A description of Greek food and the dining "experience" can fill an entire book. Here, we've focused on distinctive highlights of dining in Greece. Greek meals, for instance, usually start off with appetizers known as mezedes -- small plates of hot and cold selections shared from the center of the table. A notable aspect of restaurants in Greece is that you can make a meal out of as little or as much as you want from any section of the menu -- all mezedes, if you wish.

Another distinction of Greek restaurants is that you can order at almost any hour of the day. Not in every little village and not in the more stylish restaurants, but many will start serving meal courses by late morning and on through the day to late at night. Greeks eat their evening meal quite late -- usually not before 8pm -- but restaurants are prepared to accommodate foreigners who like to sit down as early as 5:30pm. Room rates at most hotels now include satisfying buffet breakfasts. If you miss the buffet, you can usually find an outside cafȳ that can come up with the basics. Don't expect fresh orange juice, though. And if you have definite preferences for tea -- especially herbal -- consider bringing your own teabags.

Most restaurants now have a "cover charge" that includes the table setting and a small basket of bread. It used to be that Greek waiters brought ice-cold pitchers of fresh water to each table without being asked to, but this custom has pretty much vanished. If you request "natural water," they may bring tap water to your table, but if you ask for "water," you will be brought a plastic bottle of water -- and charged for it. (By Greek law, they are supposed to open the sealed top in your presence.)