However, the word souvlaki, which means “spit,” implies that it is prepared over fire. Ancient Greeks first made souvlaki, and there are even some references to it from the Byzantine Empire (395 CE to 1453)
Both of these traditional dishes are proudly available on the menu at The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill. Our Great Greek Gyros come with beef/lamb or grilled chicken gyro meat and include lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, tzatziki, and feta. We serve beef/lamb or grilled chicken gyro meat in our traditional gryos, along with tomatoes, red onions, and tzatziki. Our gyro plate comes with rice pilaf, French fries, or feta fries in addition to tender sliced gyro meat on pita bread.
Greece has many delicious and nutritious dishes to offer, but it also has its own distinctive street food. If you’ve ever pondered the distinctions between two popular foods, gyros and souvlaki, we’re here to explain the differences.
Both gyros and souvlaki are staples of modern Greek cuisine and are considered fast food items. To add to the confusion, souvlaki is used as a replacement term for gyro. This confusion is due to their resemblance, but in actuality, the word gyro means “turn,” which references the cones of meat that are cooked on a vertically rotating skewer.
To be clear, gyro is meat cooked on a rotating skewer, while souvlaki is meat cooked on a stick.
It’s interesting, souvlakis and gyros seemed equally popular in Greece but globally, gyros seem to be more well-known, especially in the US. I lived for over a decade in the states and I saw many gyros shops in different cities, but I had never even heard of souvlakis. Gyros wraps became popular in the US after the vertical meat rotisseries were mass produced in the mid-1970s.
Which one tastes the best is the most crucial question, and the answer is simple. All of them!.
Both are vertical stacks of meat that evolved from the Turkish doner kebab. In the 19th century, the Ottoman Turks developed this unique way of stacking seasoned meat that cooked on a horizontal rotisserie. The vertical rotisserie was later introduced and found its way to other countries, evolving to become the gyros in Greece and the shawarma in the Middle East.
I thought I had it all figured out. I believed I understood the distinction between a souvlaki and a gyros.
Here is an instance of gyros being served as a full portion, which I don’t see very often. Similar to souvlaki, gyros portions cost more because they contain more meat.
The definitions of souvlaki and kalamaki can vary greatly, whereas gyros generally refers to the sliced meat item. Even though there are large chunks of meat in it, Greek restaurants in the United States always refer to souvlaki as meat on a skewer, which may have further confused you.
When someone says “souvlaki” in Athens and southern Greece, they’re referring to a pita that either has souvlaki or gyros. They refer to that as kalamaki (little straw) when they want a plain souvlaki (the one on the wooden stick).
The strangest thing is that even though most souvlatzidika have big signs saying “souvlaki with gyros” and “souvlaki with chicken,” if you overhear them conversing, you’ll hear them say “2 pitta gyros for the young man” instead!
The entire meal is souvlaki: pita bread with any type of meat, occasionally cheese and/or vegetables, tomato, onions, parsley, chips (rarely), and tzatziki (optional).
Things are simpler and more direct in Thessaloniki and northern Greece. Gyros is always known as gyro and can be served in a pita pita me gyro or on a plate. Souvlaki is always served plain on a stick or inside a pita-pita me souvlaki. Only straws are referred to as “kalamaki” (for drinking coke or a nice frappe coffee:-).