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Zakynthos — Zante, as the Venetians named it and as the package-holiday industry still calls it — has a food reputation that the south-coast tourist strip has done its best to destroy.
The Laganas-Kalamaki corridor, built to serve British and Northern European package tourism, offers the kind of dining that assumes travelers want burgers, chips, and familiar brands rather than the island's actual cuisine. This corridor represents perhaps 20% of the island's geography and approximately 0% of its food culture.
The other 80% is where you eat well. Zakynthos Town — rebuilt after the devastating 1953 earthquake in a style that preserved the Venetian proportions if not the original buildings — has a waterfront dining scene, backstreet tavernas, and the hillside restaurants of Bochali that together offer genuine variety. The mountainous north and west — where the famous Navagio/Shipwreck Beach sits at the bottom of inaccessible cliffs — has village tavernas that serve spit-roasted lamb, local cheese, and the agricultural Zakynthian cooking that predates tourism by centuries. And the east-coast fishing villages have the fresh fish that the island's Ionian waters provide.
The Venetian influence gives Zakynthian food a character shared with Corfu and Kefalonia but distinct from the Cyclades or the Dodecanese: slow braises, garlic-forward preparations, rabbit stifado, and a general comfort with rich, sauce-driven cooking that owes more to Venice than to Athens.
For the full island guide, see our things to do in Zakynthos. For accommodation, read our best hotels in Zakynthos guide.
Quick Answer: Best Zakynthos Restaurants by Category
- Best creative Greek: Kosta's Brothers — Zakynthos Town, Ionian-Mediterranean, the island's most polished
- Best traditional taverna: Arekia — Zakynthos Town backstreet, daily specials, the locals' institution
- Best view restaurant: Lofos — Bochali hill, Zakynthos Town panorama, sunset dinners
- Best seafood: Porto Limnionas Taverna — the west-coast swimming cove, fish-and-turquoise-water
- Best village taverna: Taverna Anadiotis (Volimes) — mountain village, spit-roasted meat, local cheese
- Best budget meal: Malanos — Zakynthos Town, souvlaki and grills, honest and cheap
- Best east-coast fish: Taverna Porto Zoro — Vasilikos coast, beachfront, morning catch
Zakynthos Town
Kosta's Brothers
The most polished restaurant in Zakynthos Town — a kitchen that applies genuine culinary ambition to Ionian ingredients, with a menu that evolves seasonally and a wine list that features Zakynthian and broader Greek producers. The cooking bridges traditional Ionian preparations (the rabbit, the slow-braised meats) with contemporary technique, and the result is food that would be notable in Athens, let alone on an island better known for its beaches than its kitchens.
Cuisine: Creative Ionian-Mediterranean
Price range: €25–45/person
Best for: Couples, food enthusiasts, the island's most ambitious dinner
Good to know: Reserve for dinner. The Zakynthos Town location is central — walkable from the waterfront hotels. The rabbit stifado and the fish preparations are the strongest categories. The wine list rewards exploration.
Arekia (Zakynthos Town)
The backstreet taverna that Zakynthians treat as their second kitchen — tucked into a lane behind the main streets, serving daily specials that change with the market, the season, and the cook's mood. The cooking is traditional Zakynthian: slow-braised rabbit, stifado, grilled meats, wild greens, and the ladera (vegetables slow-cooked in olive oil) that form the backbone of Ionian home cooking. The prices reflect a local clientele rather than a tourist one.
Cuisine: Traditional Zakynthian taverna
Price range: €10–18/person
Best for: Budget eaters, authenticity seekers, anyone wanting to eat what Zakynthians eat
Good to know: No reservations. Cash preferred. The daily specials are the menu — arrive by 1 PM for lunch or 8:30 PM for dinner. The backstreet location requires a short walk from the waterfront.
Prosilio (Zakynthos Town)
A creative Greek restaurant in the town center with a courtyard setting, seasonal menu, and the kind of careful cooking that suggests the chef has ambitions beyond the island's tourist-standard expectations. The Ionian ingredients get a modern treatment without losing their identity. The courtyard is pleasant for summer evenings.
Cuisine: Creative Greek, seasonal
Price range: €22–38/person
Best for: Couples, creative-cuisine seekers, a polished town-center dinner
Good to know: The courtyard seating is preferable. Reserve for summer evenings. The menu changes regularly — ask about the daily specials in addition to the printed menu.
Bochali (Hillside)
Lofos (Bochali)
The sunset-dinner destination for Zakynthos Town — perched on the Bochali hillside above the town, with a terrace that overlooks the harbor, the waterfront, and the Ionian Sea beyond. The food is Greek-Mediterranean — competent and occasionally excellent, with grilled meats, seafood, and salads that benefit from the setting. The real draw is the panorama: Zakynthos Town spread below, the harbor lights reflecting on the water, and the sunset that makes the Ionian glow.
Cuisine: Greek-Mediterranean, hilltop view
Price range: €20–35/person
Best for: Sunset dinners, couples, the best view of Zakynthos Town
Good to know: Reserve for a terrace table — the view is the point. The sunset timing matters. A car or taxi is needed (Bochali is about 5 minutes from the town center). The Venetian castle ruins at the top of Bochali are worth visiting before dinner.
West Coast & Sea Coves
Porto Limnionas Taverna
One of the most dramatic restaurant settings on any Greek island — Porto Limnionas is a turquoise swimming cove on Zakynthos's wild west coast, surrounded by white cliffs, accessible by a narrow road from the village of Agios Leon. The taverna sits above the cove with a terrace that looks straight down into water so clear and blue it seems artificial. The fish is fresh, the Greek salads use local tomatoes, and the experience of eating grilled fish above a cove that looks like a swimming pool carved from the rock face is unforgettable.
Cuisine: Traditional seafood, swimming-cove setting
Price range: €18–30/person
Best for: Everyone — Porto Limnionas is the essential Zakynthos food-and-swim experience
Good to know: A car is essential — Porto Limnionas is on the west coast, about 30 minutes from Zakynthos Town on winding roads. Arrive mid-morning for swimming, eat lunch at the taverna, and return in the afternoon. The cove has no sand — swimming is from the rocks. The water is stunning.
East Coast Seafood
Taverna Porto Zoro (Vasilikos)
A beachfront taverna on Porto Zoro Beach — the Vasilikos peninsula on the southeast coast — with tables on the sand and fresh fish from the morning boats. The setting is beach-taverna simple: feet in the sand, the Ionian stretching east, and a grill that produces honest fish at prices lower than Zakynthos Town. Vasilikos is the quieter, more natural alternative to the Laganas resort strip, and the tavernas here reflect the difference.
Cuisine: Traditional seafood, beachfront
Price range: €15–28/person
Best for: Beach-day lunches, families, honest seaside fish
Good to know: Vasilikos peninsula is about 15 minutes from Zakynthos Town. The beaches (Porto Zoro, Banana Beach, Gerakas) are among the best on the east coast. Gerakas is a loggerhead-turtle nesting beach — visit respectfully.
Keri Fish Taverna (Keri)
A small taverna at the fishing harbor of Keri on the island's southern tip — where the boats come in and the fish goes onto the grill. Keri is the departure point for boat trips to the Keri Caves and the Marathonisi islet (Turtle Island), and the harbor taverna serves the catch of the day in a setting that's about as working-harbor as Zakynthos gets.
Cuisine: Traditional seafood, fishing harbor
Price range: €15–25/person
Best for: South-coast seafood, boat-trip visitors, fishing-harbor authenticity
Good to know: Keri is about 20 minutes from Zakynthos Town. Combine with a boat trip to the Keri Caves. The fish is priced by weight. The harbor is small and genuine.
Mountain Village Tavernas
Taverna Anadiotis (Volimes)
Volimes — the mountain village in Zakynthos's north, about 30 minutes from the town — is the island's agricultural heartland: olive groves, beekeeping, cheese-making, and the kind of slow-paced village life that the south coast traded for tourism decades ago. Taverna Anadiotis serves spit-roasted lamb and goat, local ladotyri cheese (sharp and preserved in olive oil), wild greens, village bread, and the house wine — the complete Zakynthian mountain experience.
Cuisine: Mountain village, spit-roasted meats, local cheese
Price range: €10–18/person
Best for: Meat lovers, anyone wanting the most authentic food on Zakynthos, road-trippers
Good to know: Volimes is about 30 minutes from Zakynthos Town on mountain roads. The village is near the viewpoint for Navagio/Shipwreck Beach (the cliff-top overlook) — combine the two. The ladotyri cheese is a Zakynthian specialty found nowhere else; buy some to take home.
Kambi Taverna (Kambi)
A hilltop taverna near the village of Kambi — famous for its sunset views over the western Ionian Sea. The food is traditional: grilled meats, salads, the taverna standards. The view — looking west across the cliffs to the setting sun — is the genuine attraction, and the combination of honest food and a sunset that rivals Oia's (without the crowds) makes Kambi one of the most rewarding evening drives on the island.
Cuisine: Traditional Greek, hilltop sunset view
Price range: €12–22/person
Best for: Sunset seekers, road-trippers, the west-coast sunset alternative to the town
Good to know: A car is essential. Kambi is about 25 minutes from Zakynthos Town. Arrive 45 minutes before sunset. The large cross on the hilltop commemorates islanders killed in World War II.
Budget & Street Food
Malanos (Zakynthos Town)
A souvlaki and grill restaurant in Zakynthos Town that serves honest portions of grilled meats, gyros, and souvlaki at prices that make the tourist-strip restaurants look like robbery. The quality is good — properly seasoned meat, fresh pita, generous toppings — and the no-frills atmosphere is part of the appeal.
Cuisine: Souvlaki, grills
Price range: €6–12/person
Best for: Budget travelers, meat lovers, anyone wanting a filling meal at honest prices
Good to know: Cash preferred. The town-center location is walkable from the waterfront. No view, no atmosphere — just good, cheap food.
Practical Tips for Eating in Zakynthos
Skip the south-coast strip. Laganas, Kalamaki, and Argassi have restaurants designed for package tourists — familiar brands, English menus without Greek options, and food that could be served in any Mediterranean resort. The actual Zakynthian food is in the town, the mountain villages, and the east/west coast tavernas.
The Zakynthian specialties. Rabbit stifado (slow-braised in wine and tomato). Skordostoumbi (garlic-and-aubergine dip). Ladotyri (sharp cheese preserved in olive oil — unique to Zakynthos). Sartsa (meat in tomato-garlic sauce with pasta). Mandolato (nougat with almonds — the local sweet). Order these when you see them — they define the island's Venetian-Ionian identity.
The mountain-and-coast drive. From Zakynthos Town: north to Volimes (mountain taverna + Navagio viewpoint), west to Porto Limnionas (swimming cove + fish taverna), return via Kambi (sunset view + hilltop grill). This loop takes a full day and covers the best food, scenery, and experiences on the island.
When to eat. Zakynthos Town restaurants serve lunch and dinner. Mountain tavernas are best at lunch (spit-roasted meat is ready by midday). Porto Limnionas is a morning-swim-and-lunch destination. Kambi and Bochali are sunset-dinner destinations.
Combining with other islands. Zakynthos connects by ferry to Kefalonia (~1 hour from Skinari in the north) and to the mainland (Killini, about 1 hour). An Ionian Islands combination of Zakynthos–Kefalonia–Ithaca is one of the most rewarding routes in western Greece. Let our AI trip planner build the route.
Exploring Zakynthos? Read our [things to do in Zakynthos](https://greektriplanner.me/blog/things-to-do-in-zakynthos), [Zakynthos tours](https://greektriplanner.me/blog/zakynthos-tours), and [best hotels in Zakynthos](https://greektriplanner.me/blog/best-hotels-in-zakynthos) guides. For the Ionian Islands, see [Kefalonia](https://greektriplanner.me/blog/kefalonia-travel-guide) and [Corfu](https://greektriplanner.me/blog/best-restaurants-in-corfu).
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Athens-born engineer · Coordinates a 5-expert Greek team · 50+ years combined field experience
I write every article on this site drawing on real, first-hand expertise — mine and that of four colleagues who live and work across Greece daily: a Peloponnese tour operator, a transfer specialist across Athens, Mykonos & Santorini, a Cretan hotel owner, and a Northern Greece hotel supplier. Nothing here comes from a single visit or desk research.
Informed by 5 Greek experts
Every destination we cover has been visited and vetted by at least one team member — not for a review, but as part of their daily work in Greek tourism.