies), boiled wild greens called horta, snails fried with rosemary, and lamb with stamnagathi greens. Gamopilafo, the wedding pilaf, is rice cooked in meat stock, and staka, a rich butter cream, is eaten with fried eggs or bread. The hard cheese graviera from Crete is excellent. Meals end with a small glass of raki (tsikoudia), often brought free with fruit. Chania in the west is the best base for food; our Crete itinerary covers the whole island.

Order hereDakosKalitsouniaGamopilafoRaki

Region 5 of 9

Santorini and the Cyclades: fava, tomato fritters and assyrtiko wine

Santorini’s volcanic soil and lack of rain produce small, intense crops, and the island’s dishes are built on them. Fava here is a smooth purée of yellow split peas, not broad beans, topped with olive oil, raw onion and capers. Tomatokeftedes are fritters of the island’s tiny, sweet cherry tomatoes with mint. White aubergines, sweet and not bitter, are grilled or made into a salad, and the soft goat’s cheese chlorotyri appears on salads. Santorini is also a wine island: the vines are trained into low baskets to protect the grapes from the wind, and assyrtiko is the crisp white wine to drink with grilled fish and seafood. Vinsanto is the sweet wine. Caldera restaurants charge for the view, so eat in villages such as Pyrgos or by the sea at Ammoudi. Plan the island with how many days in Santorini, and see things to do in Santorini for what to do between meals.

Order hereFavaTomatokeftedesGrilled octopusAssyrtiko

Region 6 of 9

Naxos and Mykonos: Cycladic cheese, potatoes and kitron

Naxos is the farm of the Cyclades. It is green and big enough for cows, sheep and potatoes, and it feeds the smaller islands around it. Its cheeses are the stars: graviera of Naxos, a nutty hard cheese, and arseniko, a sharp aged one. Naxos potatoes are famous across Greece, and they come as chips with almost everything. In the mountain villages such as Halki and Apiranthos, tavernas cook rooster in wine, goat and slow-roasted pork. The local spirit is kitron, made from the leaves of the citron tree, and the old distillery in Halki is open to visitors. On Mykonos, ask for kopanisti, a peppery soft cheese, and louza, cured pork with spices. Island grills serve souvlaki, lamb chops and grilled octopus by the sea. See where to stay in Naxos or where to stay in Mykonos.

Order hereSaganakiPaidakiaGrilled octopusSouvlaki

Region 7 of 9

Rhodes and the Dodecanese: pitaroudia, honey and sesame sweets

Rhodes, close to the coast of Turkey, cooks with chickpeas, sesame, cumin and honey. The island’s best-known dish is pitaroudia, fritters of chickpeas or tomato with mint and onion. Matsi is a local fresh pasta, often served with onions and grated cheese. Fish tavernas in fishing villages such as Kamiros Skala and Lindos grill whatever came in that morning; ask what is fresh and pay by the kilo. Inside the medieval old town, the restaurants are mostly for visitors, so walk to the new town or out to the villages for better food. Melekouni, a bar of sesame seeds and thyme honey with spices, is a protected Rhodes sweet once given at weddings. Souma, a clear grape spirit, is the local drink. Nearby Symi is known for its small sweet shrimps, eaten fried whole. Our where to stay in Rhodes guide covers the island’s towns.

Order herePitaroudiaGrilled octopusMelekouni

Region 8 of 9

Corfu and the Ionian islands: pastitsada, sofrito and Venetian flavours

Corfu was ruled by Venice for four centuries and never by the Ottomans, so its cooking tastes different from the rest of Greece. The famous Corfu dishes have Italian names. Pastitsada is rooster or beef cooked slowly in a spiced tomato sauce and served over thick pasta, a Sunday lunch dish. Sofrito is thin veal cooked in white wine, garlic, vinegar and parsley. Bourdeto is fish, often scorpion fish, stewed with plenty of red pepper; it is hot. The island also grows kumquats, brought by the British, and they turn up as liqueur, sweets and jam. Corfu’s old town, a UNESCO site, is the best place to eat, with tavernas in the narrow lanes. The other Ionian islands, Kefalonia and Zakynthos, add their own meat pies and wines.

Order herePastitsadaSofritoBourdeto

Region 9 of 9

The Peloponnese: Kalamata olives, smoked pork and Nemea wine

The Peloponnese grows much of the olive oil of Greece, and its most famous product is the Kalamata olive, dark purple and almond-shaped, from the groves around Kalamata in Messinia. In the Mani, the wild southern peninsula, cooks smoke pork with sage to make siglino and fry it into kagianas, scrambled eggs with tomato. Lalangia are twisted strips of fried dough. Inland, Nemea makes red wine from the agiorgitiko grape, and Monemvasia gives its name to the old sweet wine called malmsey. Nafplio, the first capital of modern Greece, is the easiest base: an elegant old town with tavernas, two hours from Athens, close to Mycenae, Epidaurus and the Nemea wineries. Along the coast, fish tavernas serve grilled sardines, fried calamari and octopus. Add it to a Greece itinerary as a road trip from Athens.

Order hereKagianasGreek saladLoukaniko

How a Greek meal works: from appetizer to main course

A full Greek meal is made for sharing. Nobody orders an appetizer and a main course just for themselves; the table orders several plates and everyone eats from the middle. Bread arrives first, often with a small cover charge, and a jug of tap water is usually served free. Food is central to Greek culture, and a long lunch with family or friends on a Sunday or a holiday can last all afternoon.

Mezedes

The appetizer course, small plates to share: dips, cheese, fried vegetables, grilled sausage, olives.

Salata

Salad, ordered for the table. Horiatiki is the Greek village salad.

Magirefta

Cooked dishes made earlier in the day in the oven or on the stove: moussaka, stews, stuffed vegetables.

Tis oras

“Of the hour”: grilled to order, such as lamb chops, souvlaki or fish.

Ladera

Vegetables cooked slowly in olive oil and tomato, such as green beans or okra. A main for some, a side dish for others.

Glyko

Dessert, often brought free with fruit or a small glass of raki.

More traditional Greek dishes to try in Greece

These classic Greek dishes appear on menus all over the country, and they are the popular choices at most Greek tavernas, so you can order them almost anywhere. Authentic Greek food is simple, and the tastiest versions are usually the plainest.

Greek salad: what a real horiatiki looks like

A real Greek salad has no lettuce. It is tomato, cucumber, onion, green pepper and olives, with a whole slab of feta cheese on top, dried oregano and olive oil. Mop up the juices with bread. On Crete it often comes with a rusk; on the islands, with capers.

Spanakopita and other flaky filo pies

Savoury pies are traditionally made with phyllo (filo) pastry rolled by hand, and a good bakery pie is crispy and flaky on top and soft inside. Spanakopita, the spinach and feta pie, is the best known; tiropita is the cheese version. Buy them at a bakery in the morning, not at a taverna at night.

Saganaki: pan-fried Greek fried cheese

Saganaki is named after the small two-handled pan it is cooked in. A slice of hard cheese is pan-fried until golden and served with lemon. The flaming version, lit at the table with a shout of “opa”, was invented by Greek restaurants in Chicago, not in Greece.

Moussaka

The best-known Greek dish abroad: aubergine, potato and minced meat in tomato sauce, topped with a creamy béchamel sauce and baked. The moussaka recipe most tavernas follow today, with its thick creamy béchamel top, was written down by the chef Nikolaos Tselementes in the 1920s. Order it where it is made that morning; it is usually served warm rather than piping hot.

Pastitsio

Often called Greek lasagne: tubes of pasta, minced meat (ground meat) cooked with tomato and cinnamon, and béchamel, baked in the oven and cut into squares.

Avgolemono and the egg-lemon sauce

Egg and lemon juice are beaten together and stirred into hot chicken stock with rice to make avgolemono soup. The same lemon sauce goes over dolmades, meatballs and lamb with greens.

Lamb kleftiko and roast lamb

Lamb is the meat of celebration in Greece. Kleftiko is roasted slowly in a sealed pot or paper with garlic and lemon; at Easter, whole lambs turn on spits over charcoal in every village.

Gemista and Greek stuffed onions

Tomatoes and peppers filled with rice and fresh herbs, baked with potatoes in olive oil. Order them in summer, when the vegetables are ripe. In the north and on Lesvos, look for sogania, Greek stuffed onions filled with minced meat and rice.

Greek comfort food: stew, meatball and orzo dishes

Every Greek family has its own comfort food, cooked on a Sunday or when someone is ill. These are the hearty dishes Greeks miss when they live abroad.

Stifado, the Greek beef stew

A beef stew with lots of small whole onions, red wine, tomato, cinnamon and bay. On the islands it is often made with rabbit or octopus.

Keftedes and soutzoukakia: Greek meatballs

Greek meatballs are made with minced meat, grated onion, soaked bread, mint and oregano, then fried. Keftedes are eaten as meze with a dipping sauce such as tzatziki; soutzoukakia are longer, scented with cumin and cooked in tomato sauce. Bifteki, a flat Greek-style burger often stuffed with feta, is the grilled version.

Giouvetsi with orzo

Lamb or beef baked in a clay pot with orzo (kritharaki) pasta and tomato sauce, finished with grated cheese.

Fakes, Greek lentil soup, and fasolada

Fakes is a soup made with brown lentils, garlic, bay and a splash of vinegar. Fasolada, the white bean soup with tomato, carrot and celery, is often called the national dish of Greece. Both are cheap, filling and eaten with bread, olives and a piece of feta.

Greek street food and quick bites: gyros vs souvlaki

Both are Greek fast food, and both come in pita bread with tomato, onion, tzatziki and a few chips (French fries). Souvlaki is small cubes of pork or chicken grilled on a skewer; cooks marinate the meat in olive oil, lemon and oregano, and the marinade keeps it juicy. Gyros is meat stacked on a vertical rotisserie and sliced thin as it cooks, a cousin of the Turkish doner kebab. Pork is the most common meat for both in Greece. In Athens a “souvlaki” can mean the whole wrap, whatever the meat inside, so point at the spit if you want gyros. Other quick bites: a koulouri, a slice of cheese pie, fried squid (kalamarakia) in a paper cone by the sea, or loukoumades.

Greek desserts and sweet treats

Greek pastry shops (zacharoplasteia) sell sweet treats soaked in sweet syrup or honey, and they are an important part of Greek culture at name days and holidays.

Baklava and galaktoboureko

The two most popular Greek desserts. Baklava layers filo with walnut or pistachio and sweet honey syrup; galaktoboureko is a custard pie, semolina custard baked in filo and soaked in syrup.

Greek yoghurt with honey

Thick, creamy Greek yoghurt (sold as Greek yogurt abroad, and called strained yogurt by food writers) is made from cow’s or sheep’s milk. Eaten with thyme honey and walnuts, it is a delicious Greek dessert and a hotel breakfast.

Loukoumades and cake

Loukoumades are small fried dough balls with honey and cinnamon, among the oldest sweets in Greece; a similar fried treat was given to winners in Ancient Greece, the story goes. Portokalopita is an orange cake made with filo, and vasilopita is the cake made for New Year, with a coin hidden inside.

Greek drinks: ouzo, wine and Greek coffee

Ouzo is an anise liquor that turns cloudy with water and ice; drink it slowly with meze, never on its own. Tsipouro and Cretan raki are clear grape spirits. Greek wine is better than its reputation: assyrtiko from Santorini, agiorgitiko from Nemea and xinomavro from Naoussa are the names to know, and house wine comes by the kilo. Greek coffee is boiled in a small pot and served with the grounds; order it metrio for medium sweet. In summer, everyone drinks iced coffee: frappé or freddo espresso.

When to eat what: Greek food by season

Greek cooking follows the market and the church calendar. Plan the trip around a season and order what is in season. Our Greece itinerary covers the route around the Greek Islands and the mainland.

• Spring (March to May): wild greens, artichokes, broad beans and Easter. Easter Sunday means lamb on the spit, red-dyed eggs and the sweet bread tsoureki, after magiritsa soup at midnight.
• Summer (June to August): tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes and watermelon, gemista, grilled fish and octopus by the sea.
• Autumn (September to November): the grape harvest, new olive oil, chestnuts, and pomegranates.
• Winter (December to February): stews, bean soups, pies, oranges, and melomakarona and kourabiedes at Christmas.

During Lent and other fasting periods, tavernas offer nistisima, dishes without meat or dairy, which makes Greece easy for vegetarian and vegan travellers.

Ordering words

To logariasmo, parakalo

The bill, please.

Efharisto

Thank you.

Kalí órexi

Enjoy your meal.

Nero

Water. Tap water is often served free in a jug.

Hima krasi

House wine from the barrel, by the quarter, half or full kilo.

Yia mas

Cheers.

Horis kreas

Without meat.

Ti einai frésko?

What is fresh? Ask this about fish.

When Greeks eat

Greeks eat lunch late and dinner later. Tavernas on the islands serve all day in summer, but in cities many locals sit down for dinner after 9 pm.

Famous Greek food: FAQ