A Greek woman on vacation to the island of Paros paid almost 20 euros for a traditional “horiatiki” salad a restaurant. As she complained on TikTok, the salad had come on the table without oil and was charged a few euros extra for the integral component of the traditional Greek Salad.
The price for the classic Greek salad was 15 euros and an extra charge of €2.5 for the salad oil!
The Greek flavorful dish consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, green bell peppers, black olives, capers, feta cheese, dry oregano, salt, black pepper and Olive oil!
In a video she uploaded the woman described how the group of friends ordered a simple Greek salad. When she asked for oil in the dish, she was told that this was possible at an extra charge thus raising the price significantly.
The group had discovered that the salad had no oil at all and so asked the waiters to add some olive oil.
The waiter then brought a small closed bottle of oil, the woman reported.
Soon, however, the group found out that there was no oil in the dish at all.
When the bill came, the group was surprised to find out that the tavern had charged them 2.5 euros extra for the bottle of oil, while the cost for the salad itself – without olive oil – was 15 euros.
The woman noted in her video that she asked the waiter about it:
“And I say to the man, ‘Why did you charge us 2.5 euros for the oil since the salad didn’t have any in it?’ and he replies, ‘Normally, the olive oil is charged.’ So I paid 17.5 euros for a rustic salad that was so much on the plate (pointing to the small amount with her hands). It’s not 2.5 euros. Obviously we had money, but you can’t fool people like that.”
Video: “You are pathetic!”
@its_ina98
The experience of the woman in Paros has caused angry reactions and comments, with other users confirming such shameful practices at the same restaurant.
PS and finally it makes sense why the vlita-greens we ordered at a fish restaurant in Pelion last week, had a generous piece of lemon and three drops of oil. Had we asked for normal oil on the dish, we may have been asked to pay for it extra. Thankgoodness, we were in a hurry and we didn’t 🙂
Pictures: KTG
Many times these days, the type of oil is dubious, it doesn’t seem like Olive oil on a lot of occasions.
It’s a shame , that now we riminess about salads that we used to pay half for and were full of papara. I can’t tell you how many times that was the highlight of a meal.
many years ago i ate in restaurants where they bought you water and bread and then charged you for it, Now it still happens in some places but not others so I always check the menu and ask what is and is not included. The customers should have at least asked about the cost of the salad before ordering. Where I live the price varies from €6.50 up to €11. By the way tourist ripoffs are not unique to greece. In some other places I have found restaurants where VAT and service charge is not included in the menu price and the the message about this is in tiny print you need a microscope to see and is on the back page so you get a bill for 20 to 30% more than you are expecting
it is legal that restaurants charge for bread/tap water/cutlery service – the whole package is called ‘couvert’ – however I think water is charged extra when bottled.
I know the price of olive oil has shot up but this is ridiculous! 🙄
olive oil price is down 50% since Feb or so.