222 Best Restaurants in Greece

A stately menu taking inspiration from its Mani roots makes this breezy waterside restaurant the pick of Limeni's harborside dining. Dishes hum to the tune of the region's famed smoked pork sygklino, myzithra cheese, and a bounty of fresh seafood, from parrotfish atop wild greens plucked from the Taygettus mountains, to its impressive Greek "sushi."

There's a lot of fun to be had at this lively taverna, where tsipouro is more the order of the day than its wide range of gyros and souvlaki dishes. That said, its food is plentiful and delicious—and if you're lucky, your visit will coincide with a set from its resident three-piece rembetika band, who really get things going.

Koutouki ("little box"), aptly named for its diminutive interior, is a good value, just one reason this place is so popular with the locals. All the taverna favorites are here, but order something made with the local cheese, or the amazing hilopotes (local pasta) cooked in a chicken broth, or the divine celery-leek-and-beef meatballs. Anything served in this taverna is delicious and honest, and the local wine isn't bad either. Kali Orexi! (Good appetite!)

A traditional stone house built in 1850 is the setting for hearty lunches and dinners. In winter, dine near the fireplace and relish hot soups, lamb chops by the kilo, and grilled local talagani cheeses. In summer, the leafy terrace is one of the best seats in town, with salads, pastas, and fish dishes balancing out the traditionally meat-heavy mains. This is easily the most ambitious of Delphi's crowd-pleasing eateries, and it never fails to disappoint.

The first words on most locals' mouths when you ask them where they like to eat are To Tsoukali. Owner Yannis Lambrakis prowls the kitchen dressed in black, emerging to chat at length with diners and talk them through a menu that takes some classic Greek dishes and, through assiduous preparation and little tweaks here and there, emerge as intensely flavorsome as you'll find anywhere, typically served alongside tagliatelle smothered in local cheese. As well as the best rooster you'll ever taste, the menu is forever changing, so just let Yannis talk you through it. Make a reservation because it fills up fast.

Choose between a table on the main square (perfect for people-watching) or the raised terrace out back with stunning views of the sea. Equally showstopping is the fine dining available here, each dish beautifully decorated and incorporating some of the island's most delicious ingredients in both traditional and more modern fare. It caters excellently to vegetarians, too.

The setting alone is worth paying for, and staying for a long, long time and way past your welcome. Set in the forested surroundings just north of the main run, this family-owned restaurant has tables and chairs right up to the waterfront—with just the breeze and the passing butterflies for company. On the menu are all the Greek favorites—but its specialty is fresh fish, grilled to perfection. Set in a former wine-making area, it also serves up a great range of local tipples.

While it lacks the pretty terrace setting of the other restaurants along Monemvasia's main street, Voltes more than makes up for it with culinary wit. In towns like this, where tourism is a given and few visitors eat anywhere twice, imagination can go out of the window, yet this is easily one of the most ambitious eateries in the area. It has clever takes on the staples of Greek mezedes, raising traditional cheese pies to new heights with a dash of sweet tomato jam, or spicing up local-style stir fry kototigania with ample chillies, tart molasses, and sweet caramelized onions. 

The stunning view from this restaurant overlooking the cliff-enclosed bay at Paleokastritsa is the big draw for the restaurant, but the menu offers a happy range of well-prepared classics. The lobster with linguine is the signature house dish—but if it doesn't whet your appetite, there's a marvelous seafood platter, too.

The steep climb up to Zoe's all but guarantees a spectacular view, though it's worth booking ahead to secure a table with front-row seats. The food is equally breathtaking, with a strong adherence to traditional Symiot cuisine: think jugged hare, dolmades (stuffed vine leaves), delicious fish patties, and meltingly tender five-hour slow-cooked lamb and potatoes—all prepared at the owner's adjacent home. What's more, many of the ingredients used come from the owner's own farm.

Don't let the garish signs depicting the menu put you off: the far-ranging offerings are excellent. You can eat lightly—a gyro or pizza—but do venture into some of the more serious fare, especially such local dishes as the fish that's been oven-baked with onion, garlic, green peppers, and parsley. The house's barrel wine is a nice accompaniment to any meal.

Both local and international dishes are on the menu at this long-established and casually elegant restaurant on the Liston arcade. Start with a plate of steamed mussels or a salad, then move on to hearty Greek and Corfiot classics. Spicy bourdetto (fish stewed with hot red pepper) and braised lamb shanks in red wine are usually on the menu. Drinks and sweets are served until midnight.

A stripped-back space where fire takes center stage and Greek produce gets the spotlight it deserves. The menu changes often but expect things like fried zucchini flowers, grilled panzanella with charred veg, or line-caught fish kissed by flame. The ambience could be defined as somewhere between a Cretan village feast and a postpunk listening session.

Tables sit right in the sand, a few feet from the waterline, and platters of grilled octopus, sardines, and ouzo-friendly mezedes land fast and fresh. Owner Pavlos and his wife Lia open from breakfast till midnight; come early for coffee and loukoumades (doughnuts), stay late for moonlit seafood at prices locals praise as old-school Aegina.

At this little garden restaurant on the hillside, a 200-year-old well in the center of the elegant, leafy terrace produces its own natural spring water, a perfect addition to a traditional meal. Everything that comes from the kitchen is an old-time classic—with lamb often listed as the house special. It's a 10-minute walk uphill from the port; if you lose your way, just ask a local, as everyone knows this island institution.

This family-run restaurant on the waterfront serves the best Kefalonian meat pie according to many of its adoring customers, but before verifying the rumor, try the grilled haloumi with honey, octopus marinated in vinegar, and feta-stuffed lamb wrapped in vine leaves—all of which are designed to capture the smells and tastes of the island. The layout is mostly traditional, with simple square tables arranged in the usual sequence throughout the interior and roofed outdoor section, but the red walls, chairs, curtains, and wall art are a nice change from the ubiquitous blue and white in Greece.

You'll spot many signs for this restaurant around Skopelos Town, but don't let that put you off. The jasmine-scented garden setting here offers an escape from the hubbub of the busy port, with a neat layout, low lighting, and gracious hosting by owner, Anna. Pasta and risotto dishes feature on the menu, with an excellent range of salads, organic Greek wines, plus local specialties like the honey-drizzled Skopelos cheese pie. There's occasional live music, too, so call ahead to check the timings. 

This friendly family-run spot in the hill village of Kagiani, next to Varia and just south of Mytilene, has wonderful views of Mytilini town, the Aegean, and Asia Minor beyond. Grilled octopus, crisp fried fish, stuffed zucchini flowers, and flavorful salads are served in traditional Lesvos style as small plates to accompany ouzo. It's best to reserve in the busy summer months, when locals and returning visitors crowd in to enjoy the evening breeze and twinkling lights.

Tucked in a quieter corner of Ornos Bay, Apaggio is romantically decorated with a ceiling of hanging lights and lined with large open windows for a perfect, unobstructed view of the sea. Octopus dry in the sun as you peruse the menu of Greek classics but it is probably wiser to ask about the selection of local fish. Fresh and simply grilled, this is the authentic way to taste the Island.

Steps away from Ammoudi beach, this tavern serves up Cretan classics on a sea-scented veranda overlooking the ocean. Proud of their local ingredients, the family-led team at Arismari offer traditional flavors that respect their culinary heritage. Strong on simply prepared seafood and fish, the menu also offers snails and sea herbs collected from the neighboring shores. Perhaps best is to take a slice of the pie of the day, some freshly fried calamari, and to raise a glass of house wine to the waves that break on the sands.

Avli has a wide array of mezedes, salads, soups, and mains, which cater to all diners. The chefs source ingredients locally whenever possible and combine them in inventive and innovative ways, such as with the pork fillet, which comes accompanied by a sauce made from the island's famous Corfu-grown kumquats. Standard local classics include tsigarelli (refried greens in a spicy-hot sauce), marinated anchovies, and zucchini fritters, while delicious pies change daily according to what's available.

Once a very well-kept secret, today Avli fills fast, so waiting a little for a table is pretty common. Bear in mind it's hard to find, but if you do walk past its inconspicuous entrance, you'd be missing out on uniquely satisfying small plates and bottomless carafes of barrel wine. Dining here remains a unique experience in a village-like backyard that is nothing like the rest of Athens. Foreign artists and Greek business people alike find refuge here, especially when they want to take the afternoon off and indulge a little.

Open and cool, this no-nonsense riverside café serves up waffles, pancakes, pizza, and roasted meats but it is maybe best to take a coffee and some yogurt and honey and watch the water run by.

A jasmine-scented front garden, candlelit at night, and an antiques-filled salon are the charming settings in a centuries-old sea captain's house for this traditional taverna. All the classics are there, but perhaps the best approach is to order from the sizable meze selection, wash it down with the very palatable house white, and soak in the cozy atmosphere.

A breezy veranda at the edge of the village looks down to the sea and across to Naxos. You'll come for the views, but stay for the food—the terraced fields all around supply the raw ingredients that go into the traditional regional cooking. This is food like grandma used to make: hearty, wholesome, and honest.

Though all the restaurants on the harbor are loved by locals and visitors alike (each has its own kitchen garden at the rear), Corali enjoys a quieter setting, with shaded seats right up to the seawall. The made-to-order Alonnisos cheese pie that uses "grandma's recipe" is always a lip-smacking pleasure.

Arachova's oldest taverna (more than a hundred years old) still draws gargantuan crowds—causing occasional staff surliness—simply because of the amazing food. Lamb with oregano, and beef in a red sauce are both served with hilopites, the thin egg noodles cut into thousands of tiny squares, for which the area is known. Sample the fried formaella (a mild local sheep's-milk cheese); the hortopites (pastries filled with mountain greens); or the bourekakia (grilled beef patties stuffed with formaella or Gouda cheese). The brusco red wine comes straight from the barrel here.

Small metal tables line either side of a steep pedestrian road leading from across the St. George hotel right under Lycabettus down to Dexameni Square, where one can peek through the glass to see the ancient Roman aqueduct. Throughout the year the greenery-surrounded café serves coffee, refreshments, and meze dishes to a chatty, vibrant crowd of all ages and styles. On the square you'll also find Cine Dexameni, one of Athens's old open-air cinemas that operates throughout the summer, and a playground.

Locals claim this is one of Sparta's best restaurants, but then again, most head out to village tavernas for a big meal and leave this place to the tour-bus crowd. Even so, the food is reliably good. The classic specialties include a fish dish made with garlic, wine, oil, and rusks; bardouniotiko (chicken cooked with cheese and olives); and, occasionally, sheep's heads cooked on a spit. The tree-shaded garden rounds out a perfect meal.

Excellent food and true Greek filoxenia (hospitality) await at the combination tourist shop, café, and three-meal-a-day restaurant. Recommended are the loukanika (sausages); rolled, spiced, and spit-roasted meat; and the excellent yemista (stuffed tomatoes and peppers) and papoutsakia (eggplant halves baked with cheese, spiced ground beef, and garlicy tomato sauce). If you want to try the specialty of the area, katsikaki sti souvla (roasted goat on a spit), order at least a day ahead. The krasi hima (house barrel wine) is locally produced, and the owners also serve homemade tsipouro (the Greek version of grappa) in a small carafe served with snacks.