How to read a Greek menu

How a Greek menu is laid out

The simplest answer to how to read a Greek menu: it's split into starters and dips, salads, cooked dishes, grills, and fish, and in a taverna you order a spread of them to share rather than one course each. Tourist-area menus almost always print English beside the Greek, but the Greek headings tell you things the English hides, like whether a dish was cooked that morning or will be grilled to order.

The usual sections:

• Ορεκτικά (orektiká) or μεζέδες (mezédes): starters, dips and small plates, such as tzatziki, taramasalata, fried cheese and fried courgette.
• Σαλάτες (salátes): salads, led by the village salad.
• Μαγειρευτά (mageireftá): cooked dishes made earlier in the day, such as moussaka, stews and stuffed vegetables. When they're gone, they're gone.
• Ψητά (psitá) or της ώρας (tis óras): grills and dishes cooked to order, such as chops, souvlaki and burgers (biftékia).
• Ψάρια (psária) and θαλασσινά (thalassiná): fish and seafood. Fresh fish is priced per kilo.
• Γλυκά (glyká), ποτά (potá) and κρασιά (krasiá): desserts, drinks and wine.

Two things to look for at the bottom of the page: an asterisk usually marks frozen products, and a bread or cover charge per person may be listed. House wine (χύμα, chýma) is often sold by the kilo or half kilo, which in practice means a litre or half-litre jug.

Reading the script

Greek uses its own 24-letter alphabet, and the traps are the letters that look Latin but aren't. Ρ is r, Η is ee, Χ is a throaty ch (as in loch), Β is v, Ν is n and Υ is ee, so ΡΥΖΙ (rice) reads "ree-zee". Δ sounds like the th in "this" and Θ like the th in "thin". Some letter pairs make one sound: ου is oo, αι is e, ει and οι are ee, μπ is b and ντ is d.

The accent mark (ά, έ, ή, ί, ό, ύ, ώ) shows which syllable to stress, and getting it right helps you be understood. The Greek question mark looks like a semicolon (;). Romanisation varies from menu to menu: χ can appear as ch, h or kh, so you'll see "horiatiki" and "choriatiki" for the same salad.

Cooking methods

These usually follow the main ingredient: αρνί κλέφτικο, μοσχάρι κοκκινιστό, γαρίδες σαγανάκι.

Meat, seafood and key ingredients

Souvlaki and gyros in Greece are usually pork or chicken, not lamb.

Allergy and diet watch-outs

Greek food looks simple, but egg, flour, dairy and fish roe turn up in places a menu translation won't mention.

• Egg-lemon. Avgolemono is egg beaten with lemon and stock. It thickens soups and finishes stews, fricassées and meat-filled dolmades. Egg also goes into most keftedes (meatballs), many spanakopita and cheese pies, and often the béchamel on moussaka and pastitsio. See eggs.
• Flour on fried food. Fried cheese (saganaki), calamari, small fried fish and courgette fritters are usually dusted in wheat flour, and share a fryer. Taramasalata and skordalia (garlic dip) are often bulked out with bread, and every pie is filo or pastry. See gluten.
• Fish roe. Taramasalata is cured cod or carp roe whipped with oil, lemon and bread or potato; some recipes use almonds. See fish.
• Dairy. Feta and yoghurt are everywhere, béchamel tops the oven bakes, and butter is used in pastries and some sweets. See milk.
• Nuts. Walnuts and almonds fill baklava, kataifi and walnut cake (karydopita); skordalia can be made with walnuts or almonds; pine nuts go into some dolmades and stuffed vegetables. See tree nuts.
• Shellfish and molluscs. Octopus, squid, mussels and prawns are common meze, and seafood appears in fasting dishes. See molluscs and crustaceans.
• Sesame. Tahini halva, sesame bread rings (koulouri), pasteli (sesame and honey bars) and some breads. See sesame.
• Celery. Celery is a standard stew vegetable, as in pork with celery and egg-lemon. See celery.
• Sulphites. Wine, including retsina, contains sulphites, and wine goes into many stews. See sulphites.

For vegetarians, λαδερά (ladera), vegetables slow-cooked in olive oil, are usually vegetarian and often vegan. Stuffed vegetables may be rice only or rice with mince (με κιμά). Νηστίσιμο (fasting) dishes contain no meat, dairy or eggs, but can include seafood, fish roe and honey, so they aren't automatically vegan. Pork is very common, and wine is a usual stew ingredient, which matters for halal diners.

Useful phrases

Greeks appreciate any attempt. Adjectives change with the speaker: a man says allergikós, a woman allergikí. The last column is spelt the way it sounds: ch is the throaty sound in loch and the accent marks the stressed syllable.

Φιστίκια on its own often means pistachios (φιστίκια Αιγίνης); peanuts are αράπικα φιστίκια.

Ordering and paying

Order several starters and a salad for the table, then add a cooked dish or a grill. Dishes come out as they're ready, not in strict courses, and everyone shares.

• Bread and cover. Many tavernas bring bread and charge a small amount per person for it. It's listed on the menu; decline it when it arrives if you don't want it.
• Fish by the kilo. Choose your fish, ask for its weight and the price before it's cooked, and check for an asterisk marking frozen seafood.
• Prices. Menu prices include VAT. Service charges are rare outside upmarket hotel restaurants.
• Tipping. Not compulsory. Rounding up, or around 5 to 10% for good service, is common. Leave it in cash, because card tips don't always reach the staff.
• The bill. It won't come until you ask. Lingering is normal, and many tavernas bring a small dessert or a shot of tsipouro or raki on the house.

Dishes to know

• Moussaka: layers of aubergine, spiced minced meat and béchamel, baked.
• Souvlaki: grilled skewers, usually pork or chicken, on a plate or in pitta.
• Spanakopita: spinach and feta pie in filo.
• Tzatziki: yoghurt with cucumber, garlic and olive oil.
• Taramasalata: cured fish roe dip with bread or potato.
• Dolmades: vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs, sometimes mince.
• Gyros (γύρος): meat cooked on a vertical spit, served in pitta with tzatziki and chips.
• Horiatiki (χωριάτικη): village salad of tomato, cucumber, onion, olives and feta.
• Pastitsio (παστίτσιο): baked pasta with spiced mince and béchamel.
• Fava (φάβα): yellow split pea purée with onion and olive oil; despite the name, not broad beans.

Questions

What does the asterisk on a Greek menu mean?

It usually marks a frozen product (κατεψυγμένο, katepsygméno). Greek menus commonly flag frozen fish, seafood and chips this way, with a note at the bottom of the page. Ask if you want fresh (νωπό, nopó) instead.

Why is fish priced per kilo in Greek tavernas?

Fresh fish is sold by weight, so the menu shows a price per kilo. You choose a fish, staff weigh it, and you pay for its whole weight before cleaning. Ask for the weight and price before it goes on the grill.

Is there a bread or cover charge in Greek restaurants?

Often, yes. Many tavernas bring bread to the table and charge a small amount per person, listed on the menu as ψωμί (bread) or κουβέρ (cover). If you don’t want it, say so when it arrives.

Does nistisimo mean vegan?

Not quite. Νηστίσιμο (nistísimo) means suitable for the Orthodox fast: no meat, dairy or eggs. It can still contain octopus, squid, shellfish, fish roe and honey, so check if you are vegan or allergic to seafood.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Romanization of Greek
2. Wikipedia: Taramasalata

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.