Of tavernas and souvlaki shops and ouzeries

Taverna - a simple eating place serving homemade food with local olive oil, wine, greens from the fields nearby and traditional dishes.  You'll find these full of local Greeks enjoying long nights of wine, fine basic fresh food and conversation.  This is the sort of eatery where retsina used to be sold, the traditional wine of Greece flavoured with pine resin. They'll probably have paper tablecloths and small heavy wine glasses.

Our favourite taverna by the sea.  Good Greek cooking.  The paper table cloth, held down at the corners by metal clips 

Typical Menu ..

Greek salad
Stewed dried beans with fresh tomatoes (gigantes)
grilled sardines
feta served with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of oregano
Meat stewed with tomatoes and cinnamon served with spaghetti, orzo or local pasta
boiled mutton
split peas puree
olives
kalamari
salt cod
heavy sourdough bread



Estiatorio (restaurant) -  similar to the taverna but usually only open during the day.  Often they'll have big pots of food cooked fresh in the morning.  If you're lucky you'll be able to go in and choose from the pot, presuming you can tell what you're looking at!

Psistaria - a grill house where  you'll probably find all kinds of meat and sausages being BBQed over a charcoal fire.  All of it is served with greek cheeses, fried potatoes, tzatziki, greek salad or in the winter lettuce or cabbage salad

Ouzeri -  shop which sells ouzo by the glass or the small bottle with small plates of snacks known as meze.  The traditional snacks for ouzo are slices of  grilled octopus on a toothpick with a dash of lemon juice and slices of cucmber.

Souvlatzidiko -  souvlaki shop.  Souvlaki can either be a pita bread wrapped around pork gyro with lashings of tzatziki, raw onions and tomato or pieces of meat (pork or chicken) on a skewer and grilled.

Tsipouradiko - here you buy a raki (also called tsipouro or tsikoudia) by the small 1/4 litre bottle or by the glass accompanied by small plates of mezes which are traditional to eat with this drink.  Small meatballs, feta cheese or olives

Upmarket eating places call themselves a Bistro or Ristorante, serve salads with salmon and pomegranite seeds, call the dressing vinagrette and using long stem wine glasses.  

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