The 21 best restaurants in Mykonos

Telegraph

13-05-2025

Mykonos's restaurant scene runs the gamut from the modest to the magnificent, as you might expect from one of Greece's more glamorous islands. Its capital, Chora, is crammed with places to eat to suit every budget, from basic, formica-tabled souvlaki shacks, to slick, white-tableclothed fine-dining establishments. And around its various villages and beaches you can find a good range of options, from low-key and traditional, to high-end and experimental.
One constant is the classic Greek salad, which you'll find adorning almost every menu, never deviating far from its basic ingredients of ripe, juicy tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, firm chunks of cucumber and glossy, black Kalamata olives, garnished with a slab of crumbly, oregano-dusted feta cheese.
Find out more below, or for further Mykonos inspiration, see our guides to the island's best hotels, nightlife, things to do and beaches.
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Best all-rounders
Niko's Tavern
Open since 1976, you'd swear Niko's swallows up more and more space every year, with tables overflowing from the wide street outside the restaurant up onto Agia Moni, the small square above. And necessarily so, as it's always absolutely packed, with couples, groups of friends, and families, all having the time of their lives as the long-standing waiting staff move balletically around them. Inside, bottles of wine grace shelves alongside model boats as decoration, but most people want to be outdoors, sitting on the small, white-painted wooden chairs at tables decked out in red and white checked tablecloths. Traditional, well-cooked Greek dishes are the order of the day; freshly caught fish is sold by weight, while daily specials such as stewed octopus with orzo pasta or grilled pork skewers make regular appearances.
Eva's Garden
If you want to inject a touch of romance to your evening meal, Eva's is a winsome, welcoming wonderland, draped in greenery and flowers, reached via an alluring maze of streets. The majority of tables are dotted throughout an airy, white-walled courtyard, with others situated on a mezzanine level two flights up, overlooking them. Staff are friendly and unhurried, ferrying carafes of wine and hearty platters of food to happy customers. Dishes err on the traditional – chewy grilled octopus, cinnamon-spiked moussaka, delicate lamb avgolemono (with an egg-lemon sauce) et al – but the cooking is assured and the setting magical.
Katerina's
Overlooking the Aegean in one of Little Venice's most sought after spots, Katerina's has a cocktail bar on its upper floor, with a cosier restaurant downstairs. Here you'll find coastal Mediterranean staples: seafood linguine, grilled calamari and roasted octopus. End your meal with a Piña colada or Espresso Martini upstairs and bag a table on the balcony, perched over the sea with a lovely view out to the island's famous windmills.
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Best for families
Pasta Fresca Barkia
Georgouli is one of the main arteries running through the island, parallel to the seafront and Little Venice, and lined mainly with clothing, jewellery and souvenir shops. Pasta Fresca Barkia is one of the few restaurants on the street, and takes over three floors of what used to be a townhouse. There are some tables crammed outside – from where, if you're walking past, you also get a view of the chefs hand-rolling different pasta shapes - but inside it feels comfortable and homely, with slightly old-fashioned décor enhanced by beige tablecloths and dark wooden furniture. The star of the menu is, of course, the pasta: portions come in what seem to be tureen-sized bowls, with classic seafood (or lobster) spaghetti a hit thanks to its lavish heaping of mussels, calamari, prawns and octopus, alongside other combinations such as crabmeat linguine, four cheese ravioli, or black truffle risotto. They also do pizzas and grilled fish and seafood.
Lefteris Grill House
A friendly, laid-back, family-run taverna set close to Ornos beach, with a lively atmosphere. The menu is full of Greek classics, from chicken gyros to fried calamari, and portion sizes are hearty. Grilled meats are a speciality; don't miss the kontosouvli pork (roasted on a spit over hot coals) or, if you're feeling adventurous, the kokoretsi, a mix of liver, offal and intestines.
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Best for cheap eats
Leonidas
Sometimes all you want is something simple – whether it's a souvlaki or a gyro – and Leonidas does arguably the best in town. It's incredibly basic; just a handful of tables outside what looks like, essentially, a kebab shop illuminated by unforgiving fluorescent lighting, with a couple more tables inside next to the cold drinks fridges, but boy, does it deliver on flavour. You can have anything from chicken, pork or veggie souvlaki, to Greek salads and burgers, but the gyro are highly recommended: chewy, puffy pita breads are tossed onto the grill, then smeared with tangy, garlicky tzatziki, layered with lettuce and tomato, stuffed with chargrilled chicken, pork or veggies – plus a handful of fries – rolled up, wrapped in a square of greaseproof paper and handed over. All for less than €5.
Area/neighbourhood: Mykonos Town / Chora
Contact: 55 Georgouli, Mykonos Town (next to Marietta's Market)
Price: £
Opening times: Open 24 hours
Reservations: Walk-ins only
Sakis Souvlaki
Modest and unassuming, Sakis nevertheless is rarely short of customers, thanks to its reputation for serving up delicious and inexpensive souvlaki. Food is simple but moreish: pork, chicken or lamb, grilled on a skewer then enveloped in soft, warm pita bread, served with salad, fries and garlic aioli. You'll also find a selection of salads and bigger plates.
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Best for fine dining
Interni
Located on one of Chora's most fashionable shopping streets, this also happens to be one of the island's most fashionable restaurants; thanks to designer and architect Paola Navone, it ticks all the style boxes, such as gleaming white floors, artfully placed lighting, angular chrome barstools, and oversized pots of cacti. Food comes served on tactile, rounded crockery, staff are hip and attractive, music levels are punchy, and the ambience is upbeat. Dishes skirt the Mediterranean end of the globe and add in Asian touches, such as beef tataki, ceviche, and black cod fillet. Guests have been known to go into rhapsodies over the Valrhona chocolate soufflé.
Zuma Mykonos
This high-end Japanese restaurant has branches in glamorous locales all round the world, from Capri to Porto Cervo, so it's no surprise it added Mykonos to its roster in 2022. Billed as the brand's first 'lifestyle destination space', it also offers a sleek infinity pool complete with daybeds, a lounge area and bar, and - of course - resident DJ. Last year they did a partnership with Louis Vuitton, so expect another designer collaboration offering branded cabanas this season. The food is as minimalist and alluring as the decor; expect the likes of their signature black miso cod and roasted lobster with green chilli, with other decadent dishes including caviar, Wagyu beef and sea urchin. More relaxed dining can be done by the pool; just make sure you time your visit for one of the island's spectacular sunsets.
COYA Mykonos
Enclosed in an airy courtyard behind a door that shuts out the clamour of Chora, this elegant space is the ninth restaurant belonging to the hugely successful brand which specialises in fine-dining, Peruvian style. The setting is charming, with olive trees and bright pink bougainvillaea punctuating the space, with more pops of colour on the pretty patterned plates. There's a tasting menu if you'd rather let the chef guide you (think baby squid, yellowfin tuna ceviche and lobster with orzo), otherwise, you can choose a la carte from the likes of pollo a la parilla (grilled corn-fed baby chicken), Chilean sea bass with rice cooked in a traditional cazuela, or rock octopus spiced with Peruvian chilli. Order a pisco sour, let the atmospheric music get you in the mood, and simply enjoy this excellent cuisine.
Botrini's, Hotel Katikies
Located by the quiet sandy stretch that makes up Agios Ioannis beach, in the southwest of the island, is the stylish hotel Katikies Mykonos – a series of chic stacked, snowy white cubes, its zigzag layout echoing the maze of Chora. Perched at the very top, just behind one of the hotel's two expansive pools, is Botrini's, the sister to the restaurant at Katikies Santorini. Greek-Italian chef, Ettore Botrini, oversees two tasting menus as well as the a la carte, with a Greek and international wine list curated by Master of Wine Yiannis Karakasis. The food is elevated Aegean cuisine; think red mullet with sea fennel and ouzo, milk-fed lamb with aubergine, cherry tomatoes and yoghurt, or scorpionfish 'Bourdeta', or Corfu-style, and dine with a view sweeping out onto the sea.
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Best for walk ins
Babulas Taverna
Not that many restaurants in Chora sit by the sea, but Babulas Taverna bags a prime position on a curved pathway by the Old Port, with an irresistible view looking back over to the harbourfront. Get there early enough, or sweet talk the waiting staff, and you could secure one of the tables whose legs are planted firmly in the pebbly sand, just below the restaurant's grounded red and white boat, which serves as its sign. By day the sea sparkles turquoise; by night, you're illuminated by the boats bobbing in the water. The interior is somewhat on the plain and stripped back side, so outside is where you want to be, ordering freshly grilled catch of the day, lemon-doused grilled sardines, or, one of their specialities, perfectly al onda seafood risotto.
Area/neighbourhood: Mykonos town / Chora
Contact: baboulasmykonos.gr
Price: £££
Reservations: Recommended
Mediterraneo
Sprawling out over a cobbled street not far from Mykonos Town's main bus station, always-busy Mediterraneo is chic, with elegant wooden chairs and tables and atmospheric rattan lighting. It brings together Tuscan cuisine and sushi, using high-end ingredients to create a range of delicious dishes from lobster linguine and pici cacio e pepe, to grilled black cod, Chianina beef tagliata, California rolls, nigiri and sashimi.
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Best for sea views
Nusr-Et
It was only a matter of time before that Sultan of Salinity, Turkish butcher-turned-restaurateur Nusret Gökçe – aka Salt Bae – washed up on Mykonos' shores, after landing in other fashionable hotspots around the world including Miami and Dubai. If you don't know his reputation, he's the man-turned-meme who seasons his high-end steaks with salt flung down his arm, and is also notorious for coating everything from burgers to Tomahawks in 24 carat edible gold leaf. Expect to be dining among the haves and the have-yachts – this is one pricey place, although its location, perched up high a little way above the centre of town, does at least mean you get a killer sunset thrown in with the (eye-watering) bill.
Spilia
Over to the eastern side of the island, and tucked away into a hidden cove right by the sea, is one of Mykonos's best kept secrets. Spilia, on Agia Anna beach in Kalafati, is deeply treasured by those in the know. Tables hug the cliffside, reached by a wooden walkway, and, at night, appear to float over the water. Simple décor is enhanced by octopus hanging out to dry, while the absolute must-order dishes include the sea urchin pasta, with its just-caught, creamy, salty tang, and lobster, fresh from the sea.
Hippie Fish
Once upon a time this was but a humble taverna whose main claim to fame was as the setting for actress Pauline Collins to find love with a handsome Greek waiter in the 1989 film Shirley Valentine. Today it's had a slick, Ibiza-style makeover, complete with oversized, rattan lampshades, driftwood sculptures of fish, low-slung banquettes with colourful cushions and wafting white tablecloths. But what a setting; it looks right onto the beach, and is your go-to for everything from a delicious Greek breakfast to a dainty dinner. It's attached to a hotel of the same name and serves the likes of seabass carpaccio and tuna tartare on the raw bar, alongside sashimi, nigiri (the oyster with sesame ponzu and lime are a standout) and maki rolls. Those looking for something heartier can tuck into meatballs, shrimp saganaki (basically, fried cheese) and king crab papardelle.
Beefbar
Within the chic boutique Bill & Coo hotel, which is set on the golden sands of Agios Ioannis beach, is this outpost of the slick, Monaco-born steakhouse empire. The open air restaurant is canopied by light rattan roofing and leafy mulberry trees, with alluring views out to sea – arrivals by boat simply disembark at its private jetty. Greek head chef Yiannis Babalis stays true to the menu's focus on prime beef, with the likes of grilled Black Angus filets, Chateaubriands, and Wagyu tomahawks, mixed with some innovations of his own such as the Kobe gyros, an elevated take on the local street food snack. Beefbar Mykonos is also the only branch apart from its sister in St Tropez to serve sushi, which features either toro tuna or the Wagyu of the day. Keep the party going afterwards with drinks in the relaxed lounge area.
Cocco
With a clutch of outdoor tables, dining here is the perfect place to watch the sun set over Mykonos' iconic windmills. A few of the indoor tables face a doorway through which you can also enjoy the same view. The menu serves elevated Italian cusine, from creamy burrata to vitello tonnato, risotto Milanese, and perfectly charred wood-fired pizzas.
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Best for entertainment
Scorpios
Already one of the island's hippest hangouts, Scorpios added serious cool points at the start of the season thanks to a takeover by Soho House. Sprawling across a section of the peninsula that sticks out due south of the island, it's a laid back, yet oh-so-chic compound – billed as a modern-day agora, or meeting place - that comprises a restaurant, bar, and different lounging areas featuring tasteful wooden cabanas, linen hammocks and low-slung sofas. Amid a daily programme of music and live events, chef Alexis Zopas rustles up the likes of smoky, barbecued prawns, zingy seafood ceviche spiked with green chilli, and home made taramasalata, to the type of crowd you'd spot at one of Nick Jones' other global establishments.
Noema
A recent addition to the see-and-be-seen scene, Noema is a hybrid drinking, dining and retail concept - formerly an open-air cinema - hidden away in the heart of Chora. Style-wise, it ticks all the boxes, with clean, minimalist interiors in creams and dark browns enlivened by plenty of foliage and dappled sunlight which soaks through slatted roofs. The focus is mainly on local and seasonal ingredients, conjured by culinary director Athinagoras Kostakos into a selection of sharing dishes which might feature anything from lamb to octopus, via caper leaves, cockles or pork with a cinnamon-anise crust, as well as new items for this season, including local Chalkida dover sole, crayfish and the very rare Preveza Caviar. Prefer drinking and dancing? The outdoor bar serves anything from organic and biodynamic wines to a range of Greek spirits used to innovative effect in a variety of hand-crafted cocktails, feisty enough to get you on your feet to a variety of DJ sets and acoustic collaborations performed in the tucked-away courtyard. By day, browse the concept store for chic homeware, jewellery, sandals and lifestyle essentials.
Lio Mykonos
Set back from Little Venice, this restaurant-cum-nightclub offers revellers a glamorous cabaret dining experience. An intimate, low-lit, al fresco space reached through a leafy garden via a secret door to the street, the focus here is perhaps less on the food and more on the entertainment. Performances from professional singers, dancers and acrobats captivate the attention - and expect the waiting staff to get involved, too - but don't ignore what's on your plate; renowned Greek chef Alkis Vardaramatos serves up everything from fresh fish and seafood, to dessert in the form of the cherries which make up the symbol of Pacha, the club emporium which owns Lio. After dinner and the show, you can party the night away.
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How we choose
Every restaurant in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood favourites to Michelin-starred restaurants – to best suit every type of traveller's taste – and consider the food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest opening and provide up to date recommendations.
About our expert
Laura Millar first experienced Mykonos as a student in 1994. Since then she's come back almost every year, drawn to the laid-back vibe, spectacular sunsets and her constant search for the perfect Greek salad.