If you’re like me, the worst part of traveling is picking a place to eat or drink. With so many options it can be overwhelming choosing a restaurant. What if your choice is no good? What if you’re traveling with multiple people with differing tastes? Eating out while on vacation can be the most stressful part. I hope to help you alleviate some of that stress by providing you a list of the places where I ate in Fira, Santorini.

My Husband and I had our destination wedding in Italy during October 2017. For our honeymoon, we took advantage of our close proximity to a place I have always wanted to visit: Santorini.

We stayed at Iriana Apartments which has a restaurant located above the rooms and just below the main street. Breakfast was included with our stay so we spent each morning either at the restaurant or on our terrace. Although we would have loved to try some of the nearby cafes for breakfast or coffee, we preferred to sleep in and eat breakfast in our pajamas while watching the boats in the harbor.

Here is a list of all the places we ate and drank while staying in Fira. I hope this list helps you decide where to eat or what places are worth skipping to try something new instead.

Lunch & Dinner

The restaurants are listed in the order of my recommendation:

(1) Kokkalo Restaurant

One of my husband’s co-workers has traveled to Santorini on several occasions and suggested two restaurants which are listed on this post. One of these suggestions was Kokkalo. It was so good we went twice! The first night we went, we did not make a reservation, but we arrived early enough that a table for two was available. We made a reservation for our return trip after we saw how busy the place got after 7 PM. The restaurant is located away from the caldera, but has views of the other side of the island. If you sit near the large windows you can watch planes coming and going from the airport. We would watch the sunset from our balcony and then go eat dinner at Kokkalo. (location)

The crowd was a mix of locals and large groups of tourists. The wait staff was extremely friendly and quick. Just be patient when you first arrive. We had to wait a while for our order to be taken, but after that service was just fine. When you first arrive, you’re offered a shot! So be prepared. The food was AMAZING. The pork panchetta was extremely tender and melt-in-your-mouth good. It was came with a mini cleaver! So cute. Below are some suggestions of what to order, but I don’t think you could go wrong with ordering anything off of their menu.

What to order: Pork Panchetta (pictured below on the left), Tender Pork Bites, Fried Spring Rolls, Smoked Pork Steak, Lamb Shank on Couscous (pictured below on the right), and Choco-hell cake.

On top of a wonderful meal with a cool atmosphere, we were given a 10% discount coupon if we returned. And we did!

(2) Meat Corner Grill

This is a great spot to stop for lunch. It’s surrounded by shops (making it  close by  if you’re out shopping) and most of the seating is on bar stools. There is a balcony with extra seating, but it was closed off during lunch. The prices were very reasonable and the food was really good! You can also watch the employees at work if you sit inside the restaurant. I highly suggest this place for a quick meal that is both delicious and filling. (location)

(3) Argo

The second restaurant suggestion given to us was Argo. If you want to eat good food while watching the sunset, Argo is the perfect choice. I suggest making a reservation for dinner whether you’re staying during the off season or not, and it would be a must if you plan on eating during sunset. Once the sun goes down in October, the night air can be quite chilly. There is a room upstairs with heaters, but if you aren’t lucky enough to sit there, you’ll want to bundle up. Some restaurants, including Argo, offer blankets. Pictured below is a typical Greek meal, Souvlaki. (location)

(4) Iriana Cafe

We stayed at the Iriana Apartments and would eat at the cafe located above our room often during our stay in Fira. Since we were staying there on our honeymoon we were given special treatment with our drinks or dessert sometimes being “on the house.” It made choosing the Cafe an easy choice for us so we not only saved money also meant we didn’t have to venture too far for a beer. The cafe does not have heaters, so if you go for a drink after sunset in the off season, wear warm clothing. The staff was extremely nice and we always had great experience. The views are perfect for sunset so show up early and scout out a spot along the railing! The Cafe has a small menu and priced for its view, but its food is good. What to order: Moussaka, Volkan Beer, Baklava, Greek Coffee. I had Moussaka here and the next restaurant listed and preferred the version served at Iriana Cafe (just needed more salt and pepper). Both my husband and I really liked the Volkan Beer, even though its ratings online weren’t that spectacular. Order it and decide for yourself 🙂 If you’ve never had Greek coffee, you have to have it at least once! It reminded me of Indonesian coffee which leaves the grounds at the bottom of the cup.  (location)

(5) Cesare Ristorante 

After walking around Fira for a while we worked up an appetite and this was the first restaurant we came across, so we gave it a try! I ordered Moussaka, since I tried it at Iriana Cafe and liked it. This restaurant’s version was more like lasagna, which may be more traditional, but I preferred the one I had at Iriana, which was more like a stew. They didn’t serve our favorite beer, Volkan, either. Overall, it was okay. If you’re starving and in the area, go for it. (location)

(6) Zafora

We stopped at this restaurant for a snack after walking up a steep street along the coastline. (If you’re heading toward the cable car, which is down the street from this restaurant, walk through the town instead!). We ordered cold drinks (I ordered a frappe) and Stuffed Grape Leaves because I read it was a “must order” food in Santorini. They tasted, to me (a very picky eater) as though they had been pickled and I couldn’t swallow my bite. My husband, however, ate most of what was on our plate. It may be an acquired taste. Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever had them and if you liked it! (location)

Snacks and Drinks

Listed in no particular order:

(1) LouYo Frozen Yogurt

If you’re craving Greek yogurt, you’re going to have a lot of options in Santorini. This ridiculously cute yogurt shop is located near the Catholic Church and not on a crowded section of the street. I actually don’t like yogurt (but when in Greece, I did try some…still a nope for me). My husband, however, the eater of all things, really enjoyed his yogurt from LouYo. So much so he even volunteered to take a picture in front of the store. (location)

(2) Creme de la Crepe

All we purchased from this store was espresso for an afternoon pick me up. If we were hungry at the time we would have indulged ourselves with a crepe! I love ordering crepes when I’m in Europe. Not only are they amazingly delicious, but its fun to watch them being made! (location)

(3) Franco’s Bar

We walked passed this bar several times during our stay in Fira so we decided we’d check it out. As symphony goers back home in Texas, we really enjoyed the classical music playing at this bar. It was the perfect ambiance music for drinking a beer and watching the sun about to set over the ocean. If you go at the right time of day (when the sun is higher in the sky), lounging in their chairs would be ideal! We arrived when the sun was at eye-level while in the lounge chairs so we had to sit at a table. The bar is actually very large with several spots along the coastline to sit with a cocktail and watch the ocean. Note: this bar is pricey! Worth going for at least one drink. Also, my husband enjoys a mojito so everywhere he goes he tries a mojito for comparison (his favorite is at a restaurant in San Antonio, Texas called Ocho). He didn’t care for the mojito at Franco’s Bar. Let me know what you think of Franco’s Bar in the comments! (location)

(4) Iriana Cafe

Already mentioned above, Iriana Cafe is one of the places we visited on several ocassions. We usually had a Volkan Beer. There are several other places next door to Iriana where you can grab a drink with a caldera view.

(5) Kira Thira Jazz Club

A lot of the night life dies down in Fira after the summer season (the last day was the day we arrived), which we were okay with because we’d rather sit in our hot tub, drinking wine in privacy than being surrounded by a lot of people and loud music. We made an exception for the Jazz Club! We stopped by on our way back to our room after eating dinner at Kokkalo. (Our first date was to a jazz club) Kira Thira was not what we were expecting, but was still a nice experience. The jazz music had more of a Caribbean sound, and we were expecting more a Chicago jazz sound.  There was only bar tender, a no-nonsense man who was extremely quick. It’s definitely worth checking out for at least one drink. (location)

As mentioned above, my husband’s favorite drink when we’re on vacation is a mojito. When we went to Kokkalo the second time he asked for a mojito, which wasn’t on the menu. We watched as our waitress looked up the recipe and it turned out to be the best mojito my husband had while in Santorini!

Check out my post on Hiking from Fira to Oia for a gelato suggestion in Oia!

 

Have you been to Fira? What were your favorite restaurants or bars? Share in the comments below!