The best Santorini restaurants range from clifftop fine dining and caldera-view tavernas to fresh seafood at Ammoudi Bay and cheap, excellent gyros, spread across Oia, Fira and the villages. This guide covers where to eat in Oia, where to eat in Fira, seafood, budget options and tips for dining.
Eating out is a real pleasure of the wider Santorini travel guide. The island spans every budget. The sections below cover restaurants.
Where should you eat in Oia?
In Oia you can dine finely with caldera views at clifftop restaurants, eat traditional Greek dishes in hidden garden tavernas, or grab a top-rated gyros to keep costs down. Famous spots include cliffside fine dining for special occasions and quieter, authentic tavernas away from the busiest lanes.
Oia offers Santorini’s most romantic, and priciest, dining. The clifftop restaurants serve refined Greek and Mediterranean cooking with unforgettable views over the caldera and sunset, perfect for an anniversary or a proposal, though they command a premium and need booking well ahead. Away from the crowded main street, hidden garden tavernas serve traditional family recipes in a calmer, more intimate setting, and some of the best local food sits in the quieter corners rather than the showiest terraces. Budget-conscious visitors are not shut out: Oia has excellent, well-priced gyros and souvlaki spots that deliver a delicious, filling meal for a few euros, set within the wider Oia. Fira has the widest choice.
Where should you eat in Fira?
Fira has the island’s widest range of restaurants, from fine-dining tasting menus and lively caldera-view tavernas to traditional meze ouzeris and the best cheap gyros on the island. As the capital, it suits every budget and is the easiest base for eating out, with options walkable from the centre.
Fira is the dining heart of Santorini. The capital packs in the greatest variety, from celebrated fine-dining restaurants offering multi-course tasting menus to busy, atmospheric tavernas perched on the caldera with sweeping views, where the food is good and the setting lively. For something more local, traditional ouzeris serve small Greek plates and meze ideal for sharing, popular with families and groups. At the budget end, Fira is famous for some of the best gyros and souvlaki on the whole island, served fast and cheap from counter joints loved by locals and visitors alike. Everything is within walking distance of the centre, making Fira the simplest base for eating out, set out alongside the guides to Fira and Santorini food. Seafood deserves its own trip.
Where is the best seafood?
The best seafood is at Ammoudi Bay, the little harbour below Oia, where waterfront fish tavernas serve the day’s catch right beside the boats. Specialities include grilled octopus, fresh fish and calamari, eaten at tables almost on the water, making it one of the island’s most atmospheric meals.
For fish, head down to the water. Ammoudi Bay, the tiny former fishing harbour at the foot of the cliff below Oia, reached by 300 steps or a short drive, is lined with casual seafood tavernas whose tables sit almost in the sea beside the moored boats. Here you eat the freshest catch, from sun-dried grilled octopus and whole fresh fish to charcoal-grilled calamari, in a relaxed, authentic setting with the red cliffs glowing behind, especially lovely towards sunset. It is a genuine highlight and far removed from the polished clifftop dining above. Other harbours and beachfront tavernas at Perissa and Kamari also serve good, honest seafood, set out alongside the guides to Ammoudi Bay and Kamari beach. A few tips help.
What tips help for dining?
The tips are to book caldera-view and fine-dining restaurants well ahead, especially for sunset, to eat the same views at lunch for less money, and to seek out local tavernas and gyros joints away from the busiest spots for better value. Reservations are easier outside the sunset rush.
A little strategy improves both the food and the bill. The famous caldera-view and fine-dining restaurants book up, particularly the prized sunset slots, so reserve days ahead in summer, and consider going for lunch instead, when you get the same spectacular views for noticeably less and tables are far easier to secure. For the best value and most authentic cooking, step away from the most crowded, view-driven terraces towards the local tavernas, ouzeris and gyros counters where Santorinians actually eat. Note that prices in the tourist hotspots are high, so mixing one or two splurge meals with simpler local eating keeps costs sensible across a trip, set out alongside the guide to Santorini on a budget. The questions below cover the points travellers ask most.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are the best restaurants in Santorini?
The best restaurants spread across Oia, with romantic clifftop fine dining and hidden garden tavernas, and Fira, which has the widest choice from tasting menus to cheap gyros. For seafood, the waterfront fish tavernas at Ammoudi Bay below Oia are among the island’s most memorable.
Where is the best seafood in Santorini?
The best seafood is at Ammoudi Bay, the small harbour below Oia, where waterfront tavernas serve the day’s catch beside the boats, including grilled octopus, fresh fish and calamari. The beachfront tavernas at Perissa and Kamari also serve good, honest seafood.
Are restaurants in Santorini expensive?
Restaurants in Santorini can be expensive, especially the caldera-view and fine-dining spots in Oia and Fira. You can eat the same views at lunch for less, and local tavernas, ouzeris and gyros joints away from the busiest lanes offer delicious food at far better value.