Restaurants of Lesvos

There are too many excellent restaurants on Lesvos to list them all or even to try them all in one lifetime. These are some of my favorites. If you like them let them know you found them from my web page. If you don't like them than let me know. You can scroll down or you can use the index below to skip to the restaurants in the town you want to read about. I have a new section which is readers reviews since I can't really eat at every restaurant on the island and I know there are a lot more good places than the ones I know about. One thing you will notice is that the restaurants I have chosen to review (and eat at) are the ones that generally serve traditional food from Lesvos. There are a number of new restaurants that could be called bistros or neo-Greek or International that I have not included, many owned by foreigners. Eventually I will do an entire page for them but for now if you want to check them out and let me know how you like them please do and send me an e-mail. Or if you have a restaurant and feel like you should at least be mentioned on this page just get your customers to write and tell me what they like the most about your restaurant. I can definitely be persuaded by public opinion to add (and occassionally remove) a restaurant.

 Restaurants In and Around Molyvos

The Eftalou Restaurant on the beach right before you get to the Therapuetic Hot Spring Baths, has a wonderful selection of fresh fish, meats cooked on the grill and perhaps the finest Spinach Pie(spanakopita) and Zucchini Pie (kolakithopita) in Greece. Their grilled sardines are also amazing or you can order them fried. The staff all speak English. The garden patio is surrounded by tall reeds and shaded by trees. Directly across the small street is the beach, convenient for a before, after or during meal swim. But don't come just for the spanakopita because Manolis is one of the best chefs on the island and his specialty is grilled fresh-fish in all varieties. Fish are seasonal so depending on when you visit the choices will differ but I love the grilled makeral (kolios). The restaurant is open all year and is a favorite of the locals and that means high-quality and inexpensive food. Manolis' wife Heidi takes pride in her home-made cakes and pastries so be sure to ask about their deserts too.

Vafios in Vafios: Perched above the town of Molyvos on an adjoining mountain is the village of Vafios, with one of the finest tavernas on the island and perhaps in all of Greece. Recommended to us by one of the finest cooks I know, the Vafios has some of the most varied and delicious mezedes available. We loved the stuffed onions, skordopsomo (garlic-cheese bread), melitzana salada, stuffed zuchinni flowers, and everything else that was put on our table. The menu is enormous, and all recipes were the owner's grandmothers. For main courses they have island specialties, clay pot cooking, fish and roast lamb on a spit, which we had of course. Great wine. Spectacular view. If you take the road to Skala Sikaminias, go past the donkeys and stop at the restaurant right before the playground (very convenient). Also word has it that the small taverna in Petri (not Petra) is one of the best in the area. I got it from a good source (Mark Dubin of Rough Guide) so go check it out and let me know.

The Captains Table in Molyvos is one of the finest restaurants on the island and sets the standard for the restaurants in the harbor of Molyvos, perhaps the most enjoyable and romantic area to eat on the island. Owned and run by Melinda, a talented chef from Australia and her husband Theo, the hardest working cook on the island. Besides making excellent sea-food and Greek dishes, she also has some Italian pasta dishes and non-Greek specials. Very extensive mezedes menu and wonderful view of the harbor. Very good waitors too which sometime include Melinda's beautiful sisters on holiday from their studies in the UK and Denise, a knowlegable British woman who has been on the island for years and is a great source of local information. Melinda's mom is a famous local artist and Melinda can tell you where her works can be seen. (Some say her mom is the original Shirley Valentine. Whether this is true or just a rumor you will have to ask Melinda.) Her step-father is one of the most famous and best fishermen on the island which is one reason her restaurant has the reputation of having the best and freshest fish in Molyvos. Her gavros pastes (anchovies) are certainly the best on the island and her spicy eggplant is out of this world. Don't miss this place. Get there early to get a seat in the summer months because the restaurant does fill up rather quickly. Try the house white wine, the mussels, salted makeral (skoumbri) which tastes like sushi, and the shrimp and mussels saganaki, whichever is in season. The smoked and grilled makeral is delicious. Don't fill up on mezedes though because the main courses are just as good. If your kids are bored because they have nobody to play with look for Melinda's children, Aphrodite and Kimon who can usually be seen playing near or around the restaurant with the other village children, many of whom speak English.  

Also in Molyvos check our Zanzibar which has a wide and interesting menu and a terrific view.

Avlaki Restaurant near Petra is a terrific restaurant and should not be missed. From Petra you can walk along the beach in the direction of Anaxos or look for a sign from the road. Beautiful location with a view of Molyvos and Turkey and excellent food. Very clean and very professional but simple and charming. You can swim before after or during your meal. Petra is quickly becoming the most popular resort on the island so if you are on a tour there is a good possibility you will be staying near here.

Another good restaurant is the Anatoli Restaurant at Eftalou, so close to the water that you can order your meal, take a swim and be back at your table before the appetisers arrive. Plenty of fish, vegetables and meat dishes and a nice place to eat if you are visiting the baths at Eftalou or just looking for a place to spend the day. Friendly staff too. All the vegetables come from their farm. Great sardeles pastes and grilled makeral. If you want to get out of Molyvos at night for a quiet meal by the sea this is a great place to go. If you are staying at the Sunrise Hotel you can walk here easily. Angelos and his staff speak English.

The Platanos in Stipsi is not much more than a small hut and a tent built on the edge of the village and run by Sophia and her son, but it is a nice little place to stop for a meal when you are traveling around the island or even if you seek a change and a move to higher elevations. Simple menu of grilled meats and vegetables, sardines, salad with local cheese and a fine view with a nice breeze. Most people only stop here for an ice-cream or a soda which is fine, but if you stay for a meal you probably won't be disappointed. Try their koukia (fava beans) made in the traditional village style.

Restaurants In and Around Skala Eressos

Adonis is a really nice traditional restaurant in Skala Eressos, they have very good mezedes and grilled meat and fresh fish plus a very large selection of oven cooked foods. If you are lucky you will be there on a day they roast a lamb on a spit which is fairly often in the summer, usually on weekends. Located on the sea in the western part of the village. It's a family owned restaurant that plays Dalaras songs most of the night. If you ask they may even have tsipuro.(moonshine that is stronger than ouzo). Give my regards to Nikos, very nice guy who speaks English and has great taste in music. Order the steamed mussels, the best in the world. Also recommended is their grilled fresh kalamari (photo), boureki (like a cheese pizza rolled into a taco-thingy and deep-fried-yum!), grilled fresh sardines, sardeles pastes, stuffed zuchinni flowers, stuffed grape leaves... I could go on. They also have a little play area for children if they get tired of the beach, which is about 10 steps from the restaurant.

The only Cafeneon in Skala is located across the giant sandbox where the kids play soccer next to the main platia. It shares the building with the Cafe Marianna which is a 70's style young people's hang out, so sometimes the music gets a little loud, but if the old guys can stand it so can you. One of the best places for ouzo and mezedes in the village, plus grilled sardines, fried squid and the most amazing french fries, cut huge from local potatoes and fried in olive oil. They also make a spicy cheese and pepper dish that will appease any craving you may have for Mexican food. I think it goes by the name of Pepper yes me tee -ree kaf-ter -oh. The owner (photo) asked me to bring him habanyero seeds for next year so watch out. 

It took us years to eat at the family owned Aegean in Skala Eressos which is the first restaurant you come to if you turn right from the square. The reason is because it seemed to always be full. But we finally tried it this summer and it was excellent with a large selections of Greek specialties. The fact is that on the waterfront of Skala Eressos there are not any bad restaurants. They all serve good quality meat and vegetables and fresh fish and with the exception of the non-Greek restaurants they all have sardeles pastes in season. Yet another great restaurant on the beach in Skala Eressos is Soulatso (photo) which specializes in grilled meat and fish and Greek and local dishes. Not only do they have great sardeles pastes but they also are the only restaurant which serves Gouna, which is spiced and salted mackerel that is sun-dried and then grilled crispy. They don't have it all the time but if people ask for it I bet they will. It is GREAT, esecially with ouzo. Like many of the restaurants here, they hang their octopus out to dry on a clothes-line which runs between the tables and the beach. Some of the octopus are enormous. Be sure to try some on the grill.

In the uppervillage of Eressos (not Skala) there are several restaurants in the Platia. I have eaten in two of them. One is called 'Samis', though that is not the name, just what they call it. It is on your right as you enter the main square and it also serves as the local cafeneon. Very good food and Sam is a very nice guy who will happily join you and tell you about the town if he is not busy. Thats him on the left with the two older guys. Diagonally across the square is another restaurant I believe it is called Paradosiako which means traditional. Great food and great wine and a talking parrot. You should be happy in either place.

Restaurants In and Around Sigri

Cavo di Oro is the first fish taverna you will see, right across the street from the fishing boat pier and is one of those special places you can walk into and wish you had been there all afternoon. Excellent fresh fish of all varieties including lobster, red mullet and whatever the fishermen are catching that day. It is a fun place, especially on those days when it is cold, raining or windy and the action is inside. If you want to see kefi in action or experience it yourself then make this one of your Sigri haunts. The best spot in town for ouzo and mezedes, the freshest fish, and on days when you are sweltering in Molyvos, Petra or Skala Eressos there is usually a nice breeze at the restaurant which is on the westernmost tip of the whole island. In fact it may be so windy you will have to sit on the sheltered side. Open all year, which means this is where the locals eat, so it has to be good, right? This is my first choice in Sigri, in fact I have to be coerced to eat elsewhere.

There is more to recommend Remezzos in Sigri then the fact that they have the biggest lobsters I have ever seen or eaten. So much so that I wrote a special review of it which you can get to by clicking the above link. Fantastic view. Excellent service. Great mezedes and fresh fish. Perfect for afternoon meals. Worth a trip to Sigri for some of the finest seafood on the island, in fact you could base yourself in Sigri so you can eat all your meals here except it is just one of many good restaurants in a town that has some of the best and most diverse beaches on the island. To tell you the truth it has been a couple years since I have eaten at Remezzos so if you go and its not any good let me know by e-mail: matt@greecetravel.com

Restaurants In and Around Mytilini

The best place for ouzo and mezedes is the Cafeneon O Ermis which is in the city on Ermou Street which is the main road between the old and new harbor. You can ask anyone where it is because it has been around for a hundred years or so. It has one of the largest selections of ouzo on the island and probably the best variety of mezedes and main dishes. I highly recommend this place.

Every big town in Greece has a restaurant like the Averoff, named for the warship that was instrumental in the liberation of the Eastern Aegean. The Averoff is a working class estiatorio and has been serving patsa and oven baked dishes for about a hundred years or so. Its right on the main street that fronts the port and has another entrance in the market or Ermou. This is the kind of restaurant that long time Greece travel writers love when they are good and still eat there when they are bad because they are a reminder of another age. They have rennovated the Averoff but beneath its new spic-n-span facade and clean white tablecloths and re-tiled floor it is still an old time working class estiatorio and certainly worth a meal or two.

Navagio is located at Sappho Square on the water front just across from Fanari.  It consists of two floors.  The first floor is open 7am-1am and is more of a coffee place.  Around noon it is packed with teenagers but customers of all ages show up through the day.  It has a patio in front of the store that is very popular on sunny days. The second floor is open from 6pm-1am and is more of a wine restaurant (the photo is from the second floor).  It has a large collection of Greek wines.  Actually both floors serve the same things but it is the atmosphere of each floor that makes it different.  The menu includes traditional pies (cheese, chicken, and spinach), salads, appetizers, combo treats, and entree with fresh and pure materials in unique mediteranian style combinations (including stuffed cornish rooster, stuffed peppers with cheese, pork loin rolled with cheese and bacon, mushrooms a la creme, etc.).  They try to combine the fresh taste of traditional food with the fine taste of French cuisine. Navagio publish its own magazine that serves also as a menu.  It is a very popular publication that started out as a newspaper and expanded to the form of magazine that covers various aspect of the island life in Mytilene and Lesvos.

Liminaki restaurant has my vote as the world's best place to eat while waiting for a flight. That's because it is right down the street from the airport and whether you are coming or going, you can't beat the location. Plus there is a beach right next to it. Standard Lesvos seafood and great fresh vegetables and excellent fresh anchovies (gavros). Makes any flight delay bareable and if you stay long enough you might skip leaving altogether. Its about a 20 minute walk to the airport. Even closer to the airport is Kalamies, a popular taverna with a large and varied menu which may be the best on the island. Try the fried tomato keftedes, better than the ones in Santorini. If you walk out of the terminal and take a right it is about 100 meters down the road.

On the far side of the harbor from where you get off the ferry boat is a line of restaurants. Stratos is the last fish restaurant (there is a chicken place at the end). Every variety of fish and ouzo plus many meat dishes and oven cooked dishes. Try their media-saganaki which is mussels and cheese. Best of all is their fried shrimp. Get it when it is fresh. You can eat the whole thing, heads, legs and all. Very friendly staff. The best time to eat here is at night. Go to the cafeneon under the lighthouse for an ouzo and watch the sunset and then come here for dinner and to watch the lights of the harbor.

Restaurants In and Around Skala Kaloni

Medusa is the place that we found one day a few years ago when we were looking for sardeles pastes. The restaurant was in an old stone house, almost a shack and the food was delicious, traditional and cheap. We also had agro-garides which is like a cross between a lobster and a shrimp and is deep-fried and delicious. Then they closed for 2 years while they rebuilt the restaurant. It's back. It's fancier but it's still good and it is still cheap. Very nice view of the entire sardine fishing fleet of Skala Kaloni. If you want sardeles pastes by the pound (kilo actually), to take back to your room, just ask the grandmother. Probably the best selection of fresh fish and mezedes that you will find on the island and well worth the trip to Skala Kaloni. Manolis is from Kaloni, Dorian is Dutch and they both speak English and are warm people who will not only make you feel comfortable, but can answer many of your questions about the island. If you have children this is a great place because the whole family works here and there are always kids around. This is one of the best restaurants on the island, especially for fresh fish. If you want to make reservations or let them know you are coming you can e-mail them at papiana1@tellas.gr 

On the road from Kaloni to Vatera in the small settlement of Achladera is the Achladera Taverna which overlooks the bay where from a small dock Michalis will pick clams that he serves on the half shell. Great fresh seafood and a nice place to eat a long lunch. Very popular on weekends this is one of my favorite restaurants on the island.

Restaurants In and Around Vatera

Akrotiri Fish Tavern in Agia Focas, Vatera Beach is one of the best fish restaurants on the island with a large selection of fish mezedes, fried shrimp, excellent sardelles pastes, lakerda (marinated raw tuna), fish soup, lobster and the freshest fish from one of the best fishing areas on the island. The restaurant sits above a small harbor below the temple of Dionysious on the point of Agia Focas. You get to it by following the beach road at Vatera so the sea is on your left, turn inland, cross a bridge over a river full of turtles and keep going until you can't go any further. The restaurant is owned by Marina and Dimitris Agelerou. Great place for lunch or dinner and even if you are not staying in Vatera it is worth the trip. Combine this restaurant with the incredible beach at Vatera and that is a good enough reason to spend your whole holiday in this part of the island. You can feed the ducks but be sure to save some bread for the turtles on the way home. Their fish soup and lobster macaroni has to be ordered a day in advance so call Dimitris at 22520 61465 or 6944-176222. Try their smoked mackerel too.

The Aphrodite Hotel Restaurant serves delicious home-made traditional Greek food with vegetables and meat coming from the family farm and fish from their fishing boat. Excellent service. All-you-can-eat buffet on weekends includes roast chicken, lambchops, country sausages, souvlakis and all sorts of Greek and island specialities. They also have live music with Yannis the owner singing and playing drums and other family members joining in. The last time we were there the music had everyone up on the dance floor. Right on the beach at Vatera. Stay at their Hotel Aphrodite which is in my opinion the best place to stay in Lesvos. It is great for families with kids and honeymooners. Their trampoline keeps the children busy while you sit back and enjoy your meal and meet the couple at the next table whose children are also jumping on the tramplone. If you are lucky you will come on a night when they are roasting a whole suckling pig. Great local wine. Ouzo. Sardeles pastes. You name it. Fine for lunch or dinner. Excellent service.

In the nearby town of Vrissa there is a cafeneon known for its mezedes. Park on the edge of town and walk in and you will find it in the shade of a large platanos tree. But they don't serve food until after 9pm, or in the early afternoon.

Restaurants In Campo Antissa

This excellent country restaurant which we simply call Kosta's , is difficult to find but worth the trip. Grilled fish and meats, great Greek Salads and vegetables from his own farm. On weekend nights the place is jumping with returning Greek-Americans, Canadians and Australians. To get here take the road to Eressos and get off on the road to Gavatha. Pass the sign for Ancient Antissa and then take a right when you see the sign to the Campo-Beach. Cross the riverbed that has been paved over and used as a road and the restaurant is up the hill on your left. If you go down the riverbed you will come to the beach of Campo Antissa and chances are you will have it to yourself. All the vegetables come from his garden. His mom lived in Montreal and speaks English. Saturday and Sunday nights are big nights here with roast lamb, roast chicken and piadakia (lamb chops).He also makes the best lakerda (raw marinated tuna), and fried stuffed zuchini flowers.

Also worth visiting is the Pedinon in the town of Antissa in their beautiful shaded square. Grood choice of cooked dishes and grilled meats and fish. When it is hot on the island this is a good place to come to.

Restaurants In Xidera

Talk about off the beaten track this is it. Panayotis and Avlaia's in Xidera is in a remote corner of the most remote village in Lesvos. Avlaia is one of the best cooks in Greece and can do more with one gas burner then most chefs can do with an entire fully equipped kitchen. Simple and dirt cheap. Xidera is another world and if you go there people will stop you on the street and ask who you are related to. Just tell them I sent you. They speak no English by the way. I love her keftedes (meatballs), melitzanas me tiri (fried eggplant with cheese) and she makes the best Greek salads with their own cheese. Also try Thanasis across the street. He lived in Australia and speaks English. Elli, his wife is also an excellent cook. From the main square follow the road to the left of the church. Actually all the cafeneons in Xidera serve good mezedes since there is nothing else to do at night but eat, drink and talk. In the Platia go to the last cafeneon on the right, beyond the platanos tree, known as Vagellis. This is where all the young guys hang out including our cousin Stavros who is the 'president' of the village. Vagellis has a thick black mustache and makes great mezedes too. Also in the platia is the cafeneon of Grigoris on the corner to the left of the church. The mezedes at all four cafeneons is simple, delicious and all home grown and home cooked. If Avlaia is closed just go to another one. Keep in mind that in the traditional villages like Xidera and Vatousa if you show up after 2pm you may not find anything open. (Though chances are Vagelis will be open since the young guys go there for lunch and ouzo and sometimes don't leave.)

There is the Methemnaos winery in Xidera that you can visit too that gives tours from 9 to 6 every day. Really delicious wine that you can sample and buy.

Restaurants In Vatousa

Tryphone is back! Tryphone, who owned the best cafeneon in the upper platia has re-opened the cafe in the lower platia and called it Renna. It is popular with the villages of the area and Saturday and Sunday nights are big and tough to find a table. Sunday is the night the locals take their wives out to dinner. He specializes in grilled meats and also has some oven dishes like Pastitsio made by his wife Irini. Good paidakia (lambchops), souvlakia and pork steak or go for the chicken made on the rotisserie, maybe the best I have ever had. Giorgos (photo) has grown up and you may not recognize him from this photo but he and his brother Yoseef provide friendly service. Across the street their uncle Michalis has Aphrodite which has gone back to being more of a cafeneon but he still serves meals and its a good plae to stop for a soda, beer or even an omelet on the way to Sigri or Eressos and sit in the cool shaded patio. In the upper platia the beautiful Vasso serves ouzo and Mezedes to me and half the locals from her zacharoplastion (sweet shop) while the rest eat and drink next door at Michalis. Meanwhile you can order souvlakia, beeftekia, loukaniko and other meat dishes from Michalis souvlaki shop down the street and it will be delivered to your table. If you want an authentic village experience leave your car below and walk up one evening and sit in either place.

Restaurants In Skalahori

In the village of Skalahori in the little square that is covered by a giant Platanos tree is one of the most down-to-earth Greek tavernas you will find on the island. Best visited at night, they are open in the day for those traveling around the island. But the nights are when it really shines and in the summer it is full of Skalahorians and locals from other villages as well as returning Athenians. Traditonal taverna food, paidaika(lamb chops), keftedes(meatballs), brizoles(pork and beef steaks), dolmadakia (stuffed grape leaves), sadziki, loukaniko (sausage), stuffed zucchini flowers, lots of wine and ouzo make this a very special place to eat. The real thing. How down-to-earth is is? The owner Yannis, is a shepherd. Make sure one of you is a designated driver and does not drink because if it is anything like the night I went, the rest of you won't be able to. Service at night can be chaotic in the summer. Come in the day if you can.

Around Lesvos

In the small cove of Agios Ermogenis is an excellent fish taverna, called of course Agios Ermogenis which has some of the best grilled kolios (mackerel), sardines, fried gavros and excellent sardeles pastes. When we arrive on the ferry after stopping in the market in Mytilini town, we drive out of the city past the airport and around the southeast tip of the island to Agios Ermogenis where we take our first swim of the holiday. Usually we arrive before the restaurant is open but on my last trip we stopped on the way to take the 6pm ferry home and had one of the most enjoyable meals of the summer. Good service. Smiling staff too. Expect it to be crowded on weekends and especially so in August. There is a small cafe-cantina there too in case you just want to have a coffee and a swim. One of the most beautiful beaches on the island when it is not crowded.

There are three restaurants on the beach at Tsonia between Skala Sykaminia and Montamados. From what I could tell the best was the one in the middle called The Psarotaverna H Folia Tou Koukou #2. The reason I think it was the best is first of all, this is the one we ate at. Second of all the other two were pretty much empty. Third, when we arrived it was like coming late to a party that has been in full swing for hours, if not days. Speakers blared old rembetika music, and ouzo carafes arrived every minute at tables full of families and fishermen, as it was the first Sunday in August and everyone had gone to the beach that day. I was unfortunately the designated driver and could not allow myself to fully dip into the fruits of joy which the wine and ouzo seemed to spread to every person in the place. But the restaurant had a large choice of fresh fish, cooked to perfection, and lots of vegetable dishes as well. The owner is on the left and i believe his name is Christos (I lost the card). The inside of the restaurant is like a museum. The beach at Tsonia is nice too so this is a great place to come for a swim and a meal and the roads there are fun as well, especially with a 4by4.

See also Lesvos Restaurants Readers Choices