If you are traveling to Greece with your family, don’t worry about food. The Greek cuisine is simple, good and varied. Children like it easily. Vivre Athènes gives you some useful information to help you place your order. See also our article “Eating in Greece: heathly” to know the local habits and customs.
In Greece, where to eat with children?
In the Tavern
Greeks often eat out. The meal is a convivial moment that is shared with family and friends. In Athens you will find many taverns(taverna) : popular restaurants where the service is simple and unpretentious. It serves Greek specialties, the atmosphere is relaxed. This is where we recommend that you go to eat with your children.
Taverns are places where Greeks go for lunch or dinner with their families ; children are always warmly welcomed. The cuisine is simple and prepared with fresh and seasonal products. It is rather cheap (less than 10€/person) and the portions are generous. You should know that, most of the time, there is no ” menu-children ” in the taverns and for the adults no trilogy of appetizers, main course and dessert. The kitchen is shared and all the dishes are placed in the center of the table so that everyone can taste a little of everything. From time to time, you will be taken directly to the kitchen to choose what you want to eat.
On the go, to go
You can also easily eat on the go, for very reasonable prices. It is then necessary to count approximately 4€/person. The bakeries are full of sweet and salty snacks and there are also many street vendors who serve street food with an unbeatable quality/quantity/price ratio.
Restaurants
Finally, there are, of course, restaurants(estiatoria) but the service is more formal and the prices are higher.
Kids love Greek food!
In a tavern
You will easily find the great classics that children like : spaghetti with minced meat, pizzas, French fries, omelets, ham and cheese toasts.
As far as drinks are concerned, there is of course water (no difficulty to drink water in carafe in Athens, prefer bottled water on the islands) but also excellent freshly squeezed orange juice, at much more reasonable prices than in France.
If you want your children, young or old, to taste Greek culinary specialties, we recommend the following dishes :
- Cheese puffs(tiropita)
- The yemista : tomatoes or peppers stuffed with rice
- The pastitsio : a pasta gratin with tomato sauce and minced meat (to make it simple, a kind of moussaka where the eggplant is replaced by macaroni)
- The Souvlaki: skewers of grilled meat (usually pork or chicken), served alone or wrapped in a pita
- The saganaki : fried cheese
- Keftedes : minced meatballs
- Fried food, squid, small fish or octopus may be off-putting at first. But let your children taste them and you will be surprised to see that many of them appreciate these funny beasts.
If you want your children to eat vegetables, you can order the classic Greek salad(horiatiki), or simply a tomato and cucumber salad, briam (vegetables in a casserole) or horta (cooked mountain herbs).
On the go
We find everywhere of gyros
(what we call kebab in France), i.e. meat roasted on a spit and cut into thin strips, served in pita bread, with onions, tomatoes and tzatziki. It is tasty and nourishing. For the children you can ask without onions and/or without sauce.
Sweet side
Tell your children : dessert is not part of a Greek meal. In general, in the taverns, you will find, at best, yogurt with honey. However, a small tray of fresh fruit is often offered with the bill.
If you don’t want your kids to feel ” punished for dessert “, give them a treat guide :
- Loukoumades : delicious doughnuts drizzled with honey. If you are in Athens, we recommend you to go and taste them at Krinos.
- Some sweets to buy in the little yellow carts of the street vendors : koulouris (bread rings sprinkled with sesame) or shortbread
- Greek pastries that all bakeries are full of. For example, the galaktoboureko (puff pastry with cream),
- There are a lot of ice cream vendors in the street. Take the opportunity to taste the local specialty : a Greek yogurt ice cream
- In the capital, a stop at Little Kook Cake Shop to taste impressive layer cakes
Laure M.
