The dwindling of the good local souvlaki joint

I recently drew up a list for a friend who was visiting Athens from abroad, with suggestions on where to go for good fish, tavernas with amazing lamb chops, the nicest wine bars and so forth. When I reached the "souvlaki" category, however, I noticed the distances getting much further apart: One was in Nikaia, near Piraeus, another in Nea Erythraia, in Athens' north… Thankfully there's also Lefteris' in the city center, making things decidedly easier. That said, my Austrian friend would probably stop for the first "best Greek gyros" he sees - and he'd probably love it too. Food just tastes better when you're on holiday. But the question of how many really good souvlaki grill houses there are in Athens is a whole other matter.

It's not just visitors who need a well-curated list of recommendations if they want to have a decent version of Greece's "national street food." Sure,...