Short answer: The five Greek dishes not to miss are a proper Greek salad with feta, souvlaki or gyros, moussaka, grilled octopus by the sea and a plate of meze with tzatziki, with loukoumades or baklava for dessert. Eat in neighborhood tavernas, where Greeks eat, rather than on the busiest waterfronts.
Greek food is simple, seasonal and built on olive oil, vegetables, legumes, cheese, bread and fish, with meat for Sundays and celebrations. The Mediterranean diet, which Greece shares with its neighbors, is on UNESCO’s list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, recognized for the way food is grown, cooked and above all shared. The mainland leans toward grilled meats and pies, the islands toward fish, and Crete has a cuisine all its own. Our Greece travel guide covers the regions in full.
The calendar shapes what is on the table. During Lent and other Orthodox fasting periods, many Greeks avoid meat and dairy, so tavernas serve more bean, vegetable and seafood dishes. Easter is the great feast, with lamb roasted on the spit in villages across the country. Summer is the season of tomatoes, eggplants, watermelon and grilled fish, and autumn brings the grape harvest and new olive oil. Wherever you are, the best meals tend to be the simplest: good bread, local cheese, a salad and something from the grill, eaten slowly with friends.
Starters and meze
1. Horiatiki (Greek village salad)
Tomatoes, cucumber, onion, green pepper and olives, topped with a slab of feta, oregano and olive oil, with no lettuce. It is on every taverna table in summer, when tomatoes are at their best. Order one for the table to share and mop up the juices with bread.
2. Tzatziki and other dips
Tzatziki is thick strained yogurt with cucumber, garlic and olive oil. It goes with almost everything, from grilled meat to fried zucchini. Order it with other dips such as melitzanosalata (smoky eggplant) and taramosalata (fish roe) and warm pita as part of a meze spread. It is cool, not spicy, and a good vegetarian choice.
3. Fava (yellow split pea purée)
A smooth, golden purée topped with olive oil, raw onion and capers. The most famous comes from Santorini, where “Fava Santorinis” has an EU protected designation of origin; it is made from a local legume grown in the island’s volcanic soil. It is naturally vegan and usually served lukewarm, and on Santorini you will also find it with caramelized onions or capers from the island.
4. Dolmades (stuffed vine leaves)
Vine leaves rolled around rice and herbs, sometimes with minced meat, served cold with lemon or warm with an egg-lemon sauce. The cold, meatless version (yalantzi) is a classic vegan meze; ask if you are unsure.
5. Spanakopita and pites (savory pies)
Flaky phyllo pastry filled with spinach and feta (spanakopita), cheese (tiropita) or other greens. Bakeries sell them warm in the morning, and they are a cheap, filling breakfast or snack, especially in northern Greece and Epirus, the home of pie-making.
6. Dakos (Cretan barley rusk salad)
A hard barley rusk softened with grated tomato and olive oil and topped with crumbled cheese, oregano and olives. It is the signature starter of Crete, and a light lunch with a glass of local wine. Barley rusks keep for months, which is why they were the bread of shepherds and sailors, and you can buy them in any Cretan bakery to take home. Cretan tavernas also serve wild greens (horta) and snails.
Mains
7. Souvlaki and gyros (grilled skewers and wraps)
Souvlaki is pork or chicken grilled on skewers; gyros is meat sliced from a vertical rotisserie. Both are served on a plate or wrapped in pita with tomato, onion, fries and tzatziki. It is the classic cheap meal across Greece, eaten at any hour and especially late at night. The souvlaki shop (souvlatzidiko) is also the easiest place for a quick, inexpensive lunch between sights.
Order a pita gyro or pita souvlaki to take away, or a merida (plate) with fries, salad and pita to sit down; say “apo ola” if you want it with everything. In Athens it is often called kalamaki on the skewer.
8. Moussaka (baked eggplant and meat casserole)
Layers of fried eggplant, potato and spiced minced meat with a thick béchamel topping, baked in a tray. It is a homestyle dish found in tavernas everywhere, usually cooked in the morning and served warm at lunch. Look for it among the “ready” dishes (mageirefta) displayed at the counter; vegetarian versions exist in tourist areas.
9. Gemista (stuffed tomatoes and peppers)
Tomatoes and peppers stuffed with herbed rice, baked with potatoes in olive oil. It is a summer favorite and usually vegan, best with a piece of feta and bread on the side to soak up the oil. Like moussaka, it is a lunch dish, so order it early in the day while it is fresh.
10. Grilled octopus and fresh fish
Octopus hung to dry in the sun and then grilled over charcoal, dressed with oil, lemon and oregano, is the taste of the islands, along with grilled fresh fish and fried calamari. Shrimp saganaki (shrimp baked in tomato sauce with feta) and seafood pasta are other island favorites. Eat it in fishing harbors on Naxos, Paros or Milos. Fresh fish is priced by the kilo, so ask to see the fish and its weight before it is cooked.
11. Feta and Greek cheeses
Feta is a white, brined cheese of sheep’s milk or sheep’s and goat’s milk. It is a protected designation of origin in the EU, so only cheese made in Greece in the traditional way can be sold there as feta. Also try fried saganaki cheese, Cretan graviera and soft island cheeses.
Similar white cheeses made outside Greece are sold in Europe as “white cheese” or “salad cheese”. At a market or deli, ask to taste a few fetas side by side: barrel-aged feta is firmer and tangier than feta matured in tins.
Sweets and drinks
12. Loukoumades (honey doughnuts)
Small puffs of fried dough soaked in honey syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon, sesame or crushed walnuts. They are one of Greece’s oldest sweets and a favorite evening treat in Athens and Thessaloniki. Eat them hot, straight from the fryer; some modern shops add chocolate or ice cream, but the classic honey and cinnamon version is the one to try first.
13. Baklava and galaktoboureko (syrup pastries)
Baklava is layered phyllo with chopped nuts and honey syrup; galaktoboureko is phyllo filled with a semolina custard. Both are sold at pastry shops (zacharoplasteia), and Thessaloniki is particularly known for its sweets. Many tavernas also bring a small dessert or fruit free at the end of a meal.
14. Greek coffee, frappé and ouzo
Greek coffee is boiled in a small pot and served unfiltered, ordered sweet, medium or without sugar; let the grounds settle and do not drink the last sip. In summer, Greeks drink iced coffee, the frappé and the freddo espresso. With seafood meze in the evening, try ouzo, the anise spirit, which turns cloudy when you add water or ice, or tsipouro in the north.
Where to eat: Athens and beyond
In Athens, the Central Market on Athinas Street, halfway between Omonia and Monastiraki squares, has a large fish market at its center surrounded by butchers, and the streets around it sell olives, cheese, spices and dried fruit. Go in the morning, when the market is busiest and the fish is freshest, and note that the floor of the fish hall can be wet. Plaka and Psyrri are full of tavernas, and Monastiraki is the place for souvlaki; after a visit to the Acropolis, walk into the neighborhoods below it for lunch.
Thessaloniki was named a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy in 2021, the first in Greece, and is the country’s great food city, with covered markets, bougatsa (custard pie) for breakfast and sweets shaped by its Ottoman and Jewish past. Crete, especially Chania, is the place for olive oil, cheese and Cretan cooking. On the islands, eat fish on Naxos, fava and local wine on Santorini, and Venetian-influenced dishes on Corfu.
Food etiquette and tipping
Greeks eat late, with lunch from about 2 p.m. and dinner from about 9 p.m., and meals are shared: order several dishes for the middle of the table rather than one each. Bread is often brought automatically and added to the bill. Water may come free, and the waiter will not bring the bill until you ask for it (“to logariasmo, parakalo“).
There are several kinds of places to eat. A taverna serves home-style food and grilled meat or fish; a psarotaverna specializes in fish; an ouzeri or mezedopoleio serves small plates to share with ouzo or tsipouro; and a psistaria is a grill house. In a taverna, it is normal to walk into the kitchen or look at the counter to see what has been cooked that day.
Tipping is appreciated but not required. Rounding up the bill or leaving a little for good service in tavernas is common. Our tip calculator helps with amounts, and our phrase cards include useful Greek words for ordering.
Eating on a budget
Numbeo’s October 2026 Athens figures show a meal at an inexpensive restaurant at about €15, and souvlaki, bakery pies and market food cost less. Prices are higher in Mykonos, Santorini and beachfront restaurants than in neighborhood tavernas. See how much a trip to Greece costs for a full daily budget, and find food tours and cooking classes in Athens and Crete in our tour finder.
Plan your trip
Use our best time to visit Greece guide for seasons and festivals, the Greece itinerary for 7, 10 and 14 days, and our top places to visit in Greece to pick your islands. Then our free trip planner can build a day-by-day plan with food stops, and the Money exchange tool turns euros into your own currency.
Frequently asked questions
What is the national dish of Greece?
Greece has no official national dish. Moussaka and souvlaki are the best known abroad, and fasolada, a white bean soup, is often called the national dish at home. The Greek salad is on almost every table.
Is Greek food spicy?
No. Greek food is seasoned with olive oil, lemon, garlic and herbs such as oregano and dill. A few dishes, such as the cheese dip tirokafteri, use chili, but they are the exception.
What do people eat for breakfast in Greece?
Breakfast is light: a coffee with a bakery pie such as spanakopita or tiropita, a sesame bread ring (koulouri), or Greek yogurt with honey. In Thessaloniki, bougatsa is the classic breakfast.
Is Greece good for vegetarians?
Yes. Many traditional dishes are meat-free, especially the oil-cooked vegetable dishes (ladera), salads, dips, pies, fava, gemista and beans. During Orthodox fasting periods many tavernas offer even more vegan dishes.
What should I order at a Greek taverna for the first time?
Order a Greek salad, tzatziki and a second dip, a hot starter such as fried saganaki cheese or zucchini fritters, and one or two mains to share, such as souvlaki, moussaka or grilled fish. Add a carafe of house wine, which in many tavernas is local and inexpensive.
Where is the best food in Greece?
Thessaloniki, a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, and Crete are usually named first, with Athens close behind for variety. On the islands, the simplest harbor tavernas often serve the freshest fish.