40 editor picks in Heraklion.
40 cheap eats places in Heraklion, editor-picked. the best low-budget spots in Heraklion: the places editors actually return to. All Heraklion food.
Kirkor has baked bougatsa on Lions Square in Heraklion for generations, and is still the first place locals name when you ask them about breakfast.
OrderBougatsa with custard, cinnamon and icing sugar
TipA bougatsa counter rather than a cafe, so expect to eat standing or take it away.
Kirkor has long sold bougatsa on Lions Square in Heraklion, sweet myzithra or plain custard inside hot phyllo, dusted with cinnamon and icing sugar.
OrderBougatsa with sweet myzithra, honey and cinnamon
TipOrder at the counter, take a table on the square, and expect the bougatsa to arrive scalding hot.
Kirkor has long sold bougatsa on Lions Square in Heraklion, and it is still the fastest breakfast in the whole city if you eat it standing up.
OrderBougatsa with custard, cinnamon and icing sugar
TipThe queue moves fast, because there are really only two things on the menu.
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.
OrderBougatsa with custard, cinnamon and icing sugar
TipA bougatsa and a Greek coffee is breakfast for under five euros, which is the cheapest sit-down in the old town.
Phyllosophies is the bougatsa house on Lions Square in Heraklion, opening its phyllo by hand every morning since 1922 and across three generations.
OrderBougatsa with myzithra, honey and walnuts
TipAlso bakes chortopites, tyropites, baklava and loukoumades, all from the same hand-opened phyllo.
Phyllosophies has worked Smyrna phyllo on Lions Square in Heraklion since 1922, filling its bougatsa with fresh cream or sweet myzithra to order.
OrderBougatsa with myzithra, honey and walnuts
TipThe recipe traces to a bougatsa master from Smyrna, and the phyllo is still opened by hand every morning.
Phyllosophies is the Heraklion bougatsa counter on Lions Square, hand-opened phyllo filled with cream or sweet myzithra and cut with scissors.
OrderBougatsa with sweet myzithra and honey
TipEat it standing on Lions Square while it is still too hot, which is how everyone in Heraklion does it.
Phyllosophies keeps prices low on Lions Square in Heraklion, where a bougatsa or a hand-opened greens pie costs less than a coffee elsewhere.
OrderBougatsa with sweet myzithra, honey and walnuts
TipThe savoury chortopites and tyropites cost about the same as the sweet bougatsa and travel better in a bag.
Savoidakis bakes right across Heraklion, and its kalitsounia are the ones food tours stop for, alongside a long counter of sweets and gelato.
OrderKalitsounia, the Cretan cheese pie
TipA Heraklion chain with several city branches. The Dikaiosinis counter is the handiest one from the Agora.
Savoidakis sells kalitsounia right across Heraklion, and a warm bag of the Cretan cheese pies is the best two euros you can spend near the Agora.
OrderKalitsounia, eaten warm out of the paper bag
TipThe Dikaiosinis branch is the handiest for the Agora, and the pies come out through the morning.
Veganato is the fully plant-based kitchen on Vourvachon in Heraklion, cooked to order by the owners and missed by almost every visiting diner.
TipEverything is cooked to order in front of you, so allow more time than a takeaway counter would need.
Chagiati is the backstreet Heraklion mezedopoleio on Erotokritou, grilling sardines and pouring raki for a room that stays stubbornly local.
OrderGrilled sardines with a carafe of raki
TipDinner only, and closed Sundays. The room is small enough that a walk-in after 21:00 usually means waiting outside.
Artopoiio Christoforos Veneris bakes bread, pies and tsoureki on Evans in central Heraklion, with the oven working directly beneath the shop.
OrderTsoureki, plain or with chocolate
TipThe bakery works below the shop, so the pastries come up warm. At Christmas it bakes a chocolate panettone.
ML Espresso Bar is a third-wave coffee counter on Eleftherias Square in Heraklion, rotating single-origin beans through espresso and filter.
OrderA filter coffee, whichever origin is on that week
TipA takeaway-first counter on Eleftherias Square, open from seven in the morning until eleven at night.
ML Espresso Bar pours third-wave coffee on Eleftherias Square in Heraklion, rotating single origins through espresso and hand-brewed filter.
OrderA filter of whichever Ethiopian is on that week
TipThe counter is small and built for takeaway rather than sitting down with a laptop.
Chagiati hides on Erotokritou in Heraklion, Crete, a small dinner-only mezedopoleio that grills sardines and pours raki for a room of regulars.
TipClosed Sundays, dinner only from 18:00, and small enough that arriving after 21:00 usually means waiting outside.
Chagiati is the Erotokritou mezedopoleio where Heraklion eats cheaply and well, with grilled sardines and dolmades shared over a carafe of raki.
OrderGrilled sardines and dolmades, shared across the table
TipDinner only and closed Sundays. Order two or three mezedes each and the bill still stays under twenty euros.
Chalali is a plain Greek and Cretan taverna on Strofadon in Heraklion, cheap enough that the room stays local, open six days a week from lunch.
OrderA mezes spread with a carafe of raki
TipClosed Mondays, and prices sit well under the old-town average, so the room stays local rather than filling with cruise traffic.
Chalali is the cheap Cretan taverna on Strofadon that keeps central Heraklion honest, with mezedes, grills and raki for well under a tenner.
OrderA mezes spread with a carafe of raki
TipClosed Mondays, and prices sit well under the old-town average, so the room stays local rather than filling with cruise traffic.
Krasas is the Ikarou grill house that Heraklion falls back on, running gyros and skewers until three in the morning at prices well under a tenner.
OrderA pita gyros with everything, eaten standing
TipOpen until 03:00, which makes it the default stop after a long evening on Ikarou.
Veneris Bakery & Coffee is the neighbourhood bakery on Meandrou in Heraklion, where the owner still makes the breads and the pastries himself.
OrderA savoury pastry straight off the tray
TipFamily-run and far enough from the tourist streets that the queue is almost entirely local rather than visiting.
The Dodo Cocktail Bar pours on the Sofokli Venizelou seafront in Heraklion, cheap by old-town standards and pointed straight out at the water.
OrderThe Mojito Pirata, with the sea in front of you
TipOne of the cheaper cocktail lists on the Heraklion seafront, and a seasonal one: it runs roughly April to October.
Thraka Grill turns out gyros on Daskalogianni square in Heraklion until midnight, the local answer to where to eat well for about five euros.
OrderA pork gyros pita with everything on it
TipOn Daskalogianni square, and it is the gyros stop the local food tours use rather than the seafront chains.
Krasas grills on Leoforos Ikarou in Heraklion until three in the morning, the default late gyros stop for anyone heading home from the east.
OrderA gyros pita on the way home from Ikarou
TipOpen until 03:00, and there is a second Krasas near the airport in Nea Alikarnassos.
Krasas grills gyros and skewers on Leoforos Ikarou in Heraklion until three in the morning, which makes it the default stop on the way home.
OrderA pita gyros on the way home from Ikarou
TipOpen until three in the morning, and there is a second branch out towards the airport.
Krasas is the cheap grill on Leoforos Ikarou that keeps Heraklion fed after midnight, with pita gyros and skewers priced well under a tenner.
OrderA pork gyros pita, with chips added in
TipOpen 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.
OrderA pork gyros pita with everything in it
TipOn Daskalogianni square, and it is the gyros counter used by the local walking food tours rather than a seafront chain.
Hovoli works the charcoal on Daskalogianni square in Heraklion, an unfussy grill house with Cretan salads and prices that stay entirely reasonable.
OrderGrilled meats off the charcoal with a Cretan salad
TipOn Daskalogianni square, which is a useful place to eat when the Lions Square terraces are all full.
Kritikos Fournos runs bakeries across Heraklion, and the Ikarou branch is the easy stop for ekmek kataifi and a box of cakes to carry back home.
OrderEkmek kataifi, the syrup and cream classic
TipA Heraklion chain with several branches, useful because the Ikarou shop opens early on the airport road.
Queen Boulangerie is the late-opening patisserie on Agiou Titou in Heraklion, baking through the day and still selling pastries at eleven at night.
OrderA pastry from the late-night counter
TipThe counter runs late into the evening, so it covers the gap after the tavernas stop serving.
Queen Boulangerie bakes through the day on Agiou Titou in Heraklion, a patisserie counter that runs late into the evening for pastries and cake.
OrderA pastry from the counter with a filter coffee
TipOn the corner of Agiou Titou and Evropis, open late enough to work as an after-dinner stop.
Mavrokostas sells homemade Greek food on 62 Martiron in Heraklion through the small hours, long after every other kitchen in town has shut down.
OrderWhatever tray of homemade food is still hot
TipOpen until six in the morning on weekdays and eight at weekends, which makes it the last kitchen standing in Heraklion.
Mavrokostas keeps cooking homemade Greek food on 62 Martiron in Heraklion until six in the morning, and until eight in the morning at weekends.
OrderWhichever tray of homemade food is still hot
TipThe last kitchen standing in Heraklion. Weekend service runs until eight in the morning, which is not a typo.
Hovoli works the charcoal on Daskalogianni square in Heraklion, Crete, a plain grill house the guidebooks skip and the neighbourhood keeps busy.
TipWorth knowing in August, when the central squares are full and this one still has tables at nine in the evening.
Mavrokostas sells homemade Greek food on 62 Martiron in Heraklion at neighbourhood prices, and keeps selling it long into the following morning.
OrderWhichever tray of homemade food is still hot
TipOpen until six in the morning on weekdays and eight at weekends, which makes it the last cheap kitchen standing.
Souvlaki Point grills skewers on Menelaou Parlama in Heraklion until one in the morning, a takeaway counter rather than a sit-down taverna room.
OrderTwo pork skewers with pita and chips
TipOpen until one in the morning most nights, and set up for takeaway rather than a sit-down meal.
Spiros Psitopoleio is the neighbourhood grill house on Christomichali Xilouri in Heraklion, selling meat by the portion to a mostly local queue.
OrderA mixed grill portion to take away
TipA neighbourhood psitopoleio on Christomichali Xilouri, which means grilled meat by the portion rather than by the plate.
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.
OrderTwo pork skewers with pita, chips and tzatziki
TipSet up for takeaway rather than sitting down, and it keeps serving until one in the morning most nights.
Spiros Psitopoleio sells grilled meat by the portion on Christomichali Xilouri in Heraklion, a neighbourhood grill with local prices to match.
OrderA portion of mixed grilled meat to share
TipA neighbourhood psitopoleio east of the centre, which means grilled meat by weight rather than a composed plate.
Costis Patisserie bakes on the Knossos road out of Heraklion, selling cakes, sweets and coffee to take away from morning through to late evening.
OrderA slice from the cabinet with a Greek coffee
TipOn the Knossos road, so it works as a stop coming back from the palace rather than a city-centre errand.
3 hours
Watch the sun come up over the Lasithi Plateau from a hot air balloon, then celebrate back on the ground with sparkling wine and a real Greek breakfast. One of the bes...
Private tour · 8 hours
Explore Crete's rich history and flavors on a tour of Agarathos Monastery, an olive farm, and a boutique winery. Enjoy tastings, a local meal, and panoramic views.
Private tour · 8 hours
Enjoy a high quality olive oil, food and wine cultural tour under the guidance of a certified Sommelier. Have authentic Cretan lunch paired with 6 Premium local wines ...