Kostas on Aghias Irinis Square

You need to have patience if you want a souvlaki from Kostas. There’s even a sign saying as much: “No stress, the owner is at heart attack age!” The wait may last as long as 40 minutes, during which Kostas, a solo act, mans the grill, prepares the pitas and puts together his iconic souvlaki – in the best mood you can expect from a person effectively working in a furnace. He has three high tables for whoever nabs them first, and everyone else has to sit on the steps outside or eat standing up. He is closed on the weekends and only operates until 5 p.m. on weekdays.

“My father, Tasos, opened the first place when he came back from the war in 1946. It was tiny, just 2.5 square meters all told,” says Kostas. He has a system: He grills the souvlaki, kebabs and beef patties on the spot, places the pitas on the grill too and tops them with the various ingredients as they crisp up. He chops the tomato over the flatbread, while a mixture of freshly chopped onions and parsley goes on top, along with a few fried potatoes and his famous red sauce. The success lies in the grilling. “I fire up the grill in the morning. We are traditional, using charcoal, not gas or electricity,” he says with a note of pride.

When you order, he asks if you’d also like some “medicine.” That’s the hot version of his secret sauce, which is made of various peppers in three variations: spicy, medium and sweet. Another key to his success is good-quality meat. Kostas makes the souvlaki skewers himself, using good cuts of pork, as well as the mixture for the kebabs and beef patties, which are shaped just before going on the grill. Crisp, tasty pita, well-grilled meat, secret sauce and a fresh topping: delicious and zingy.

Kostas on Filellinon

An Athenian born and bred, this Kostas learned the tricks of a good souvlaki from another Kostas, his grandfather, in the family’s original outlet, on Adrianou Street in Plaka. From 1950 and up until six years ago, Kostas Senior made one of the best souvlakis in downtown Athens. “My grandfather made me love the business and when I finished my military service and told him my wife and I wanted to come work with him, he wept,” says Kostas Junior. “The first thing he taught me was to keep my hand clean and not to handle money except with pincers.”

His wrapped souvlaki is made with pork skewers or minced beef patties. The meat has no extraneous fat because he checks it and prepares it all himself first thing in the morning. “I’ve even made a bet with a customer that if he finds a trace of excess fat on the souvlaki, he could eat for free for a year,” he says. He does not add potatoes to the wraps and uses yogurt instead of tzatziki as a sauce, saying that “garlic tends to cover everything and I want the flavors to come through; I have nothing to hide.” Other toppings include finely chopped onion, fresh parsley and powdered chili.

With a small grill station, a refrigerator, a couple of chairs, and a handful of photographs, publications about the restaurant, and a sign reading “No Stress” on the walls, this is definitely a no-frills establishment. But, “you don’t need anything else; bells and whistles are superfluous.” Most of his customers prefer beer with their souvlaki, but some opt for tsipouro: “It kind of asks for it.”

Lefteris in Nea Smyrni, an institution

Like the other Lefteris in Omonia, the grillhouse of Lefteris Tsairidis in Nea Smyrni, a suburb created to accommodate Greek refugees from Turkey, started out as a food cart dispensing souvlaki on the city’s streets. The business did so well that within three years, in 1956, Lefteris opened a grillhouse on Omirou Street. His establishment became so popular that patrons started calling him the “dean of souvlaki.”

Lefteris serves traditional souvlaki, meaning a pita flatbread wrapped around a skewer of pork or beef patties (made by hand), along with tomatoes and onions. The business passed on to the original owner’s children, who relocated it to Nea Smyrni’s main square. Photographs of Lefteris manning the grill and serving loyal customers grace the walls and pay homage to the founder.

Lefteris O Politis, since 1951

When Stavros Savvoglou reached Athens after the population exchange from Constantinople, also known as “Poli” in Greek, he went into the business of selling kebabs from his wife’s wheeled grill in Omonia Square, feeding Athenians and country folk who’d line up for his quick and hearty fare. He found a hole in the wall on seedy Satovriandou Street in 1951 and turned his souvlaki joint into the go-to place for the area’s workers and for the art crowd that hung out at the cafe across the street.

The business was moved to a bigger space nearby in 1965 by his son, Lefteris, who also expanded its reputation beyond the close-knit community of the city center, while it moved once more in 1986, though staying on the same street. Lefteris passed on the baton to his son, Tasos, who continues to use the old family recipe that made this souvlaki among the best in Athens.

The only thing on the menu is beef kebab, which comes in a pita that is cooked over the meat, as well as with cooked onion and parsley in perfect proportions, tomato and a pinch of powdered Aridaia chili – this is the recipe of success, pocket-sized wisdom. If you like spicy food, ask for the “manly” version, which includes finely chopped hot green pepper. Lefetris O Politis expanded with a second outlet on Romvis Street, nearer to Syntagma Square and in a nicer part of town, in 2022, but we will always love the original.

Lila’s Souvlaki in Neo Psychiko

This story starts in 1953, when Giorgos Niarchos parked his three-wheeled motorcycle outside the Panathinaikos soccer stadium on Alexandras Avenue. He wasn’t there to catch a game, but to sell souvlaki to the crowd of fans from a makeshift grill. He soon stood out among the other food sellers who invariably gathered around the venue on game days, gathering the longest line of his fans, including soccer great Mimis Domazos. He used good meat, grilled it to perfection and dressed it in a secret red sauce that was an instant hit. His wife, Lila, made it, using bone broth. Business went so well that Giorgos was able, in a few short years, to open a grillhouse near his home in the suburb of Neo Psychiko, then a much humbler address than what it is today.

Now, 66 years later, the business is still running and it is still successful. It is run by his daughter, Evdokia, and his grandchildren Lila and Anestis. “I feel like I was born in the restaurant, because we live upstairs,” says Lila Kourouni, who was named after her grandmother and was taught her grandfather’s tips of the trade from her mother. Each of the three generations that have run “Lila’s Souvlaki” has contributed to maintaining its legacy. “We’ve tried to keep our grandfather’s recipes as close to the original as possible,” says Lila. “He was adamant about some things – tzatziki and fried potatoes were a hard ‘no’ and if anyone insisted, they’d be sent on their way.

We’re not as strict as he was and if people ask for potatoes we add them, using potatoes we cut ourselves. We also offer tzatziki or yogurt as a topping.” The classic souvlaki wrap is made with a soft, well-cooked and non-greasy pita, good-quality meat, juicy tomatoes from Leonidio, white onion from Psachna in Halkida, mustard (a twist added by the grandfather) and grandma Lila’s secret sauce. The preparations for the beef patties and kebabs are all grandpa Giorgos’ original recipes, as is the kontosouvli spit-grilled pork, which is still a very popular dish. The meat is crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.