Most tavernas in Greece usually serve “τηςώρας” dishes (=dishes of the hour), which means meat dishes grilled on the spot upon request. The most common grilled meat dishes “τηςώρας” are ημπριζόλα (= steak), χοιρινήήμοσχαρίσια (=pork or beef), τοψητόκοτόπουλο (=grilled chicken), ταπαϊδάκια (lamb chops), τομοσχαρίσιοφιλέτοκαιτοψαρονέφρι (beef and pork filet). Souvlaki is either served as one big portion with French fries and rice or as individual sticks. You can choose between chicken or pork souvlaki. These meat dishes are usually served with French fries.

BASIC VOCABULARY
Greek word Pronunciation Meaning
Θέλω THElo I want (I would like)
Ημπριζόλα BriZOla the steak
Μίαμπριζόλα MEEa one (for feminine nouns)
Ηχοιρινή hiriNEE pork
Ημοσχαρίσια moshaREEsia beef
Τοφιλέτο TO fiLEto the filet
Έναφιλέτο Ena fiLEto one filet
Τομοσχαρίσιοφιλέτο moshaREEsio fiLEto the beef filet
Τοψαρονέφρι psaroNEfri the pork filet
Τοκοτόπουλο koTOpoolo the chicken
Τοκοτόπουλοφιλέτο koTOpoolo fiLEto the chicken filet
Ταπαϊδάκια paiDAkia the lamb chops
Μίαμερίδα MEEa meREEda one portion
Μισόκιλό miSO kilo half a kilo
Τοσουβλάκι sooVLAki souvlaki
Ένασουβλάκι Ena sooVLAki one souvlaki
Δύοσουβλάκια DEEo sooVLAkia two souvlaki
Τρίασουβλάκια TREEA sooVLAkia three souvlaki
ΜεπατάτεςME paTAtes with French fries.

ORDERING YOUR GRILLED MEAT DISH
This is how you order the meat dish you prefer.
Θέλωμίαμπριζόλαχοιρινή.
THElo MEEa briZOla hiriNEE.
I want (I would like) a pork steak.

Θέλωμίαμπριζόλαμοσχαρίσια.
THElo MEEa BRiZOla moshaREEsia.
I want (I would like) a beef steak.

Θέλωμίαμερίδαπαϊδάκια.
THelo MEEa meREEda paiDAkia.
I want (I would like) a portion of lamb chops.

Θέλωμισόκιλόπαϊδάκια.
THElo miSO kiLO paiDAkia.
I want (I would like) half a kilo of lamb chops.

Θέλωένακιλόπαϊδάκια.
THElo Ena kiLO paiDAkia.
I want (I would like) a kilo of lamb chops.

Θέλωέναφιλέτομοσχαρίσιο.
THElo Ena fiLEto moshaREEsio.
I want (I would like) a beef filet.

Θέλωμίαμερίδακοτόπουλο.
THElo MEEa meREEda koTOpoolo.
I want (I would like) a portion of chicken.

Θέλωέναφιλέτοκοτόπουλο.
THElo Ena fiLEto koTOpoolo.
I want (I would like) a chicken filet.

Θέλωμίαμερίδασουβλάκι.
THElo MEEa meREEda sooVLAki.
I want (I would like) a portion of souvlaki.

Θέλωδύοσουβλάκιακοτόπουλο.
THElo DEEo sooVLAkia koTOpoolo.
I want (I would like) two chicken souvlaki.

Θέλωτρίασουβλάκιαχοιρινά.
THElo TREEa sooVLAkia hiriNA.
I want (I would like) three chicken souvlaki.

GREEK YOU ALREADY KNOW
Τηςώρας= of the hour. The word is found in English words like horoscope.
Φιλέτο, like the English filet.
Σούβλα is the spit. When we add the ending -άκι in a noun, the word means something of the same kind, but small. Therefore, souvlaki is meat on the small spit.
Πατάτες, like the potatoes.
Κιλό like the English kilo.

BASIC GRAMMAR
One: for the feminine grammatical gender nouns we use μία and for neuter grammatical gender nouns we use ένα. Μία μπριζόλ-α, μία μερίδ-α, ένα φιλέτ-ο, ένα σουβλάκ-ι, ένα κιλ-ό. Τhe feminine grammatical gender nouns end in -α, -η, and the neuter grammatical gender nouns end in -ο, -ι, in the singular number, nominative.
The plural of the neuter grammatical gender nouns ends in -α: τοσουβλάκι / τασουβλάκια, τοπαϊδάκι / ταπαϊδάκια.

PRONUNCIATION KEY
i (ill), ee (beer), e (ever), o (organ), oo (boot), y (yes), h (helium), th (theory), d (the). The capitalized syllables are accented.