Where to Eat the Best Souvlaki in Athens? Souvlaki Kostas, Athens, Greece

The Best Souvlaki in Athens: Kostas

In Greece, and especially in Athens, there is a street food called souvlaki. In medieval Greek, “souvla” means skewer, and “souvlaki” means skewer. You can easily find more than fifty souvlaki restaurants in Athens, but only a few are named Kostas. One is in Thessaloniki, one is in the Greek Cypriot part of Cyprus, and two are in Athens. As you may already understand, we will tell you about the real-deal “Kostas” today. We will talk about Kostas, the ancestor of Kostas souvlaki.

However, when we visited Athens (late December 2023), we learned the bitter truth that Souvlaki Kostas had moved from where it had been serving for years (they moved on December 4, 2023) – by going to the old address. And what should we see on the door? The address of the new place was written on an A4 sheet and pasted on the glass over the old shop. We walked for another ten minutes to the new place. The new place is more central and on the main street… There is a queue in front of it again. Here is the address if you are ready. If Google Maps still needs to be corrected, you can use this address as a reference: 7 Filellinon Street. Syntagma Square.

Kostas has built the most refined version of souvlaki.

There is a nostalgic photo of Kostas, who is Mr. Kostas, with a scalpel mustache at the door. He gives the impression of an excellent and trustworthy souvlaki shop. Behind him is a photo of his grandson posing, “I am also following in my grandfather’s footsteps.” So we are in the right place. We take a quick look inside, and yes, the grandson in the photo outside is inside at the grill.

When we went to Kostas’ new place, there was a queue, but relatively not as long as we were told. That’s why we waited for at most ten minutes. In fact, in this buffet-type place, everyone eats their souvlakis in five minutes and leaves. All in all, you would wait in line for half an hour on the busiest day.

We also thought they deliberately made the grill and kitchen area big and the hall narrow. After all, it’s in the best interest of every place to have customers spilling out onto the street.

As soon as you enter, on the left side, a razor-sharp lad with no hair, handed to us by Master Kostas, is cooking the meat on the grill. A single skewer of meat goes inside the souvlakis served between pita bread. This meat can be beef or pork, depending on preference. When we went there, the price of pork souvlakis was 3.20 Euros, and the cost of beef souvlakis was 3.40 Euros. The meat skewers are bigger and squarer than the skewers in our kebab restaurants and smaller than the ones in our kebab restaurants. But no matter how you look at it, it is apparent that they all have a standard. It is also evident that you will get ideal street food at that price.

Anyway, sir, these meat skewers are pulled onto your heated pita bread, and of course, the toppings come on top. The souvlaki takes its perfect form with neatly chopped red onions, tomatoes, strained yogurt, and spices added like cream on your skewers. Squeeze a little lemon on top if you wish, and enjoy. You can order whatever you want to drink with it.

Where to Eat the Best Pork Souvlaki on a Platter in Athens? Souvlaki Leivadia, Athens, Greece

That’s it! But it’s simply delicious. If you’re starving, one souvlaki won’t fill you up. However, a human can make it through a snack with just one.

What’s the difference between a shish wrap and a pita? Everything is much more organized in Souvlaki. It is a delightful wrap kebab that will remain on your palate and not tire you. It’s a more elegant and naive version of the Turkish/Arabic wrap concept. And Kostas has built the most refined version of this souvlaki realm.

Congratulations to him and his family for continuing this business. If he (Mr.Kostas) passes away, may he rest in heaven, and if he is alive, may God grant him a long life.

As we have written, if you have a meal at Kostas, please send us a photo via our Instagram DM account. We would love to reminisce with you.

Bon appetite.

Souvlaki Kostas
Filellinon 7, Athens 105 57, Greece
Tel: +30 2103228502