Food to try as a tourist

Most Greek visitors are eager to try Greece’s various traditional coffee houses, and there is often a lot of buzz around different types of beer. You will also notice quite a few branded eating and drinking places dotted around Athens, such as McDonalds and Starbucks.

A Large Or Small Gyro: The most common Greek food that tourists try is called Gyro. It is a folded sandwich with meat, onions, potatoes and sauce. Gyros are served in most restaurants and may be eaten for lunch or tea. Be careful when ordering Gyros because there is a folded sandwich version and a meal version that takes up a whole plate.

A Place For Pies

You will find pies on most Greek menus, and many taverns and restaurants will have their own versions of different pies. They tend to vary in price and quality, and may be eaten as main meals or desserts.

Famous Greek Dishes

While in Greece, you may like to try a Greek Salad, which is known as Horiatiki. You may also like to try grilled fish, which is another common Greek dish. The fish can be expensive, so be careful what you order. You may also try fried squid, which most Europeans call calamari. You may see the squid dishes listed on menus as calamari moussaka, as some Greek restaurants use squid as the ground meat base in their moussaka.

There Are Few Vegetarian Restaurants

Vegetarian options are very limited in Greece, but if you do your research beforehand, you will discover that some dishes do not have meat in as a rule. If you do your research before you arrive, you may be able to pick items on the menu that do not contain meat.

You Are Going To Have To Pay For Bread

Bread is brought to your table with almost every meal, and in most places you are going to have to pay for it. Think of it as a seating charge because many restaurant owners/staff will be insulted if you refuse it. In the US and other European countries, bread is often free, but in Greece, you will often be charged for it (even though you didn’t ask for it).

The Greek Eat Later At Night

Some restaurants do not serve lunch until three and dinner until nine, which is going to come as a big culture shock for other Europeans that tend to eat at noon and five. However, some restaurants and quite a few bars will happily serve food up until past midnight, which may be one of the reasons why there is less drunk and disorderly behavior late at night in Athens, which is very different to other western cities.