GREECE: Souvlaki vs. Gyro, so What’s the Difference?

I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I knew the difference between a souvlaki and a gyro.

A souvlaki was a dish of grilled meat served with a side of vegetables, fried potatoes, tzatziki, and pita bread. Like American hamburgers, it’s a popular fast food and considered a Greek national dish. A gyro was basically the same thing, but in sandwich form, right?

Wrong.

When we went to Athens and Santorini, I was surprised to find souvlaki wrapped in pita and deconstructed gyros served on a platter. What sorcery was this?? It threw me off and told me that my understanding of souvlaki and gyro was skewed and incomplete, if not wrong altogether.

Both dishes look the same. So how exactly were they different? That’s what I sought to find out in today’s National Dish Quest post.

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