51 editor picks in Heraklion.
51 greek places in Heraklion we have eaten in, sorted by editor score. All cuisines in Heraklion | Greek across every city.
Peskesi cooks Cretan recipes from its own farm at Haraso inside a restored stone mansion in central Heraklion. Book ahead, the room fills nightly.
OrderSfakiano lamb, then the carob mousse to finish
TipAsk for the olive oil tasting. The kitchen is supplied by its own farm at Haraso, and the oils are poured alongside rusk.
Parasties runs an open wood fire opposite the Historical Museum in Heraklion, turning out smoked steak, big pork fillets and long-cooked Cretan plates.
OrderSmoked steak straight off the open wood fire
TipSit where you can see the open kitchen. Staff will walk you through a mostly Cretan wine list if you tell them what you ordered.
Merastri has cooked over a wood oven in Heraklion since 1998, closing lamb in the fire for hours and finishing pork fillet with staka and oven potatoes.
OrderArnaki ofto, milk-fed lamb held in the wood oven
TipDinner only from 18:00, and the courtyard tables go first at weekends. The Cretan list is worth an extra glass.
The Walls plates crab samosas, duck and sea bream in a garden inside the Venetian walls of Heraklion, the city's most composed modern Greek cooking.
OrderCrab-stuffed samosas, then the duck
TipThe dining room sits inside the Heraklion Tennis Club grounds by the Venetian walls, so allow time to find the gate.
Athali cooks traditional Cretan food on the corner of Kydonias and Kapetan Charalampi in Heraklion, running from lunch through to one in the morning.
OrderWhatever the wood oven is holding that day
TipKydonias meets Kapetan Charalampi here, two minutes from Peskesi, so it is a useful fallback when that room is full.
Thigaterra cooks to a declared Slow Food brief on the Ammoudara strip west of Heraklion, working Greek producers and Cretan seas rather than a fixed menu.
OrderThe seasonal vegetable plates the menu is built around
TipReserve at least three days ahead. The kitchen asks for confirmation before it holds a table, which weeds out no-shows.
Apiri Greek Eatery reworks Greek standards on Agion Deka in Heraklion, grilling octopus and sea bass and charring a wild greens pie over coals.
OrderThe char-grilled wild greens pie
TipSmall room, so book for dinner. Lunch is quieter and the same kitchen is running the grill from 13:00.
Erganos has fed a mostly local room beside Kazantzakis park in Heraklion since 1986, with goat, meatballs and a long list of Cretan vegetable plates.
OrderBite-sized sfakianopites with cheese and honey
TipThe taverna sits beside Kazantzakis park, a short walk uphill from the Archaeological Museum.
Ippokampos is the seafront ouzeri Heraklion sends visitors to, grilling the day's catch and pouring raki at pavement tables across from the water.
OrderWhatever came in that morning, grilled whole
TipTables spill across the promenade opposite the water, and the seafront ones go first on a summer evening.
Ouzeri tou Terzaki has poured raki in a quiet port alley in Heraklion since 1978, sending out mezedes, moussaka and whatever the boats landed.
OrderA spread of mezedes, then the grilled fish
TipThe alley off Plateia Agiou Dimitriou is easy to miss. Aim for the port end of Lochagou Marineli and look for the chairs.
Arismari & Varsamo cooks lamb over open fire on the seafront side of Heraklion, with bean soup, tzatziki and a menu built on Cretan farm produce.
OrderArni ofto, lamb marinated in herbs and cooked over fire
TipThe terrace faces the sea by the Historical Museum square, which makes it a better sunset table than a midday one.
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.
Erganos is the taverna Heraklion locals default to, a 1986 dining room beside Kazantzakis park with goat, keftedes and honeyed sfakianopites.
OrderBite-sized sfakianopites with cheese and honey
TipThe taverna sits beside Kazantzakis park, a short walk uphill from the Archaeological Museum.
Ouzeri tou Terzaki is a 1978 port-alley ouzeri in Heraklion where the mezedes arrive in waves and the raki keeps arriving alongside them all night.
OrderA spread of mezedes, then the grilled fish
TipThe alley off Plateia Agiou Dimitriou is easy to miss. Aim for the port end of Lochagou Marineli and look for the chairs.
Ippokampos is the pavement ouzeri on the Heraklion waterfront, all grilled fish, octopus and shrimp eaten a metre from the passing seafront traffic.
OrderWhatever came in that morning, grilled whole
TipTables spill across the promenade opposite the water, and the seafront ones go first on a summer evening.
Athali is an easy all-day Cretan taverna in central Heraklion, cooking wood-oven meats and wild greens from lunch until one the following morning.
OrderWhatever the wood oven is holding that day
TipKydonias meets Kapetan Charalampi here, two minutes from Peskesi, so it is a useful fallback when that room is full.
Apiri Greek Eatery is a good-value Heraklion dinner, grilling octopus and sea bass and charring its wild greens pie over open coals every night.
OrderThe char-grilled wild greens pie
TipSmall room, so book for dinner. Lunch is quieter and the same kitchen is running the grill from 13:00.
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.
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.
Alla ki Alla is the Kagiampi kitchen in Heraklion that locals fall back on, sending out stuffed mushrooms, fried zucchini balls and meat platters.
OrderStuffed mushrooms, with the fried zucchini balls
TipOn Kagiampi a minute from Peskesi, with stuffed mushrooms and fried zucchini balls among the plates worth ordering.
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.
Peskesi is the Cretan kitchen Heraklion gets judged by, rebuilding near-lost island recipes with produce grown on the restaurant's own farm.
OrderSfakiano lamb, then the carob mousse to finish
TipAsk for the olive oil tasting. The kitchen is supplied by its own farm at Haraso, and the oils are poured alongside rusk.
The Walls is the most technical cooking in Heraklion, a garden dining room inside the Venetian ramparts, run as a modern Greek gastrobistro.
OrderCrab-stuffed samosas, then the duck
TipThe dining room sits inside the Heraklion Tennis Club grounds by the Venetian walls, so allow time to find the gate.
Brillant is the winter dining room of the Lato hotel in Heraklion, running Mediterranean and Cretan cooking from November until the roof reopens.
OrderThe winter Cretan plates the kitchen builds each season
TipBrillant is the winter half of the Lato hotel operation. From April the same team moves up to the Herb's Garden roof.
Thigaterra is the Slow Food table of the Heraklion coast, cooking Greek producers and Cretan sea catch on the Ammoudara strip west of the city.
OrderThe seasonal vegetable plates the menu is built around
TipReserve at least three days ahead. The kitchen asks for confirmation before it holds a table, which weeds out no-shows.
Merastri is the wood-oven address in Heraklion for an unhurried Cretan dinner, from lamb closed in the fire to a long list of island bottles.
OrderArnaki ofto, milk-fed lamb held in the wood oven
TipDinner only from 18:00, and the courtyard tables go first at weekends. The Cretan list is worth an extra glass.
Parasties has cooked Cretan food over live fire in the centre of Heraklion since 1999, and is one of the city's steadiest special-occasion rooms.
OrderSmoked steak straight off the open wood fire
TipSit where you can see the open kitchen. Staff will walk you through a mostly Cretan wine list if you tell them what you ordered.
Beer O'Clock is the rock bistro on Parodos Minotavrou in Heraklion, stocking more than a hundred beer labels and grilling burgers to drink alongside them.
OrderA Cretan lager with one of the burgers
TipOver 100 beer labels are stocked, and happy hour runs in the late afternoon before the kitchen gets busy.
Merastri keeps a serious Cretan wine list behind its wood oven in Heraklion, and the reds it pours are built to stand up to three-hour roast lamb.
OrderA Liatiko red alongside the wood-oven lamb
TipThe Cretan list is the reason to linger. Ask what is open by the glass before committing to a bottle.
Parasties runs a Cretan-leaning wine list beside its open fire in Heraklion, with floor staff who match bottles to whatever the oven is cooking.
OrderA Cretan red poured to match the smoked steak
TipThe floor staff will steer the list if you tell them what is coming off the fire.
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.
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.
Gyrogonia works the gyros spit on Christomichali Xilouri in Heraklion until midnight, a plain takeaway counter with prices that match the setting.
OrderA chicken gyros pita, wrapped to go
TipTwo doors from Spiros on the same street, which makes the corner a useful late-night detour east of the centre.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ouzeri tou Terzaki has worked a quiet port alley in Heraklion since 1978, and it stays hidden from the seafront crowds a hundred metres away.
TipAim for the port end of Lochagou Marineli. The alley is narrow and the sign is easy to walk straight past.
Erganos sits uphill from the Heraklion museums beside Kazantzakis park, a 1986 taverna that most visitors walk past on their way somewhere else.
TipAsk what the kitchen cooked that morning rather than reading the whole menu top to bottom.
Alla ki Alla stands a minute from the busiest restaurant in Heraklion and stays half empty, which is the whole argument for eating there instead.
TipGo here when Peskesi is fully booked. Order the stuffed mushrooms and the fried zucchini balls.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Gyrogonia is the plain gyros counter on Christomichali Xilouri in Heraklion, open until midnight and priced for the neighbourhood rather than tourists.
OrderA chicken gyros pita, wrapped to take away
TipTwo doors from Spiros on the same street, so the corner works as a single cheap-eating detour east of the centre.
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.
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