Top 10 Restaurants in Chios, Greece

Chios is the mastic island, and that single fact shapes the food here more than any other. The resin harvested from the lentisk trees of the southern villages, a tradition going back three thousand years, appears in ice cream, in liqueur, in bread, in chewing gum, in cheese, and occasionally in savory preparations that stop visitors mid-bite and ask them to reassess what they thought they understood about flavor. The island's southern region, known as the Mastichochoria, includes the medieval fortified villages of Mesta and Pyrgi with their extraordinary medieval architecture, and the tavernas within those village squares are among the most atmospherically distinctive in all of Greece. The seafood is excellent from the fishing villages along the coast, the local mandarin oranges are famous, the olive oil is superb, and a kitchen that takes Chian ingredients seriously has a pantry unlike any other in the Aegean. These are worth your time in any order.

Roussiko

Originally established in Thymiana village and now operating from both its original location and a port-side branch near the ferry docks in Chios Town, Roussiko is the most celebrated restaurant on the island and one the Chios Secrets guide calls its new number one with genuine enthusiasm. The shrimp pasta, garidomakaronada, is described as out of this world and the single dish that every visitor must try regardless of what else they order, the shrimp with butter and garlic is one of the best some visitors have ever tried anywhere, the grilled octopus and grilled prawns are both excellent, the lamb in a pot is the writer's personal favorite from decades of eating here, and the beef orzo with perfectly balanced flavors and wonderfully tender meat reflects a kitchen that takes every dish seriously. Portions are large, the interior is beautifully decorated, the service is attentive, and owners Sotiri and Markello make each visit feel like a special occasion according to regulars who have been coming for years. Reserve at least one to two days ahead in summer as it fills completely.

Vokaria

The restaurant that the Chios Secrets guide placed ahead of Roussiko in its most recent update, Vokaria earns its position through a shrimp pasta so exceptional that the island's most devoted food writer visited multiple times in a single summer specifically to eat it, going back even when not particularly hungry because the dish demanded another encounter. Everything is fresh and perfectly cooked across the whole menu, the garidomakaronada is the essential order and the one dish that every table needs to have between them at minimum before considering their own individual choices, and the overall quality and freshness of the cooking reflects a kitchen operating at the top of what the island's seafood ingredients can produce. Reserve ahead on weekends and throughout July and August.

Despina, Mesta

In the main square of the medieval fortified village of Mesta in the southern Mastichochoria region, Despina earns the go with your eyes closed designation from the Petit Futé guide, which describes it as placing you in one of Greece's most charming squares and adds that Despina herself runs the kitchen with pride in every detail. The medieval stone arches above the square, the completely car-free setting, and the character of a village that has been inhabited and walled since the fourteenth century give this restaurant a setting that is genuinely unlike anywhere else in the Aegean, and the food reflects the southern Chios tradition of cooking with mastic and local ingredients that the tourist-facing restaurants in the north of the island rarely attempt.

Taverna Galera

In the small cove of Lithi on the southwest coast of Chios, a family taverna run by owner and cook Asia where the fish comes from the fishermen of the village each morning, the vegetables come from her back garden, and the bread is baked fresh every day, Taverna Galera earns one of the best places to eat not just in Chios but in all of Greece from visitors who came for four days and ate lunch and dinner there every single day without any desire to try anywhere else. The liokafto, a local preparation of sun-dried fish, is a must, the grilled feta cheese with honey is the most-mentioned starter, the freshness of everything on the table is palpable and sets it apart from any taverna relying on suppliers, and Asia's hospitality is described as a passion that makes every guest feel they have been welcomed into her home. One of the most genuinely beautiful coves on the island and one of its best kitchens in the same place.

Fabrika, Volissos

In the village of Volissos in the northwest of Chios, the most remote of the island's main settlements and one of the most beautiful, Fabrika earns did not expect to find such a unique restaurant at Chios nevermind Volissos from a visitor who arrived without expectations and left genuinely moved by what the kitchen produced. The local feel of this restaurant is described as almost unbeatable by the Chios Secrets guide, the family who owns it makes every guest feel like they have visited their home rather than a commercial operation, the meat dishes are fantastic and the reason to seek the place out specifically, and the combination of genuinely good food with a northwestern Chios village setting that most visitors never reach gives it a character that the island's more accessible restaurants cannot replicate. No reservations taken for regular service.

O Molos, Katarraktis

A taverna by the sea in the coastal village of Katarraktis, south of Chios Town, O Molos earns the best taverna in Kataraktis and beautiful location with a great view of the sea, excellent food with a variety of fresh products and very nice service from visitors who describe it as an ideal ouzeri-taverna experience in a coastal village setting. The fresh seafood is the draw, the setting directly by the water is the context for it, and the combination of genuinely good meze-style cooking with a local village character that has none of the tourist-facing energy of the Chios Town waterfront makes it a reliable and enjoyable option for anyone exploring the coast south of the capital.

Pythonas, Volissos Square

Pleasantly located in the beautiful Pythonas square in the heart of the village of Volissos, described by the Petit Futé guide as one of the most attractive settings for a meal in Chios, this taverna earns its listing through the quality of the food and the fairness of the prices in a village square that provides the kind of genuinely old-fashioned Greek atmosphere that the coastal resort restaurants have been trying to imitate for decades. Fair pricing, sufficient variety of side dishes, and all of this under the shade of the square's trees with the stone buildings of Volissos rising above make it a natural anchor for anyone making the drive to the northwest of the island.

Pantoukios Fish Taverna

In the small fishing village of Pantoukios on the east coast of the island, a fish taverna with a table right next to the sea and a kitchen focused on whatever was pulled from the water that morning, Pantoukios earns fresh not frozen and very nice service from visitors who describe the food as tasteful and of good quality with the fried zucchini as a particularly good standout alongside the fresh fish. The village itself has a genuine fishing character, the setting is calm and unhurried, and eating fresh Aegean fish at a table this close to the water in a village this quiet is one of the more honest pleasures available anywhere on the island.

Hortokeftedes, Chios Town

The most creative meze option in Chios Town and the restaurant that earns wow, a must, food is made with true passion from Chios from visitors who found it and cannot stop recommending it, with the view described as as good as the food. The greens salad, hortokeftedes, mastelo cheese, octopus, and fresh fish are all excellent and the menu reflects the Chian ingredient tradition with genuine care and skill, with the best seafood, endless choices, friendly faces, and great environment from the visitors who describe it as the restaurant they keep returning to in the capital.

Kafeneion in the Mastichochoria Villages

The kafeneions and small tavernas within the medieval squares of Pyrgi and Mesta, where the geometric black-and-white sgraffito decoration on the exterior walls of the buildings creates a visual context available nowhere else on earth, offer a dining experience whose setting is itself a major part of what makes a meal here memorable. The food is traditional southern Chios cooking with mastic appearing in both sweet and savory preparations, the prices reflect a village economy rather than a tourist circuit, and sitting down to eat in a square enclosed by medieval walls covered in a geometric pattern that has been maintained by the village for seven centuries is a genuinely singular experience that justifies the drive south from Chios Town regardless of what arrives on the plate.

Conclusion

Chios is an island where the food is inseparable from the landscape. The mastic trees of the south that weep their resin every August, the fishing villages whose boats tie up at the taverna terrace, the medieval squares where a kitchen has been feeding the same village for centuries, the family in Lithi baking bread every morning and buying fish from the neighboring fisherman before lunch: all of it reflects an island that takes its ingredients and its cooking traditions seriously without making any particular effort to tell visitors about it. The best meals here require a car, a willingness to drive to the northwest or the south, and a reservation made two days ahead in summer. All of that is worth it.