Grill Restaurants
Charcoal, skewers and the smell that finds you three streets away.
Key Grill Houses
Charcoal, skewers and the psistaries that keep the island fed late.
Avlogyros Grill House
Greek grill cooking in the heart of Kos Town.
Ousia Burger Grill House
Twenty years on the same spot in Lambi, grill and burgers side by side.
Pachos Grill Restaurant
A village grill in Marmari, heavy on charcoal-cooked meat.
Stavlisio Steak House
Farm-fresh cuts and a steakhouse menu in Lambi.
Mystilli Meal & Grill
Family-run since 2015, on Kanari Street in Kos Town.
Off the Charcoal
Psistaries and grill houses across the island.
Grill houses are spread across the island rather than gathered in one place. Kos Town has the greatest number, but Lambi and Marmari both hold long-established psistaries that draw people out from the capital.
The format barely varies wherever you find it: an open charcoal grill near the front, a short menu, paper covering the tables, and a room that fills up long after the restaurants nearby have taken their last orders.
Understanding the Psistaria
The Greek grill house has its own vocabulary, and it is worth knowing.
Souvlaki strictly means small cubes of meat on a skewer, grilled over charcoal and served either on the skewer or wrapped. Gyros is the meat carved from the vertical rotisserie. Ask for either as a pita — wrapped with tomato, onion, chips and tzatziki — or as a merida, a plate with the meat, garnish and chips served separately.
Beyond the skewers, a psistaria will usually grill paidakia, small lamb chops eaten with your hands; brizola, a pork or beef chop; kontosouvli, larger chunks of spit-roasted pork; and kokoretsi for the more adventurous. Sides are simple and consistent: chips, a village salad, tzatziki, grilled bread.
This is the most economical proper meal on Kos and usually the latest-serving. In most villages the grill house is still turning out food after the sit-down restaurants have closed their kitchens, which is why it tends to be the last stop of a night rather than the first.
Pita or merida
Wrapped to take away, or served as a plate with the sides separate.
Open latest
Grill houses typically outlast the restaurants on any given street.
Try the paidakia
Small charcoal-grilled lamb chops, eaten with your hands and lemon.
Cheapest good meal
The most reliable low-cost dinner anywhere on the island.