What to eat Central Greece? culinary specialties and gastronomy

In Greece, most restaurants are open every day and offer continuous service from lunchtime to evening. The first service starts around 12 noon, and kitchens generally close between 10 and 11 pm. Some restaurants also serve coffee, so are open in the morning. More upscale establishments are closed on certain days and have more limited service hours.

While restaurants(estiatório) are slightly more expensive than taverns or ouzeries, eating out is still very affordable in mainland Greece. Unless you go to a trendy or very chic restaurant in Athens, you will have to pay around 15 euros per person for a full meal with a carafe of local wine or raki/zo. There is one exception: fresh fish, sold by the kilo, is always expensive. To avoid unpleasant surprises at the time of the bill, go and choose your fish in the kitchen and ask for the price before ordering it, because the bill goes up quickly. In the taverns, the dessert (slices of watermelon, plate of halva, cake...) is often offered. In spite of the crisis, Greeks still do not depart from this pleasant tradition. But this is not a must: in the most touristic places, like Olympia, you can always wait!

Many restaurants charge for bread: around €1/person. For water, ask for nero to vrysis for free water in a carafe. It's risk-free. But it's not always available: in chic restaurants and, above all, in taverns on islands lacking in water, a bottle of mineral water is the only choice. As for tipping, it's not compulsory, but it's a good idea to leave an extra 10% for service... if you're satisfied!

In taverns, dishes and starters arrive in no particular order, and guests at the same table are not necessarily served at the same time. That's why it's a good idea to share a mezze and a salad. You should also be aware that not all dishes come with a side dish. Ask for fries, rice or vegetables. If there are three of you at the table, you can order a salad and two dishes only, for example. At the end of the meal, you won't be pressured to leave the table either: unless you ask for the bill (ton logariasmo), you'll be left to enjoy it, without necessarily clearing the table. And if you don't manage to eat everything, don't hesitate to ask for a paketo to take away the leftovers. Coffee is not a Greek custom at the end of a meal: it's drunk everywhere and all day long, but very rarely in restaurants. On the other hand, it's quite common for a small dessert or a glass of alcohol to be offered at the end of the meal.

Nothing in particular. But if you go to a restaurant with Greeks, pay the bill or have the meal offered to you. In any case, avoid counting up what everyone has eaten and paying only for your share. This is not a common practice, if not downright impolite. And don't forget: if you're celebrating your birthday with Greeks in a restaurant, it's up to you to invite them, not the other way round.

Children are often very welcome. And they'll easily find a few specialties to suit their tastes, whether they're vegetarians, carnivores, small eaters or devourers of French fries (patates tiganites). Except in tourist restaurants, children's menus are non-existent. But it's easy to ask for half a portion of spaghetti (miso makaronia), for example.

Greeks are big smokers. But the air is finally becoming more breathable in taverns. Admittedly, the anti-smoking law, passed in 2008, has long remained highly theoretical. However, most restaurants now ban smoking indoors.

Let's just say that, like everywhere else, it's rarely in establishments with a reeler at the entrance that we eat best..

Most cafés and bars are open every day, from breakfast in the morning until around midnight. Some night bars only open from 6pm-7pm and stay open until the early hours of the morning. Pastry shops and tearooms often have a weekly closing day and variable opening hours.

The price of a café varies greatly: from "Balkan" fare in less touristy villages, to "Parisian" fare in the fine establishments of city centers and the most popular panoramic locations. Here are some average prices: €3.40 for a cappuccino, €4.50 for a pint of Greek beer, €2 for a soda. The good thing is that you can stay for hours at the same café table without having to renew your drink.

As far as the law is concerned, there is no legal age to consume alcohol in private in Greece. To drink and consume alcohol in a café or public place, you have to be 18 years old, but this law is not very much followed and nobody will ask for an ID card to a young person who orders a glass of alcohol.

In the villages, the traditional establishment where men meet is the kafenio (καφενείο). As mores evolve, women are now admitted and there's even wifi for tourists. But most of the customers are retired men who here remake the world over a Turkish café (called elleniko since Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974), sipping slowly on a glass of alcohol (ouzo, tsipouro or raki) accompanied by mezzés or playing tavli (the national table game, very similar to backgammon) for hours.

Children are accepted everywhere, accompanied by their parents. As in restaurants, they are welcome. Children are kings in Greece and their noise level is very well tolerated!

The good weather and the terraces limit the problem in summer. However, it must be conceded that the law against smoking in public spaces has been in place since 2008, but has never really been enforced. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the new conservative Prime Minister elected in July 2019, has promised that the law will now be enforced. Since his election, fines have been put in place to charge both establishments and customers who would not comply with the law. It remains to be seen whether this will finally materialize in practice..

Nothing to report, apart from avoiding establishments that need to employ thrashers. It's often a bad omen!