Mykonos divides opinion on food more sharply than any other Greek island. Critics point to the price inflation, the international restaurant names, and the dilution of traditional taverna culture. Supporters argue that the island has generated a genuinely world-class dining scene precisely because the money and demand are there to support it. Both sides are right, and the solution is the same: understand which type of restaurant you’re walking into before you order.
Mykonos has two food registers. The first is the celebrity and luxury tier — Nobu, Matsuhisa, Scorpios, M-eating — where you’re paying for the experience and the calibre of ingredient sourcing as much as the cooking. The second is the authentic Mykonian tier that persists in the Ano Mera village, in the backstreets of Mykonos Town, and most famously at one hillside taverna with no sign and no phone. Both are worth experiencing. Confusing them leads to disappointment in both directions.
Celebrity and Fine Dining
Nobu Mykonos
Nobu’s island outpost brings the same Japanese-Peruvian fusion menu that made the brand famous globally, but positions it in a whitewashed hilltop villa above Mykonos Town with Aegean views. The quality is consistent with other Nobu properties — black cod with miso, rock shrimp tempura, crispy rice with tuna — and the setting is among the most beautiful the chain has found.
Expect to spend approximately €80–150 per person for a full dinner with wine, as of 2026. Lunch is slightly more accessible, and the bar menu brings the entry price down. Book through the website 3–4 weeks ahead for July and August.
Address: Drafaki, Mykonos Town.
Matsuhisa Mykonos at Belvedere
The Belvedere Hotel’s rooftop restaurant is run under Nobu Matsuhisa’s direction and occupies a slightly different space — it feels more hotel-formal and less party-adjacent than Nobu. The sashimi and omakase options are strong, and the cocktail list is excellent.
Prices sit in a similar range: approximately €70–130 per person with drinks. The pool terrace setting is one of the most photogenic dinner locations on the island.
Address: Belvedere Hotel, School of Fine Arts District, Mykonos Town.
M-eating
M-eating is the finest restaurant on Mykonos that isn’t a branded import — a serious Greek kitchen run by chef Nikos Apostolou serving contemporary takes on Aegean ingredients. The kopanisti (Mykonian fermented cheese) bruschetta is a signature opener, and the whole roasted fish dishes are among the best on the island.
Mains run approximately €28–45, as of 2026. The wine list focuses on Greek producers — ask the sommelier for Assyrtiko pairings with the seafood, or explore the excellent Mykonian white wines. Booking essential.
Address: Kalogera 10, Mykonos Town.
Little Venice and the Waterfront
Remezzo
Remezzo occupies one of the most coveted positions in Little Venice — a restaurant terrace that juts directly over the sea with views of the windmills and the sunset. The food is a crowd-pleasing Greek-Mediterranean mix: grilled fish, mezedes, pasta dishes, and a few international options.
Don’t come for culinary revelation. Come for the setting. Mains approximately €18–30; expect a long wait for a table at sunset without a reservation.
Address: Little Venice, Mykonos Town.
Caprice Bar
Caprice is primarily a bar — one of the famous spots where people stand on the rocks of Little Venice to watch the sunset with a drink. But the food menu (served through most of the day) is better than the location suggests: proper octopus carpaccio, grilled calamari, and a decent dakos. Meze plates run approximately €12–22.
This is the place for an early-evening drink with food rather than a full dinner.
Traditional Mykonos
Kiki’s Tavern
No phone. No website. No sign you can read from the road. A queue that forms before the 1pm opening, seven days a week in summer. Kiki’s Tavern in Agios Sostis is the most famous restaurant on an island full of famous restaurants, and it earned the reputation by doing exactly nothing to seek it.
The menu is simple and limited: grilled meat (lamb chops, pork souvlaki, fresh sausages), Greek salad, tzatziki, chips. The setting is a hillside garden overlooking a spectacular unspoiled beach. Everything is cooked over charcoal on an open grill. No electricity means cold drinks from ice-packed coolers.
Prices are low by Mykonos standards — approximately €12–18 for a full meal per person. Cash only. Arrive 20–30 minutes before the 1pm opening to get a table without a long wait. Closes before evening.
Address: Agios Sostis, north Mykonos (follow signs for Agios Sostis beach, 15 minutes by car from town).
Nikos Taverna
In the heart of Mykonos Town, Nikos Taverna has operated since 1979 and represents the closest thing to a genuine neighbourhood restaurant the town now has. The kitchen produces solid, traditional Greek food — moussaka, pastitsio, grilled fish — in a setting that predates the island’s luxury reinvention.
Mains approximately €14–22. Portions are generous and the cooking is honest. It can feel like a tourist trap from the outside, but the quality holds up.
Address: Agion Anargyron 20, Mykonos Town.
Ano Mera Village
Taverna Vangelis
The village of Ano Mera sits 8km inland from Mykonos Town and operates at an entirely different pace. Taverna Vangelis, on the main village square beside the 16th-century Tourliani Monastery, serves Mykonian home cooking: slow-roasted lamb with potatoes, rabbit stifado, freshly made horiatiki salad.
This is the best value food on the island. Mains approximately €10–16. A full meal for two with a carafe of local wine comes in well under €50 — extraordinary by Mykonos standards. No booking required; walk in at lunch or early evening.
Address: Plateia Ano Meras, Ano Mera village.
Local Specialties to Order
Kopanisti — Mykonos’s most distinctive local product: a sharp, pungent fermented cheese made from a mix of cow’s and goat’s milk. The spicy, assertive flavour comes from a natural mould fermentation that was traditionally used to extend shelf life without refrigeration. Order it as a meze with bread — it’s unlike any other Greek cheese.
Mykonian sausages — Loukaniko flavoured with orange peel, fennel, and herbs. Grilled and served as a starter, they’re found at every traditional taverna.
Loukoumades — Fried dough balls soaked in honey and sprinkled with cinnamon. Sold as street food near the old port and at kafeneion around the market.
Aegean fish — The sea around Mykonos produces excellent red mullet (barbounia), scorpionfish (skorpios), and sea bream (tsipoura). Ask what came in that day at any fish taverna; fresh-caught is priced by the kilo, typically €60–90 per kilo for premium whole fish.
Ordering Tips and Etiquette
The sunset premium is real and impossible to avoid in high season. If you want a waterfront table at Little Venice between 7pm and 9pm, you’ll pay 20–30% more for equivalent food than you would two streets back. Decide in advance whether the view is worth it to you.
Mykonos Town’s tourist restaurants and bars cluster around the port and Little Venice. For better value, walk uphill into the Kastro neighbourhood and the narrow alleys of the Matogianni district — the kitchens are more serious and the prices are lower.
Cash remains preferred at traditional tavernas and at Kiki’s. Celebrity restaurants accept all major cards.
Most restaurants in Mykonos Town open later than visitors expect: dinner service rarely starts before 7:30pm, and the island tends to eat at 9pm or later. Lunch at 1–3pm is a quieter window to experience the better restaurants without booking pressure.
Book food tours and experiences in Mykonos with GetYourGuide to eat beyond the celebrity dining circuit.