Personal Crete Restaurant Guide

How We Chose These Crete Restaurants

Our personal Crete restaurant guide lists restaurants we have eaten at during our years living in Crete and on holiday there, plus a few that readers have recommended to us. These are personal views, not paid listings. Tripadvisor is useful for checking any restaurant in Crete, but here we give our own picks.

The guide is for visitors on holiday, for people planning to move to Crete who want good restaurants nearby, and for residents looking for somewhere new. We last checked that each place still trades in October 2026, using Google Maps and Tripadvisor.

Personal Crete Restaurant Guide for Agios Nikolaos, Lassithi

Zygos Taverna in Istron

Zygos Taverna is our favourite taverna in the Agios Nikolaos area. Zygos stands in the village of Istron (Kalo Horio), a short drive from the town of Agios Nikolaos in Lasithi.

The speciality is spit-roast suckling pig, cooked until the skin is crisp and the meat is tender. It comes with oven-roasted local potatoes in olive oil, lemon and herbs, and a village salad.

The taverna is rustic and busy, with tables under a pergola in summer and inside in the cooler months. Locals and visitors eat here side by side. The owners keep the house wine and raki coming, and a weekly music night brings in Cretan musicians.

Our full review of Zygos Taverna in Istron covers the menu, the music night and how to find it.

Personal Crete Restaurant Guide for Chania, West Crete

Astrea Restaurant, Platanias

Astrea Restaurant sits high in the old village of Platanias, west of Chania. Astrea has a panoramic view over Platanias and the beach below.

The menu covers Cretan and Greek dishes such as souvlaki, moussaka and fresh seafood. Our Astrea Restaurant review has more detail.

Taverna Pandesia (formerly Piperia), Kalyves

Taverna Pandesia in Kalyves is the restaurant once called Piperia, now under new owners. Pandesia serves generous portions of local Cretan dishes made with fresh local ingredients.

Tripadvisor reviewers in 2025 describe Pandesia as a family-run taverna on the beach with a sea view. Our Kalyves village guide covers the rest of the village.

Shells Café, Almyrida

Shells Café in Almyrida was for many years the place we sent people for a full British breakfast, with generous portions. We could not confirm in October 2026 that Shells Café still trades, so ask locally before you make a special trip. Our Almyrida guide describes the village and its beach.

Personal Crete Restaurant Guide for Stalis, Heraklion Prefecture

Stalis (Stalida) is a beach resort next to Malia in Heraklion prefecture. These are 3 places to eat in Stalis that we have enjoyed.

9 Muses Taverna

9 Muses Taverna (Nine Muses) stands on the western side of Stalis, past the Blue Sea Hotel. 9 Muses serves breakfast as well as fresh fish and home-made traditional dishes.

Mythos Restaurant

Mythos Restaurant is on the beach road in Stalis, a few steps from the sunbeds. Mythos serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a view of the sea.

Robin Hood

Robin Hood in Stalis is a British-style pub and snack bar known for large cooked breakfasts. It suits the end of a holiday, once you have tried all your Cretan favourites. Robin Hood also serves home-cooked meals and drinks, and the staff are friendly.

Personal Crete Restaurant Guide for Koutouloufari, near Hersonissos

Koutouloufari is a small village above the coastal resort of Hersonissos, about 15 minutes' walk from the seafront and 30 to 40 minutes east of Heraklion. Our readers recommend 2 restaurants in the village for a special evening out.

Esperos Taverna

Esperos Taverna is a restaurant in the village of Koutouloufari, praised by readers for its food, service and value for money. Esperos has a roof garden with a sea view, and its Instagram profile says it has traded since 1996. Pauline from Ireland visited it several times over 4 years, often more than once in a 2-week stay. She liked it enough to recommend it to her sister for her wedding reception.

The wedding party agreed a menu with the owners on arrival. Pauline says the table layout, food, drink, service and friendliness of the staff were beyond their expectations, and she gave Esperos 10 out of 10.

Galini Restaurant

Galini (written "Gallini's" by some visitors) is a family-run restaurant in Koutouloufari for a special night out, with a very extensive menu and wine list. Prices are a little higher than at other restaurants in the area. Readers say the higher prices are worth it at least once during a stay.

Service at Galini is attentive and unhurried. Hot towels arrive before each meal, and staff clear the table of crumbs between courses. Pauline from Ireland advises leaving a few hours for dinner, because nobody rushes you. Chris from the UK returned for her husband's 50th birthday and let the waiter choose the food. Not every reader agrees: Norman from the UK found the presentation overdone and the food expensive for what it was.

More on Eating Out in Crete

Crete has many more places to eat than the restaurants above, from village kafeneions to grill houses. Our eating out in Crete guide explains the kafeneion, the taverna, the psistaria (grill house) and the zacharoplastio (cake shop).