Top Street Food in Greece

Bantis Bougatsa ★ 4.8

The city's best cream bougatsa eaten at the marble counter: fresh phyllo, cold pastry cream, cinnamon shaker, powdered sugar. Opens at 06:30.

OrderCream bougatsa

Trigona Elenidis ★ 4.8

The trigona panoramatos is Thessaloniki's defining pastry: a crisp phyllo triangle filled to order with cold cream. At Venizelou 12. Booking recommended.

OrderTrigona panoramatos (cream phyllo triangle)

Kostas Souvlaki ★ 4.7

Kostas Souvlaki on Agia Irini Square in Athens has fired the pork souvlaki pita with its house tomato sauce since 1946, a counter run by the same family.

OrderPork souvlaki pita with tomato sauce

TipOpen weekdays until 17:00 or until the meat runs out; closed Saturday and Sunday and cash is preferred.

Kirkor ★ 4.7

Kirkor has long sold bougatsa on Lions Square in Heraklion, and it is still the fastest breakfast in the whole city if you eat it standing up.

OrderBougatsa with custard, cinnamon and icing sugar

TipThe queue moves fast, because there are really only two things on the menu.

Phyllosophies ★ 4.6

Phyllosophies is the Heraklion bougatsa counter on Lions Square, hand-opened phyllo filled with cream or sweet myzithra and cut with scissors.

OrderBougatsa with sweet myzithra and honey

TipEat it standing on Lions Square while it is still too hot, which is how everyone in Heraklion does it.

Ladadika Tsipouradika ★ 4.6

The tsipouradika of Katouni and Doxis Streets operate the Thessaloniki ritual: cold tsipouro arrives in a small carafe, meze plates follow in relay.

OrderTsipouro plus meze relay

O Telis ★ 4.5

O Telis on Evripidou in central Athens has grilled pork chops over coals since the 1970s, the king-of-Evripidou-Street counter with chips, salad.

OrderGrilled pork chops with chips and Greek salad

TipNo menu; the order is pork chops with chips, salad, bread and red wine. Closed Sundays.

Ariston Pies ★ 4.5

Ariston on Voulis behind Syntagma in Athens is the 1910 takeaway-pie counter where the spanakopita is the order and the bougatsa is the breakfast on the way.

OrderSpanakopita, cheese pie, meat pie

TipStand-up takeaway only; closed Sundays. Pies are warm out of the oven all morning.

Bougatsa Giannis ★ 4.5

Bougatsa Giannis opens at 8pm and runs until 3pm the following day. The late-night cream or cheese phyllo fix for the bar crowd on Mitropoleos.

OrderCream and cheese bougatsa, night shift

Falafellas ★ 4.4

Falafellas on Aiolou near Monastiraki in Athens is the central falafel pita counter, where the takeaway pita is built on order with tahini, salad and chilli.

OrderFalafel pita with tahini and salad

TipQueue runs longest at lunchtime; the meatball pita is the variant the regulars order instead.

Stou Mitsou ★ 4.4

Stou Mitsou opened inside Kapani Market in February 2014 and quickly became a reference address for the city's refugee dishes: Smyrna-style soutzoukakia.

OrderSoutzoukakia, traditional Macedonian meze

Lukumades ★ 4.3

Lukumades on Aiolou and Agia Irini Square in Athens is the modern loukoumades shop, where the classic Greek doughnut comes filled with cream.

OrderLoukoumades doughnuts with fillings and toppings

TipThe injected loukoumades with cream are the order; queue runs longest on summer weekends.

Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani Deli ★ 4.3

Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani on Sokratous in Athens runs a takeaway deli alongside the mezedopoleio, with pastourma sandwiches and a cured-meat counter.

OrderKaramanli pastourma and cured-meat sandwich

TipClosed Sundays. The deli counter at the front sells meats by the kilo to take home.

Savoidakis ★ 4.3

Savoidakis sells kalitsounia right across Heraklion, and a warm bag of the Cretan cheese pies is the best two euros you can spend near the Agora.

OrderKalitsounia, eaten warm out of the paper bag

TipThe Dikaiosinis branch is the handiest for the Agora, and the pies come out through the morning.

Tragano Navarinou ★ 4.3

Tragano on Dimitriou Gounari near Navarinou Square bakes some of the city's most reliable koulouri (sesame bread rings) on site. At Dimitriou Gounari 32.

OrderKoulouri Thessalonikis (sesame bread ring)

Diagonios 1977 ★ 4.3

Since 1977 on Egnatia Street, Diagonios has served the city's most consistent souvlaki until 3am on weekends. At Egnatia 159. Booking recommended.

OrderPork souvlaki kalamaki

Ariston Tyropita ★ 4.2

The Ariston counter near Aristotelous Square is the reference tyropita address in the city centre. Booking recommended. Reservations advised.

OrderTyropita (cheese pie), spanakopita

Loukoumania Navarinou ★ 4.2

Loukoumania near Navarinou Square fries fresh dough daily and serves the crisp, fluffy, honey-soaked loukoumades in dozens of combinations. At Gounari 24.

OrderLoukoumades (Greek honey doughnuts)

Xanthopoulos Kokoretsi ★ 4.2

Xanthopoulos on Ippokratous is the serious address for kokoretsi, the Easter and Sunday offal spit-roast of wrapped intestines, heart. At Ippokratous 26.

OrderKokoretsi (offal spit-roast)

Modiano Market Stalls ★ 4.1

The Modiano Market reopened in December 2022 after full restoration and now houses food stalls, cheese and cured-meat counters, the Modiano Bahar spice shop.

OrderMarket lunch, cheese, cured meats, olives

Thraka Grill ★ 4.0

Thraka Grill turns out gyros on Daskalogianni square in Heraklion until midnight, the local answer to where to eat well for about five euros.

OrderA pork gyros pita with everything on it

TipOn Daskalogianni square, and it is the gyros stop the local food tours use rather than the seafront chains.

Krasas ★ 4.0

Krasas grills on Leoforos Ikarou in Heraklion until three in the morning, the default late gyros stop for anyone heading home from the east.

OrderA gyros pita on the way home from Ikarou

TipOpen until 03:00, and there is a second Krasas near the airport in Nea Alikarnassos.

Giotis Gyradiko ★ 4.0

The most consistent gyros counter in the city centre. Pork or chicken in soft pita with tomato, onion, tzatziki, and chips: the Thessaloniki formulation.

OrderGyros (pork or chicken in pita)

Pasatempas Nut Stalls ★ 4.0

The nut and seed stalls at Kapani Market selling pasatempas, the Thessaloniki term for roasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds. Booking recommended.

OrderRoasted nuts, seeds, dried fruits

Winter Corn and Chestnut Carts ★ 4.0

In winter, the roasted corn and chestnut carts appear around Aristotelous Square and the waterfront promenade. Booking recommended. Reservations advised.

OrderRoasted corn, roasted chestnuts (seasonal Oct-Feb)

Bairaktaris Pita Counter ★ 3.9

Bairaktaris on Monastiraki Square is the long-running Athens souvlaki counter from the late 19th century, with a takeaway pita window onto the square open.

OrderSouvlaki and gyros pita

TipThe pita window faces the square; the sit-down room behind is a separate tip and bill.

Mavrokostas ★ 3.9

Mavrokostas sells homemade Greek food on 62 Martiron in Heraklion through the small hours, long after every other kitchen in town has shut down.

OrderWhatever tray of homemade food is still hot

TipOpen until six in the morning on weekdays and eight at weekends, which makes it the last kitchen standing in Heraklion.

Souvlaki Point ★ 3.8

Souvlaki Point grills skewers on Menelaou Parlama in Heraklion until one in the morning, a takeaway counter rather than a sit-down taverna room.

OrderTwo pork skewers with pita and chips

TipOpen until one in the morning most nights, and set up for takeaway rather than a sit-down meal.

Spiros Psitopoleio ★ 3.8

Spiros Psitopoleio is the neighbourhood grill house on Christomichali Xilouri in Heraklion, selling meat by the portion to a mostly local queue.

OrderA mixed grill portion to take away

TipA neighbourhood psitopoleio on Christomichali Xilouri, which means grilled meat by the portion rather than by the plate.

Seafront Corn Carts ★ 3.8

The roasted corn carts on Nikis Avenue operate from spring through autumn, positioned along the waterfront promenade between the White Tower and the port.

OrderRoasted corn on the cob