Athens, Santorini and Mykanos - Restaurants

[phil1ben]

First time visiting the above. Leaving in early June. Any suggestions about restaurants in any of the three locations or places to see that we might not read about in the guide books. Thanks in advance.

 

[Souschef]

We got married on Santorini 10 years ago. After the ceremony, we had hired a car and driver to tour the island. We asked to be taken to a restaurant the locals went to.
The name of the restaurant was Gallini, and it is near the Santorini Airport. They do not allow buses or minivans.
I have attached a couple of pictures.

 

[W2R]

Lovely, Souschef! Your wife is so beautiful, and what a great view from the restaurant.

 

[ulvazell]

My bride and I were in all of the above several years ago with 2 other couples. The one restaurant that really stands out was in Athens, below the Acropolis in the Plaka. Its called Scholarchio. It was family style Greek. Check it out on TripAdvisor. They brought out an assortment of dishes on a very large tray. We picked several plates for the table and shared them among the group. We still talk about that meal today...

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...ews-Scholarchio_Restaurant-Athens_Attica.html

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We've only visited Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos twice by cruise ship. The only kind of gem we found with our limited time in port was a small restaurant called Margaro in Piraeus when we overnighted in Athens. We came across the restaurant via some travel blogs. They have a very basic menu consisting of greek salad, shrimp, red mullet, langoustines, and bream. It's all done very simply but we thought it was delicious and fairly reasonably priced for fresh seafood. If you're staying in Athens, I'm not sure if I'd make a trek all the way out here for this restaurant. But if you are cruising and docking in Piraeus, the restaurant is very nearby the port. We ended up taking the X80 express bus which runs along the waterfront, getting off at one of the marinas, walked back to the port, and stopped to eat a late lunch at Margaro on the way back.

Just had to list gyro places that we went to and really enjoyed...
Not sure if this is not in the guidebooks but I was pretty addicted to the gyro souvlakis at Bairaktaris by Monastiraki Square in Athens. Didn't bother with sit down service and just ordered to go.

In Santorini, we ended up going to Lucky's in Fira. The gyro's are good and we almost missed the ship once because I had to go get one before we left port. We ended up having to run down the donkey path because the cable car line was so long after getting our gyros. We also ordered the tomatokeftedes once because I badly wanted to try a version of it and I'd probably recommend giving it a miss here.

 

[JoeWras]

It was all good. Seriously.

A second for the Plaka district. Just about everything was good there. Go late and stay late. The place was jumping at 10PM.

Can't remember the name, but a restaurant in Piraeus was excellent for the seafood. It was right on the harbor water. Again, another second on the idea above.

 

[phil1ben]

Thank you all for the replies. We are not cruising but flying into Athens then flying to Mykanos then taking a hydrafoil to Santorini.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Hydrofoil--that sounds fun. I don't remember where we ate in Santorini-it was an outdoor gyro cafe upstairs the top not far from the tram. The service was delightful. In fact,everything about Santorini was delightful. Watch out for theft and pickpockets in Athens. Some seasoned travelers (travel writers!) had their passports and wallets stolen. Avoid all street entertainment.

 

[ulvazell]

Hydrofoil--that sounds fun. I don't remember where we ate in Santorini-it was an outdoor gyro cafe upstairs the top not far from the tram. The service was delightful. In fact,everything about Santorini was delightful. Watch out for theft and pickpockets in Athens. Some seasoned travelers (travel writers!) had their passports and wallets stolen. Avoid all street entertainment.

In Santorini we ate at a place called Cafe Vallas. The food was good, the owner was great but the view was spectacular!

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Just wanted to suggest another resource we found handy when researching our trip:
https://www.greektravel.com/

Here's a link to the Athens restaurants part of the guide.
Athens Restaurants by Matt Barrett

The site has a wealth of info on Athens and the islands.

 

[ShortInSeattle]

We enjoyed every meal we had in Greece! If you're in Athens I recommend heading to the Monastariki area, wandering the extensive flea markets, and selecting any cafe that suits your fancy.

The Gyro platters were incredible. And while I didn't keep track of restaurant names, the food was consistently excellent. Bring cash, many shops and stores don't take plastic.

SIS

 

[Johanson]

We enjoyed every meal we had in Greece! If you're in Athens I recommend heading to the Monastariki area, wandering the extensive flea markets, and selecting any cafe that suits your fancy.

The Gyro platters were incredible. And while I didn't keep track of restaurant names, the food was consistently excellent. Bring cash, many shops and stores don't take plastic.

SIS

I would second this. I was in Athens for a week back in March and didn't have one bad meal while I was there. There is a restaurant right across the square from the metro station there where you can get walk up gyros and fries for 2.50 euros and a half liter of beer for 2 euros. They also have a full menu inside and the place is always packed.

 

[brett]

We love Greece and visit fairly often. We have done a few cruises but mostly we tour on our own. The islands are wondeful.

Our experience on the islands is, especially on cruises, is not to spend a lot of time searching out recommended eateries. Spend your time touring and end up at a small taverna, etc. that looks OK. If you come across one with a menu in multiple languages or if all you hear on entering is English, then keep looking.

 

[Bamaman]

I used to spend time searching for restaurants online when traveling to Europe.

Every time we attempted to eat at one, they were either too expensive or we didn't care for their menu.

We now just ask our hotel desk where the best places are close by to eat. Their recommendations seem to work out better.