I spent part of last summer’s Greek vacation on Naxos, an island in the Cyclades, which I absolutely loved. While it’s popular and certainly on the tourist circuit, I had trouble finding reliable information on restaurants in Naxos town, or Chora. This post details good restaurant finds in Naxos, Greece. We arrived on the SeaJets ferry from Heraklion, and if you are still building the trip around the food, here is our full four-day Naxos itinerary.
Naxos’ Chora.
The Naxos Apothecary
The Naxos Apothecary is an upscale restaurant in Naxos town located close to the Portara, even offering Portara views from most tables. It is also known for being owned by the people who own the makeup and skin care brand Korres (Naxos Apothecary is its upscale sister company). The Naxos Apothecary restaurant doubles as a beauty store and serves excellent, modern Naxian fare. This was probably my favorite restaurant in Naxos, possibly tied with To Souvlaki tou Maki. I wrote a whole post on our dinner here. Food was great, as were the wine and views. I would absolutely return.
Portara views from the Naxos Apothecary.
Amazing Naxian salad at the Naxos Apothecary.
An incredible Naxian peach dessert (peaches were in season during our July visit).
Specifics: Naxos Apothecary Portara: Ariadnis 1, Naxos 843 00, Greece. Open for dinner 7:30 PM – 11:00 PM. Reservations recommended. Credit card accepted.
To Souvlaki tou Maki
I found To Souvlaki tou Maki online and intended to have lunch here on arrival. Unfortunately, the restaurant does not keep up with the opening hours it posts online. Determined to have a great gyro, I returned the following day for a successful lunch. The place is very inexpensive, with limited seating indoors and outdoors. We lunched on an excellent gyro and a perfect saganaki. Come here for really tasty, inexpensive food. We saw both locals and tourists here.
A pork gyro. This was probably the best we had the entire trip.
It was our last day, so we also needed a Saganaki.
No inexpensive Greek lunch is complete without Greek beer!
Specifics: To Souvlaki tou Maki, Sokratous Papavasiliou, Naxos 843 00, Greece. Open Monday – Saturday 12:30 – 1:00 (although they opened quite late (well after 12:30) twice when we tried to visit). Cash strongly preferred.
Capriccio Restaurant
Located in the heart of Chora on the waterfront, Capriccio is an all-outdoor restaurant featuring Greek and Naxian dishes. We found the food to be quite good. We also got in relatively easily on a Thursday night without a reservation. Our meal ended with complimentary Kitron, a Naxian liqueur. Come for a good dinner in a fun setting. The Naxian potatoes smothered in Naxian cheese were a highlight for me.
Potatoes with local Naxian Cheese. These were very popular and, of course, very tasty.
Also ordered the fried calamari. These were super tasty.
I also ordered a vegetarian pasta.
Complimentary Kitron.
Specifics: Capriccio Restaurant, Port Street, Naxos 843 00, Greece. Open daily 13:30 – 23:00. Reservations suggested in high season. Credit card accepted.
Taverna Naxos
Located on the Chora waterfront, Taverna Naxos is yet another one of those restaurants with lots of outdoor seating and, of course, lots of tourists. The menu, as many of these restaurants do, features a mix of Greek and Naxian fare mixed with some Italian. Taverna Naxos also has an interesting Gin & Tonic menu. Our food was generally pretty good, especially the Naxian Salad. The one miss – the Carbonara (that’s on me for ordering Carbonara outside of Rome…). Come for an easy dinner on the waterfront.
A Naxian Salad including fresh tomatoes, cucumber, olives, red onion, and Naxian cheese. This was so delicious.
Seasonal Peach Gin and Tonic with a slice of local fresh peach. I am a big peach fan and really appreciated this.
Spring rolls with local Naxian cheese and pork. These were also delicious.
Fried potatoes with Naxian cheese.
Dan’s dinner. The main item was grilled squid.
Taverna Naxos’s Carbonara.
Greek custard pie with ice cream.
Specifics: Taverna Naxos, Protopapadaki, Naxos 843 00, Greece. Open daily 12:00 – 00:30. We did not have a reservation and got in with only a 5 minute wait on a Saturday night in July. Credit card accepted.
Trata Seaside Bar Restaurant
Trata Seaside Bar Restaurant is a classic Greek beach restaurant and bar, meaning that it is an open air restaurant serving coffee, foods, and drinks all day, in addition to maintaining a beach with rentable beach chairs. I love these types of places. We only stopped at Trata for cold coffee and a mid-morning snack of Tzatziki, but it was good and the vibes were cool. Recommended for a meal or a pick-me-up on St. George’s Beach.
Cappuccino Freddo from Trata. This was very tasty.
Greek Tzatziki with fresh pita. This was very tasty.
Specifics: Trata Seaside Bar Restaurant, Agios Georgios beach (St. George’s Beach). Open daily 9:00 AM – 11:00 PM. Reservations not required. Credit card accepted.
Yasouvlaki
Yasouvlaki is a very touristy restaurant serving what tourists think of as “traditional Greek food”. Located right on the water in Naxos town, seating is all outdoors, and tables move fast (but no one will rush you). You probably won’t see many locals here, but you will see tourists between ferries and students, probably due to the fact that Yasouvlaki is inexpensive. Come here for a quick bite: a decent gyro, or American-style deep-fried things.
Had to do a Mythos, one of Greece’s national beers.
First gyro in Naxos (I did the platter instead of the actual wrap). Surprisingly good for a very touristy spot.
Also tried the saganaki here. It was decent – heavily fried.
Specifics: Yasouvlaki, Naxos 843 00, Greece. Open daily 11:30 – 6:00 (yes, AM). Reservations not necessary. Credit card accepted.
Gemma Naxian Bistro
Gemma Naxian Bistro is a 100% outdoor restaurant/cafe/bar. Situated right in the heart of Naxos Town, complete with greenery draped over the seating area, Gemma is quite touristy. It even has “catchers,” or employees beckoning guests to come in and eat at the restaurant, during dinner time – a big red flag in our book, LOL. That being said, we initially ended up at Gemma because it serves hookah, but came back twice more for more hookah, coffee, and drinks. We never had a full meal here, but the staff was nice and helpful and the drinks and complimentary snacks it served were good. Recommended for hookah or a quick drink break.
A tasty Cappuccino Freddo at Gemma Naxian Bistro.
A frying pan of potato chips. This was one of the complimentary snacks served with drinks (similar to “aperitivo” in Italy).
This was another complimentary bite – this time pound cake with some sort of filling.
Specifics: Gemma Naxian Bistro, Old Town – Chora. Open from early morning to late evening. Reservations suggested during busy times due to limited seating (but you very well may be able to walk in). Credit card accepted.