The Greek street food consisting of grilled meat on a skewer is souvlaki.
Souvlaki is made from small pieces of meat—most commonly pork in Greece and Cyprus—grilled on a skewer and eaten hot. It can be served directly from the stick, on a plate with fries and vegetables, or inside pita with tomatoes, onions, and sauces such as tzatziki. Chicken and lamb are also used.
The name is a diminutive related to the Greek word for skewer, reflecting the dish’s compact form. In Athens, souvlaki proper is often called kalamaki, while “souvlaki” may also be used more broadly for pita-based versions. Regional usage is not completely uniform, which can cause confusion for visitors.
Skewer cooking has deep roots in Greek food history. Archaeological finds from Santorini and Mycenaean sites include cooking supports and trays associated with roasting meat, although the modern fast-food form became widely distributed in Greece after World War II and especially during the 1960s.
Gyros is the main mix-up: it is meat cooked on a vertical rotating spit and shaved off, rather than small pieces grilled on an individual skewer.