If you are headed to Paros, you’ll no doubt want to know about all of the best restaurants in Paros.
Paros is a small island, but it is packed with incredible restaurants for every budget.
Like many Greek islands, especially in the Cyclades (where you also find Naxos, Mykonos, and Santorini), there tend to be more expensive options than budget options, but there are plenty in between.
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Does Paros Have Good Food?
Yes! But you have to travel a little bit to find it. There are incredible restaurants all over the island, but they aren’t in the most touristed areas in Parikia.
My biggest piece of advice is to avoid the restaurants in Paros that line the main street by the port. There may be a few gems along the way, but you’ll find a lot of overpriced average food here before you uncover the gems (speaking from experience, unfortunately!).
Before arriving in Paros, I spent a few days in Athens and a week in Naxos. The food in those places is delicious and the good restaurants are in abundance. It was hard to have a bad meal.
That wasn’t the case when I initially arrived in Paros. I stayed at a gorgeous little hotel just on the edge of Parikia and expected to find as many amazing restaurants in downtown Paros as I did in Naxos, but so many of them were overpriced and underwhelming.
In this article, I’ll share all of the incredible places to eat in Paros that I discovered on my trip to the island as well as some of the most highest-rated spots for a special evening meal or two.
Views from the wonderful Christiana Restaurant.
What Time do People Eat Dinner in Paros?
The best restaurants in Paros don’t start getting busy until after dark. The busiest times are between 8:30 and 10pm.
Dinner in Greece, in general, starts quite late. In Paros, it feels like the restaurants don’t get busy until even later. Many restaurants do not even open until 7:30pm or later.
Most restaurants are open until midnight and unlike in some parts of the world, in Paros that means the kitchen is open until midnight.
That means you can enjoy one of the many incredible beaches in Paros without missing a reservation at the best restaurants on the island.
Top Restaurants in Paros, Greece
These are a sampling of some of the best restaurants in Paros. After spending time exploring every corner of this island, these the places I believe you will have some of the best Greek food in Paros.
If you are looking for something other than Greek food, there are a few options and I list one or two in this best restaurants in Paros list, however, this is heavy on the Greek cuisine because that’s where we’re going, right?
Sun-dried mackerel at Koutouki.
1. Koutouki
This is without a doubt one of the best restaurants in Parikia town in Paros. If you are staying near the port, eating here is an absolute must.
It’s all about the mezze here with all of the dishes served as share plates. They are serving up the best Dakos salad on the island – a sort of Greek salad with soft cheese with a crispy bread beneath it.
Other highlights on the menu include the sun-dried mackerel (Gouna), the octopus, the meatballs, and the sausage and peppers.
The staff are so nice and the beer is nice and cold. There are seats outside the restaurant and despite being only a few minute’s walk from the waterfront, this place doesn’t fill up quite like the more touristed places.
See the location on Google Maps here.
Sausage and peppers and the Dakos salad from Koutouki.
2. To Souvlaki Tou Pepe
For the best souvlaki in town, get yourself over to To Souvlaki Tou Pepe. It is always busy with both locals and tourists, but food comes out quick, so you never have to wait long for a table.
The souvlaki and kebabs are great here, but for something really special, try the rotisserie meats. On the spit, they have lamb and chicken and both are some of the juiciest and tenderest pieces of meat I’ve ever eaten.
Everything can be served either on a place with fries and pitas or wrapped in a pita as a sandwich. If you sit in they have a few beers and ouzo on the menu to enjoy with your meal.
If you want to take your wrap to-go, you’ll be able to get your food a little bit faster and you can walk back to your hotel enjoying a delicious kebab.
See the location on Google Maps here.
Delicious kebabs from To Souvlaki Tou Pepe.
3. Lemon…e
If you are looking for quick, cheap, authentic Greek home cooking, then this is the best restaurant in Paros for you.
It’s mostly a lunch spot and workers from around Parikia head here on their breaks to grab a quick lunch. It’s true Greek home cooking with most things already cooked and waiting to be served up cafeteria-style.
All of the slow-cooked meats are exceptional here, including the chicken, pork, and beef options.
You can have the meat with potatoes are perfectly cooked rice. He even gave me half and half once so I could try both (I came here several times on my recent trip to Paros!). In addition to slow-cooked meats, they also have grilled meat and huge trays of moussaka.
If you are heading out of town for a day at the beach, this is a great place to stop before you go so that you can have a delicious Greek picnic.
Most meals cost between €5-7 (about $5.50-8 USD) which also makes it one of the cheapest restaurants in Paros.
See the location on Google Maps here.
One of the many simple yet extraordinary meals I ate at Lemon…e
4. Grill Roussos Kostantinos
Another fantastic kebab restaurant in Paros, Grill Roussos is a nice place to come if you want to sit down for great grilled meat as well as for seriously delicious kebabs.
Kebabs in Greece are usually made of minced beef and some spices. It is then molded into a sausage-like shape and cooked on a metal skewer on the barbecue.
They make one of the best kebabs I’ve had outside of Athens. The meat is juicy, the sauce and salad they use is light and fresh, the bread is fluffy and slightly toasted.
In addition to great kebabs, they have perfectly grilled and juicy pork chops, lamb chops, steak, and spit-roasted meat as well. It’s a popular late-night spot serving up kebabs until after midnight.
See the location on Google Maps here.
You can never go wrong with a simple souvlaki wrap.
5. Ragoussis Bakery
This was both the first and last meal I had in Paros. There are a few locations, but my favorite one is located about a two-minute walk from the Port in Parikia.
They have just about everything you could want for lunch; salads, sandwiches, fresh juice, and hot Greek dishes like stuffed tomatoes and oven-roasted chicken with Greek potatoes.
The Greek dishes at the back of the bakery are actually my favorite thing to eat here. For €6 (About $6.50 USD), you get two huge stuffed tomatoes (they also sometimes have stuffed peppers) as well as tons of potatoes that have cooked in the juices of the tomato.
They have freshly baked bread, nice coffee, and a huge bakery section of pastries and biscuits.
If you are leaving Paros and will be on the ferry during lunchtime, I highly recommend stopping here before you get on your ferry and grabbing some lunch to take with you on the boat. They even have wooden utensils you can take with you.
If you are in Naoussa and you don’t want to spend too much money eating at one of the many fancy restaurants there, they have a big location right in the center of town with very affordable lunch options (although prices are a Euro or two more expensive compared to the Parikia location).
See the Parikia location here and the Naoussa location here.
All this food for €6!
6. Bountaraki
This restaurant has a line that wraps around the block every night of the week (except on Mondays when they’re closed).
You can try to book ahead by calling this number:+3022840 22297, however, I never had much luck with anyone answering it.
You simply have to show up about an hour before you are hungry and wait for a table. The line tends to be longest between 8:00 pm and 9:15 pm. If you come for a late lunch around 2:00 or 3:00 you will likely walk straight in and get a table.
Like many good Greek restaurants, Bountaraki is all about share plates. Order the lamb chops and while you wait for them, you can enjoy some of the seafood on offer.
Everything on the menu is truly delicious, but my personal favorites are the octopus and cuttlefish. Wash it all down with their housemade wine.
See the location of Bountaraki on Google Maps here.
The many tables along the port in Naoussa ready for the dinner rush.
7. Souvlaki Kargas
There are so many restaurants in Naoussa. In fact, the restaurants in Naoussa are perhaps the most famous and frequently visited.
There are so many restaurants that line the harbor front, tables packed in tightly. But just a block behind that area is the most famous souvlaki spot in Naoussa.
If you head here at lunchtime, expect to wait about 20 minutes.
Despite being a bit more expensive than other kebab shops around the island, it’s still a relatively affordable lunch option and they are incredibly delicious.
You can order platters that include three skewers of meat, sauce, and pitas for about €9 (just under $10) and is probably the best value for money on the menu as it’s often enough food for two people to share if you add a Greek salad to the order.
Octopus in wine is a popular dish in restaurants in Paros.
8. To Takimi
This is one of the best restaurants in Naoussa Paros for Greek food that doesn’t feel too stuffy or fancy, but seriously delivers on service and flavor.
All of the dips are wonderful here including the spicy cheese and the cod roe. It goes perfectly with their crusty bread.
Other standouts on the menu here include the octopus with pasta (perhaps their most popular dish) and the cuttlefish. Order a few plates to share and you can expect to pay about €15-30 per person with appetizers and main courses.
See the location on Google Maps here.
9. Open Garden Restaurant
This is another fantastic restaurant in Naoussa Paros that is worth adding to your list.
As the name suggests, there is a beautiful garden where most of the tables are located and where you can sit as the sun is setting or well after it’s already gone looking up at the stars and moon.
There are a lot of traditional Greek dishes on the menu like fried feta, sun-dried mackerel, and stuffed sardines. There are also a lot of seasonally focused dishes that use locally grown fruits and vegetables.
The black lentils with the oven-baked cod were a real standout dish, but everything that came out of the kitchen here looked delicious.
The menu changes with the seasons. You can see what the latest menu is on their website here.
See the location on Google here.
Sting ray salad from Ouzeri Halaris.
10. Siparos Seaside Restaurant
Located just outside of Naoussa along the road that leads to Santa Marta is this little beachfront restaurant in Paros.
It is an incredibly popular restaurant during the peak summer months, so be sure to call ahead to get a reservation: +30 2284052785.
If you are arriving by boat, you can also call ahead and they will reserve a space for you at the dock outside of the restaurant.
The seafood is sold by weight, so you will be able to ask about the size of the different fish or lobster that you want to order. There are a few meat dishes on the menu, but it’s really all about the fresh and locally sourced seafood at Siparos.
See the location on Google Maps here.
Mussels from Christiana Restaurant.
11. Christiana Restaurant
The man at the front desk of our hotel (which was exceptional, you can check it out here) recommended this restaurant to us while we were staying there. He said this was his favorite seafood restaurant on the entire island.
It did not disappoint. The views alone are worth making the trip to this restaurant. You can sit at a table that looks out over turquoise waters and the mountains of Naxos in the distance.
However, the food is exceptional, so you don’t have to come just for the views. The octopus in wine sauce, a popular dish around Greece, was the best I had during my three-week trip to Greece (and I sampled a lot of them).
We also had the mussels which were served in a tomato and feta sauce that tasted salty and sweet and perfectly accompanied the mussels.
See the location of Christiana Restaurant here.
Traditional meat dishes available at most restaurants in Paros.
12. Thalami
I discovered this restaurant by accident after visiting Christiana Restaurant. Located just a minute up the road, this place was absolutely packed with locals, so we knew we had to come back and try it.
They serve a tender octopus dish topped with rich olive oil and oregano and just a little bit of salt and pepper. It is simple and delicious like most of the dishes on their menu.
This is the best restaurant in Paros for simple and fresh seafood. They have a small menu with options to have the fish, squid, octopus, or shrimp fried or grilled. Order a few side dishes like the Dakos salad or the tomato balls to go along with your seafood.
Prices are incredibly reasonable with most dishes costing €4-7.
See the location on Google Maps here.
Sardines and sting ray from Ouzeri Halaris.
13. Ouzeri Halaris
This is, in my completely biased opinion, the best restaurant in Paros. Located in the small village of Piso Livadi, you can easily drive here or you can take the bus from Parikia.
Wind through the beautiful village of Lefkes and make your way to this little slice of paradise where you can spend the morning or afternoon at the beach and walk over to this wonderful spot for lunch.
They are also open for dinner, but I think you get the best experience here during the day when you can sit in the shade along the boardwalk looking out at the boats floating in the marina and the families playing on the beach behind you.
It’s all about seafood here, so if you’re not interested you may not find this place to your liking. However, if you want fresh fish dishes, delicious sun-dried mackerel, or to have sting ray (my personal favorite dish that maybe I’ve ever eaten?), then definitely head here.
The service here is also stand-out compared to many other places on the island. You can expect to pay about €15-25 per person for lunch without any alcohol.
See the location on Google Maps here.
The beautiful village of Lefkes.
14. Lefkiano Restaurant
If you find yourself in the beautiful village of Lefkes and you get hungry, this is the best restaurant in Paros for you.
A little family-run spot, this restaurant is an absolute gem. Most of the tables are outside on the patio area.
Unlike many of the other restaurants on this list, it’s more about the meat here than the seafood. Although, they do have some traditional seafood dishes on the menu like the sun-dried mackerel.
The pork neck fillets, the pork tenderloin, and of course, the lamb chops are all outstanding choices. You can expect to pay €9-15 per plate.
See the location of Lefkiano Restaurant here.
Greek pork chops are always a good idea.
15. Thalassamou
Located in the little village of Aliki in the south of the island, this is a really fantastic choice for dinner in Paros.
They have a few tables right on the pebbles of the beach as well as a larger balcony area where you can sit with views out over the beach.
It’s definitely a bit of a splurge with most seafood dishes costing €15-30, but the quality and service match the price tag.
In addition to exceptional seafood, they also have a few meat dishes and several vegetarian options. The risotto options are delicious and the mackerel with gazpacho tzatziki is a unique and tasty option as well.
See the location on Google Maps here.
16. Stou Fred
This is one of the fanciest restaurants in Paros and where to head if you want a celebratory meal or something fancy that isn’t Greek food.
The focus at Stou Fred is mostly on French cuisine with a twist. You’ll find Greek ingredients, Italian staples, and French techniques mixed with flavors from around the world at this little courtyard restaurant.
You have to be a pretty adventurous eater to choose Stou Fred as the menu is a tasting menu that changes regularly. You likely won’t know what you are going to eat before you arrive, but that’s part of the fun of the experience.
The wine options here are top-notch and the staff are helpful in pairing what you will eat with their selection.
