How to Say Your Favorite Foods in the Greek Language

Written by Greek Boston in Learn How to Speak Basic Greek Comments Off on How to Say Your Favorite Foods in the Greek Language

While in Greece, you will no doubt spend time eating in restaurants, cafes, and tavernas. We have already talked about a few basic ways you can order food in a previous article. We also discussed the basics of reading a menu. These may not cover you for every situation, but it certainly is a good start.

Besides knowing the vocabulary words for ordering food, you will also need to know how to say the foods that you would like to order. Not only that, but you will need to be able to read it on the menu so that you can know if they have it at the restaurant or not! Here’s a look at some of the foods you might want to order while in Greece:

Vocabulary for Greek Foods to Eat While in Greece:

• το κρέας – to kreas – the meat
• η μπριζόλα – i brizola – the steak
• φέτα πίτα – feta – feta cheese
• πίτα – pita – pita (pastry with filo, filled with items like spinach and cheese)
• σπανακόπιτα – spanakopita – spinach pita
• τυρόπιτα – tiropita – cheese pita
• αβγολέμονο – Avgolemono – Greek egg and lemon soup, also a sauce found in other dishes
• φασολάδα – fasolatha – Greek bean soup
• ψαρόσουπα – ssarosoupa – fish soup
• χωριάτικη σαλάτα – horiatiki salata – Greek village salad
• ντάκος – dakos – tomato and bread dish popular on Crete
• ταραμοσαλάτα – taramosalata – dip made from fish roe
• τυροκαυτερή – tirokafteri – feta cheese dip
• σκορδαλιά – skordalia – garlic dip or sauce
• λουκάνικο – loukaniko – Greek sausage
• φασολάκια – fasolakia – beans in tomato sauce
• γίγαντες πλακί – gigantes plaki – baked beans in tomato sauce
• χυλόπιτες – hilopites – Greek pasta
• χόρτα – horta – boiled greens, often served cold or room temperature
• σπανακόρυζο – Spanakorizo – spinach and rice
• γύρος – yiros – popular street food and sandwich – you will likely eat a lot of these!
• κοτόπουλο με ρύζι – kotopoulo me rizi – chicken with rice
• κεφτεδάκια – keftethakia – meatballs
• παστίτσιο – pastitsio – Greek macaroni dish, usually has meat such as beef or lamb
• σουβλάκι – souvlaki – meat cooked on a skewer
• μπουγάτσα – bougatsa – custard dessert
• δίπλες – thiples – crispy fried dough dessert with honey
• γαλακτομπούρεκο – galaktoboureka – custard dessert with filo
• λουκουμάδες – loukoumathes – fried dough balls with honey
• μπακλαβά – baklava – baklava

You don’t need to master all of these vocabulary words. You can probably even get away with not knowing how to say these perfectly in Greek! However, the more you know, the more comfortable you will be in the country. Read this list over a few tines. Pay extra attention to the words of foods you are likely to order. Once you’re in Greece, you’ll have a much easier time ordering in restaurants by getting familiar with this list.

The Learn Greek section on GreekBoston.com was written by Greeks to help people understand the conversational basics of the Greek language. This article is not a substitute for a professional Greek learning program, but a helpful resource for people wanting to learn simple communication in Greek.

Categorized in: Learn How to Speak Basic Greek

This post was written by Greek Boston