Souvlaki

Souvlaki is a popular Greek street food. It is meat (usually pork but sometimes lamb, chicken, or fish) cooked on small skewers over a fire.
 
“Spitted small-meats known as σουβλάκια (souvlaki)” was printed in The Pall Mall Magazine in April 1905. “It seems that Greek railway station restaurants feature a dish known as ‘Souvlaki,’ which is nothing more nor less than a split bamboo stick about a foot long on which tasty pieces of pork and lamb are roasted and served on short order” was printed in the Springfield (MA) Daily News on June 11, 1936.
 
 
Wikipedia: Souvlaki
Souvlaki (Greek: σουβλάκι, romanized: souvláki, IPA: [suˈvlaci]; plural: σουβλάκια, romanized: souvlákia) is a Greek food consisting of small pieces of meat and sometimes vegetables grilled on a skewer. It is usually eaten straight off the skewer while still hot. It can be served with or inside a rolled pita, typically with lemon, sauces, vegetables such as sliced tomato and onion, and fried potatoes as a side. The meat usually used in Greece and Cyprus is pork.
 
Etymologyof spitt
The word souvlaki is a diminutive of the Medieval Greek soúvla (σούβλα, ‘skewer’) itself borrowed from Latin subula.
 
HathiTrust Digital Library
April 1905, The Pall Mall Magazine, “Modern Athens” by William Sharp, pg. 396, col. 1:
... with nothing to show that the hostelry is Greek save an occasional dish of spitted small-meats known as σουβλάκια (souvlaki) ...
 
Newspapers.com
17 June 1936, Springfield (MA) Daily News, pg. 6, col. 5:
It seems that Greek railway station restaurants feature a dish known as “Souvlaki,” which is nothing more nor less than a split bamboo stick about a foot long on which tasty pieces of pork and lamb are roasted and served on short order. (...) The Greek “souvlaki” retails for five cents a stick.
 
Newspapers.com
20 June 1936, Kansas City (MO) Journal-Post, pg. 11, col. 2:
‘SOUVLAKI’ BOOSTED
Tasty Greek Method of Serving Pork Urged.
An appetizing addition to the menu of American barbecue and other roadside stands is suggested by Assistant Trade Commissioner George Lewis Jones, Athens, in a report to the commerce department.
 
“Souvlaki,” a split bamboo stick about a foot long on which tasty pieces of pork and lamb are roasted and served on short order, is featured by railway station restaurants in Greece, the report states.
 
Newspapers.com
22 June 1936, Richmond (KY) Daily Register, “Is the Hot Dog Doomed?,” pg. 2, col. 2:
“Souvlaki,” his report explains, is prepared as follows: Pieces of meat about an inch and a half square and a little more than half an inch thick, having bits of fat attached, are skewered on a 12-inch stick of split bamboo, from six to eight pieces to a stick. Lamb and pork are usually employed in Greece but the manner of cooking is equally adapted to other kinds of meat. The sticks are then laid with the two ends resting on the edges of a metal trough containing glowing charcoal. An attendant turns the sticks from time to time, seasons them with salt and wild marjoram, and to hasten the cookings, fans the charcoal. In between five and ten minutes, depending on the heat, the meat is thoroughly roasted and richly flavored by the fat which falls upon the charcoal and rises again.
     
Sandwich Tribunal
Greek Souvlaki
by Jim Behymer · Published May 27, 2019 · Updated June 6, 2025
Souvlaki is a Greek word, the diminutive form of souvla, or spit, like the spit used to roast a whole animal. Thus the word souvlaki refers skewers, or to the small chunks of meat, usually pork but sometimes lamb, chicken, or fish, grilled on small skewers over a fire. Often served still on the skewer, in fast food terms, Souvlaki can also refer to a sandwich, similar to a gyro, where the souvlaki meat, removed from the skewer, is served in a pita with onion, tomato, and tzatziki sauce.
 
Souvlaki for the Soul
What is Souvlaki? A Guide to Greece’s Iconic Street Food
Peter G - owner of Souvlaki For The Soul.
Updated: Aug 17, 2025 by Peter G ·
1. Souvlaki is one of Greece’s most popular street foods, made of skewered, grilled meat (usually pork or chicken).
2. It’s served in different ways - straight from the skewer, wrapped in pita, or plated with sides.
3. It isn’t the same as gyros: gyros are shaved rotisserie meat, while souvlaki is cooked on skewers.