What to Order in a Greek Taverna: Meze, Horta, Fish by Weight and House Wine

ΑThe short version

• Order for the table, not for yourself. A taverna meal is a spread of shared plates that arrive when they are ready, not a sequence of courses.
• Start with vegetables and dips, add one or two hot dishes, then decide whether you are still hungry.
• Eat what the place is good at: oven dishes at lunch, grills in the evening, fish by the sea.
• Fresh fish is priced by weight. Choose it, see it weighed, agree the price before it is cooked.
• House wine comes by the carafe and is often very good value.
• Bread usually arrives without being ordered and may carry a small charge listed on the menu.
• Tipping is a custom, not a rule: round up, or leave around 5–10% for good service.

ΒWhat a taverna is, and what it isn't

A taverna is the everyday Greek restaurant: paper tablecloths, a short handwritten list of the day's specials, a grill out back, family running the floor. It sits alongside the psarotaverna (fish taverna), the psistaria (grill house), the mezedopoleio or ouzeri (small plates with drinks) and the northern tsipouradiko. The logic is the same in all of them: food comes to the middle of the table and everyone helps themselves.

That changes how you order. There is no need to choose a starter and a main each. Order a few things, see what comes, add more. Dishes arrive as the kitchen finishes them, so the grilled meat might land before the salad, and nobody thinks that is odd.

ΓBuilding the meal: meze logic

A simple framework for two to four people:

1. 1One salad for the table.
2. 2Two cold plates: dips or spreads, with bread.
3. 3One vegetable dish: horta, fava, or something from the oven.
4. 4One or two hot dishes: grilled meat or fish, or a baked dish.
5. 5Pause. Order more only if you are still hungry.

The most common mistake visitors make is ordering a full main each on top of starters. Portions are generous and plates are shared, so you will end up with a table of half-eaten food.

ΔThe dishes worth knowing

Salads and cold plates

• Horiatiki — the "village salad": tomato, cucumber, onion, peppers, olives and a slab of feta. No lettuce. In summer, when the tomatoes are ripe, it is a meal in itself.
• Dakos — a Cretan rusk softened with grated tomato, topped with soft cheese, oregano and oil.
• Tzatziki — strained yoghurt with cucumber and garlic.
• Melitzanosalata — smoky aubergine spread.
• Taramosalata — a whipped fish-roe dip; the pale versions are usually the better ones.
• Tirokafteri — a spicy whipped feta, especially good in the north.

Horta and fava: the vegetables locals order

Horta are boiled wild or cultivated greens, dressed simply with olive oil and lemon. They look plain and taste of the landscape; a plate of horta next to grilled fish is one of the great Greek combinations. Ask what greens they have that day.

Fava in Greece is not the broad bean. It is a silky purée of yellow split peas, served with raw onion, capers and olive oil. The version from Santorini, made from a local legume grown in the volcanic soil, is the most prized.

Other vegetable dishes to look for: gigantes (giant beans baked in tomato), briam (Greek roast vegetables), gemista (tomatoes and peppers stuffed with herbed rice) and fasolakia (green beans stewed in tomato and oil). These oil-based dishes, called ladera, are also what many Greeks eat during the Orthodox fasting periods — our piece on Orthodox traditions explains the calendar.

From the oven

Baked dishes, magirefta, are cooked in the morning and served from trays. That is why they are best at lunch; by late evening they have been sitting for hours.

• Moussaka — aubergine, minced meat and béchamel.
• Pastitsio — the pasta cousin of moussaka.
• Kleftiko — lamb slow-cooked in parchment or a sealed pot with garlic and herbs until it falls apart.
• Stifado — beef or rabbit stewed with small onions, wine and spices.
• Kokkinisto — meat braised in tomato sauce.

From the grill

In the evening, the grill takes over. Souvlaki (skewers), paidakia (lamb chops, often sold by the portion or by weight), biftekia (herbed patties), loukaniko (village sausage) and grilled octopus are all reliable. Saganaki, a slab of cheese fried in a pan, is the classic hot starter.

Fish and seafood

By the sea, fish is the point. Small fry such as gavros (anchovies), marides (picarel) and kalamarakia (squid) are cheaper, sold by the portion and usually excellent. Larger whole fish such as sea bream or red mullet work differently, as the next section explains.

ΕFish priced by weight: how not to get a surprise

On most menus, fresh fish is listed with a price per kilo, not per plate. The system is fair, but it catches people out.

• Go and choose your fish. Staff will usually show you what came in that day.
• Ask for it to be weighed in front of you and ask what that weight will cost. A single fish for two can weigh well over half a kilo.
• Check whether it is fresh or frozen. Greek menus usually mark frozen items, often with an asterisk; ask if you are unsure.
• Ask how they suggest cooking it — grilled with oil and lemon is the default and usually the best.

If the menu shows no price, or the answer is vague, ask again or order something else. A good taverna is happy to be clear.

ΣΤWine, ouzo and what to drink

House wine — white, red or rosé — is ordered by the carafe, usually in quarter, half or full litre measures (sometimes still listed by the kilo). Quality varies from simple to genuinely good, and it is almost always the best-value bottle in the room. Taste a quarter litre before ordering more.

If you want something better, ask for local bottles. Greece has excellent native grapes: assyrtiko from Santorini, xinomavro in the north, agiorgitiko from Nemea and many Cretan varieties. Our guide to Greek wine regions is a good primer.

With meze, locals often choose ouzo or tsipouro, diluted with water or ice and sipped slowly. It is not a shot. In the north this is a whole culture, described in our Thessaloniki food guide.

ΖBread, extras, the bill and tipping

Bread usually arrives without being ordered, sometimes with a small charge per person that should be printed on the menu. If you do not want it, say so when it comes.

The bill does not arrive until you ask for it. Nobody will hurry you off the table; catch the waiter's eye and ask for to logariasmo. Many tavernas bring a small complimentary dessert, fruit or a shot at the end. It is a kindness, not a line item.

Tipping is not required or regulated. The custom is simple: round up the bill or leave around 5–10% in cash on the table for good service. Leave more if you want; no one expects it.

A few Greek words help: efharistó (thank you), parakaló (please) and kalí órexi (enjoy your meal). See our Greek for travellers.

ΗWhere to eat well

The best tavernas are rarely the ones with a photo menu and a hustler at the door. Walk one street back from the waterfront or the main square, look for Greek families at the tables, and prefer short menus with dishes of the day.

A few starting points on this site:

• Athens — for the neighbourhood taverna and ouzeri culture beyond Plaka.
• Crete — the most distinctive regional cooking, with rusks, wild greens and mountain cheeses.
• Naxos — an agricultural island that feeds itself.
• Sifnos — the traditional cooking island of the Cyclades, covered in our quiet Cyclades guide.

For costs, see Greece on a budget. Order horta, share everything, and let the meal take its time.