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No more steep roaming bills, no fumbling with local SIMs at the airport (and risking a mix-up thanks to a language barrier!). I always like having a few gigabytes of data on hand—for emergencies, getting around, and checking restaurant reviews without costing an arm and a leg. Here's a map with all restaurants, cafes, bakeries and other shops mentioned in this post, which may come in handy for your Athenian city break. Spicy, fragrant, and utterly comforting, it's a secret family recipe and you’ll wish they sold it by the bottle (or bucket).
Not to be confused with the more famous Kostas (above) on Agia Irini Square, O Kostas is a fine choice for pork souvlaki during a day of touring. Plan on people watching during your meal instead of surfing the internet Pro TipUnlike many of the sit-down souvlaki restaurants in Athens, Kalamaki Kolonaki does not have a dedicated internet account. Adding salt to our jealous fire, our other neighbors, a trio of women of a certain age, plowed into what looked to be a dozen (or more!) skewers as if there were no tomorrow. Go ahead and order two if you’re hungry – each skewer at Elvis cost all of €1.70 at the time of our visits. Souvlaki skewers at Elvis are served with fries and a side of bread.
Let us know if you see anything that needs to be updated in this article.FundingWe ο κωστας self-funded our multiple trips to Athens. Ask locals for their favorite local souvlaki spots. And, like the neighborhood Athens souvlaki shops, it’s better than any souvlaki you will find outside of Greece. Plus, at under €3, it’s a low-risk proposition. During our meal, we were berated for calling call skewers kalamaki – which is what they are. One thing about Athens – the locals are never afraid to talk.
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It is worth trying kebab as a dish, consisting of oil-free pitta bread pieces and four skewered juicy kebabs topped with tomato and finely cut onion. Kafteros, situated at a small side street off Kifisias Avenue in the Kato Halandri area, has been run by the Exarhopoulos family since 1970. The souvlaki is served either plain or in pitta bread, oiled to perfection, with paprika, tomato, onion and parsley. The spot also offers freshly cut fried potato chips, salad with diced and peeled tomatoes, onion and parsley, as well as feta cheese topped with olive oil and oregano.
O Kostas (Ο Κώστας)
Unlike many shops and restaurants in Europe, the meat here is juicy with fat. At the end of the day, this just means more great Greek street food for everybody. With food travel, it’s key to eat like a local. Simple and juicy, the kalamaki skewers at Elvis are a tasty bargain. Discover great Athens restaurants for those times that you’re not in the mood for souvlaki.
This iconic Athenian street food store has been around since 1950 and first opened its doors in a tiny location in Plaka. The gyro is marinated with subtle influences from Mexico’s al pastor—including poblano chili, achiote, and a touch of pineapple juice—yet tastes comfortingly familiar. Kapsa is chef Christoforos Peskias’s fiery take on Athens’s favorite street food, bringing chef-level care to a classic souvlaki joint in the city center near Praxitellous Street.
Amazing Restaurants with the Best International Food in Athens
A nostalgic dish for locals from all walks of life, the souvlaki/kalamaki is cubed meat on a skewer, grilled with a liberal dash of salt, and served either as street food or in a restaurant setting. UpdateAfter we couldn’t help falling in love with Elvis’ souvlaki skewers, we satisfied our burning love two times during our return visit to Athens. Open since 1950, Kostas is a local Athens street food favorite and high on the list of many hungry visitors including us. Expect to queue, especially during peak hours, but it’s time well spent. One of the oldest family-run street food souvlaki joints in Athens, Kosta is one of central Athens' well-kept secrets.
Capital O with Accent Mac Keyboard Shortcuts
The symbol also appears in the Afrikaans, Catalan, Dutch, Irish, Nynorsk, Bokmål, Occitan, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Galician languages as a variant of the letter "o". It is found in the Czech, Dobrujan Tatar, Emilian-Romagnol, Faroese, Hungarian, Icelandic, Kashubian, Polish, Slovak, Karakalpak, and Sorbian languages. Derived letters such as ⟨ö⟩ and ⟨ø⟩ have been created for the alphabets of some languages to distinguish values that were not present in Latin and Greek, particularly rounded front vowels. Other languages use ⟨o⟩ for various values, usually back vowels which are at least partly open. "O" in isolation is a word, also spelled "oh" and pronounced /oʊ/. In other contexts, especially before a letter with a minim, ⟨o⟩ may represent the sound /ʌ/, as in 'son' or 'love'.
- We must warn you though, that it’s best to get there before midday, as there are always crowds of people waiting for their Souvlaki hit and chances, are if you arrive there after 3 pm, they will have sold out!
- And, since one souvlaki skewer is never enough, it’s important to know that the plural of souvlaki is souvlakia.
- In most other languages, its name matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables.
- Kostas closes once they sell out of product and is also closed on weekends and holidays.
- This Athens souvlaki shop is open from 9 am to 4 am every day of the week.
However, despite our good intentions to try the famous souvlaki, Kostas wasn’t open the first few times we visited. With a month in Athens to eat Greek souvlaki, we had time to scour the ancient city to find the best souvlaki in Athens. And in Athens, the locals have a broad definition of souvlaki. And, since one souvlaki skewer is never enough, it’s important to know that the plural of souvlaki is souvlakia. This Athens souvlaki guide showcases the best spots to eat kalamaki skewers, kebabs and gyros in Athens. By 3pm, Kostas is usually sold out and packing it up for the day.