Greek Menu Words Decoded: Souvlaki, Spanakopita, and More

Greek menus are a friendly read once you know thirty words. Most tavernas serve the same family of dishes, prepared brilliantly when you find a good one. Here's the cheat sheet for ordering at any taverna in Greece (or your local Greek diner) without the menu freezing you up.

How a Greek Menu Is Organized

Greek menus follow a familiar pattern, especially at tavernas. Recognize these section headers and the rest is just food words.

• Mezedes / Orektika — small shareable plates / starters
• Salates — salads (Greek salad lives here)
• Apo to harti — "from the grill" (skewers and grilled meats)
• Apo to fourno — "from the oven" (baked dishes like moussaka, pastitsio)
• Thalassina — seafood
• Kreatika — meats
• Glyka — sweets / desserts

If a menu doesn't translate, snap it with MenuPics and it'll generate a picture of every dish so you can scroll through visually.

The Mezze Lineup You Need to Know

Mezze is half the meal in Greece. Order four or five for the table with bread and a bottle of white wine and you've basically had dinner.

• Tzatziki — yogurt, cucumber, garlic, olive oil, dill
• Taramasalata — pink cured fish roe spread, smoky and bright
• Melitzanosalata — smoky eggplant dip
• Tirokafteri — spicy whipped feta and pepper dip
• Fava — yellow split pea purée with olive oil and onion (Santorini specialty)
• Dolmades / Dolmadakia — stuffed grape leaves (rice, herbs, sometimes meat)
• Saganaki — pan-seared cheese (sometimes flambéed tableside)
• Spanakopita — spinach and feta in flaky phyllo
• Tiropita — cheese in phyllo (the cousin of spanakopita)
• Keftedes — small Greek meatballs, often with mint
• Kolokithokeftedes — fried zucchini fritters with feta
• Octopus / Htapodi — grilled with olive oil and oregano, a classic

The Big Mains

Moussaka

Layered eggplant (sometimes potato), spiced ground meat, and creamy béchamel, baked. Heartier than it sounds. Greek comfort food at its peak.

Pastitsio

Greek "lasagna." Long tubular pasta, spiced ground beef, béchamel, baked. If moussaka isn't your thing, this often is.

Souvlaki

Small chunks of meat (pork, chicken, sometimes lamb) on a skewer, grilled. Served on a plate with pita, fries, salad, and tzatziki, or wrapped in a pita as street food.

Gyros

Meat shaved off a vertical rotating spit (similar to shawarma or al pastor in technique), wrapped in pita with tomato, onion, tzatziki, and fries. The most famous Greek street food.

Souvlaki vs. Gyros

Both come in a pita. Souvlaki is skewered chunks. Gyros is shaved spit-roasted meat. They're not the same dish even though they share toppings.

Kleftiko

Slow-roasted lamb (traditionally in a sealed clay pot), often with potatoes, lemon, and oregano. Falls apart on the fork.

Stifado

Slow-cooked beef or rabbit stew with cinnamon, tomato, vinegar, and lots of pearl onions. Cold-weather food at its best.

Yemista

Tomatoes, peppers, or zucchini stuffed with rice and herbs, baked. A vegetarian staple.

Salads

One Greek salad fact that surprises people: real horiatiki (village salad) doesn't have lettuce. It's tomato, cucumber, red onion, green pepper, olives, capers, and a brick of feta on top, dressed with olive oil and oregano. That's it. The lettuce-and-vinaigrette version is American.

• Horiatiki — village salad (no lettuce, just vegetables and feta)
• Maroulosalata — chopped lettuce with dill and scallion
• Politiki — cabbage, carrot, peppers, vinegar dressing

Seafood Dishes

If you're on the islands, follow the seafood. Most tavernas list the day's fish by weight (per kilo), and the server may bring it out raw to show you before grilling.

• Htapodi — octopus, grilled or in vinegar
• Kalamarakia — fried small squid
• Garides saganaki — shrimp baked with tomato and feta
• Barbouni — red mullet, usually fried whole
• Lavraki — sea bass, usually grilled whole

Desserts and Drinks

• Baklava — phyllo layered with nuts and honey syrup
• Galaktoboureko — semolina custard in phyllo, soaked in syrup
• Loukoumades — small fried dough balls with honey, cinnamon, walnuts
• Yogurt with honey and walnuts — simple and perfect after a heavy meal
• Ouzo — anise-flavored aperitif, served with cold water on the side
• Tsipouro / Raki — stronger pomace brandy, often poured for free at meal's end
• Retsina — pine-resin-flavored white wine, an acquired taste, but try it once
• Greek coffee — small, strong, unfiltered, sweet (glyko), medium (metrio), or unsweetened (sketo)

Taverna Etiquette in 60 Seconds

• Mezze come out as they're ready, not in courses. Just keep eating.
• Bread and water often appear automatically and are usually charged a small fee.
• The complimentary tsipouro or fruit at the end is a good sign. Accept it.
• You typically don't tip 20%. Rounding up or 5–10% is normal in Greece.
• If a server brings out the day's fish to show you, they expect you to choose one.

The Bottom Line

Greek menus are short, repeatable, and built around mezze and the grill. Order three or four mezze for the table, one main, one salad, a bottle of cheap-and-good local wine, and you'll eat well anywhere from Athens to a tiny island in the Cyclades. And whatever you do, order grilled octopus at least once.

Frequently Asked Questions

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