Simple rules when eating out — a handy guide for the food-obsessed and the food-confused.

Italian: Skip the linguini; get the osso buco.
French: If you can’t pronounce it, it’s probably delicious.
Greek: Bring a group and order every appetizer.

Remember the lesson at Parea, the Greek restaurant that just opened in Flatiron (safely off the scary stretch of Park Avenue South).

A long room — all white walls and dark tables — leads to a raised platform in the back. Ask for seats at the communal table and look up: That pretty canopy of wrought iron branches under a warm orange ceiling might as well be an olive grove in Santorini at sunset.

Chef Michael Symon, a star in Cleveland (and on the Food Network), makes his New York debut with fish spinialo (Greek for ceviche) and impressive house-cured meats (musts include lamb hiromeri, venison pastourmas, and saffron-scented salami). Crispy lamb brain salad may not be for the faint-hearted, but everyone will be happy with crispy pork.

The name of the restaurant, incidentally, means “group of friends” in Greek.

There now. Who said dining out had to be complicated?

Parea, 36 East 20th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue South (212-777-8448).