Taverna

Greek restaurant

A taverna (Greek: ταβέρνα) is a small Greek restaurant that serves Greek food. It is an important part of Greek culture. The taverna has become familiar to foreign visitors to Greece and through the building of tavernes (Greek: ταβέρνες, plural) in countries such as the United States and Australia by Greeks.

A taverna on the Greek island of Naxos.

The word taverna (Greek: ταβέρνα) is borrowed from the Latin word taberna meaning “shop” or "inn".[1]

History

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The earliest Greek restaurant was discovered in ancient Athens by archaeologists in the early 1970s.[2] Large amounts of cooking and eating utensils were found at the taverna like plates, mixing bowls, lidded casseroles, spits for broiling meat, mortars for chopping and grinding along with a cooking bell and many different jugs.[2] Large amounts of seafood were also found like oysters, mussels, murex, and large fish.[2] A nearby wine shop, maybe connected to the restaurant, served local Attic wine and many other wines imported from Chios, Mende, Corinth, Samos and Lesbos.[2]

There were also shops serving wine in the Byzantine Empire.[3] This is known from a 10th-century Byzantine curfew meant to prevent drunken "violence and rioting".[3]

A typical menu for a modern taverna often includes:

Tavernes usually open at noon with dinner hours starting at 20:00 and reaching a peak around 22:00.[4] As tourism has grown in Greece, many tavernes have attempted to cater to foreign visitors with English menus and "shills" being hired in many tavernes to attract passing tourists.[5] Tavernes in tourist areas pay commissions to tour guides who send business their way.[5]

In literature and art

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The main character in the play and film Shirley Valentine written by Willy Russell leaves her husband and family in Liverpool for a vacation where she has an affair with a waiter at the taverna and ends up working in the taverna.[6]

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References

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Citations

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  1. Harper, Douglas (2001–2023). "tavern". Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Shear 1975, pp. 356–357.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Book of the Eparch, 19 (quoted in Dalby 1996, "Biscuits from Byzantium", p. 196).
  4. Hiestand 2003, p. 65.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Cox 2001, p. 97.
  6. Riggs 1999, "Willy Russell".

Sources

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Further reading

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Other websites

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