Mavrokostas is a greek budget eat in Nea Alikarnassos, Heraklion.
Editorially verified August 1, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Must order: Whichever tray of homemade food is still hot
Tip: Open until six in the morning on weekdays and eight at weekends, which makes it the last cheap kitchen standing.
Address: Leoforos 62 Martiron 75, Iraklio 713 04, Heraklion
Souvlaki Point is the takeaway skewer counter on Menelaou Parlama in Heraklion, Crete, where a full pita meal still lands under nine euros a head.
Try: Souvlaki
Order: Two pork skewers with pita, chips and tzatziki
Tip: Set up for takeaway rather than sitting down, and it keeps serving until one in the morning most nights.
Krasas is the cheap grill on Leoforos Ikarou that keeps Heraklion fed after midnight, with pita gyros and skewers priced well under a tenner.
Try: Gyros and grills
Order: A pork gyros pita, with chips added in
Tip: Open until three in the morning, which is why the queue builds long after the tavernas close.
Thraka Grill is the cheapest proper meal on Daskalogianni square in Heraklion, Crete, with gyros wrapped to order and served through to midnight.
Try: Gyros
Order: A pork gyros pita with everything in it
Tip: On Daskalogianni square, and it is the gyros counter used by the local walking food tours rather than a seafront chain.
Chagiati is the Erotokritou mezedopoleio where Heraklion eats cheaply and well, with grilled sardines and dolmades shared over a carafe of raki.
Try: Cretan mezedes
Order: Grilled sardines and dolmades, shared across the table
Tip: Dinner only and closed Sundays. Order two or three mezedes each and the bill still stays under twenty euros.
Kirkor sells bougatsa on Lions Square in Heraklion for just a few euros, which makes its counter the cheapest good breakfast in the entire city.
Try: Bougatsa
Order: Bougatsa with custard, cinnamon and icing sugar
Tip: A bougatsa and a Greek coffee is breakfast for under five euros, which is the cheapest sit-down in the old town.
Phyllosophies keeps prices low on Lions Square in Heraklion, where a bougatsa or a hand-opened greens pie costs less than a coffee elsewhere.
Try: Bougatsa and pies
Order: Bougatsa with sweet myzithra, honey and walnuts
Tip: The savoury chortopites and tyropites cost about the same as the sweet bougatsa and travel better in a bag.
Souvlaki Point is the takeaway skewer counter on Menelaou Parlama in Heraklion, Crete, where a full pita meal still lands under nine euros a head.
Try: Souvlaki
Order: Two pork skewers with pita, chips and tzatziki
Tip: Set up for takeaway rather than sitting down, and it keeps serving until one in the morning most nights.
