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Zakynthos has a reputation problem. Say "Zante" to a certain type of European traveler and they picture neon cocktail bars, English breakfasts, and restaurants with laminated menus in six languages that include chips with everything. That reputation is not entirely undeserved — Laganas and Kalamaki exist, they are exactly what people say they are, and they serve the 18-25 British package-holiday market with genuine efficiency. But they represent roughly 20% of the island's geography and approximately 0% of its food culture.
The actual Zakynthian cuisine is built on Venetian foundations — centuries of occupation that left rabbit stifado, slow-braised ladera (vegetables cooked low and slow in good olive oil), and garlic preparations that would have felt at home in a Venetian osteria.
The island produces Verdea, an indigenous dry white wine from local grape varieties not cultivated anywhere else in Greece, almost none of which is exported. The olive oil carries PDO status. Prosilio in Zakynthos Town holds the Xrysoi Skoufoi — Greece's Golden Toques, the country's most rigorous culinary distinction — and was cited alongside Michelin-starred venues by multiple Greek food critics. Kosta's Brothers has been making its own wine, pressing its own olive oil, and baking bread in a wood-fired oven since 1978. Porto Limnionas on the west coast is a turquoise cove surrounded by white cliffs with a fish taverna above it. None of this appears in the resort strip.
We cover Zakynthos through Vaggelis, our certified Greek tourist guide with 14 years of daily work across the islands and Peloponnese, and through Panos, who coordinates the food research across the site. The restaurants in this guide were selected for specific reasons — founding year, production credentials, award recognition, setting, or the particular dish that makes each one worth the drive.
A car is needed for several of them: Porto Limnionas, Volimes, and Kambi are all 25–30 minutes from the town on winding roads. We say so directly, with what to order when you get there.
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 restaurant has been in the same family since 1978. What makes it genuinely distinctive among Ionian restaurants is that the family grows its own olive oil, produces its own wine, makes its own cheese, and bakes bread daily in a wood-fired oven. This isn't a marketing claim — it's the reason the rabbit stifado and the fish preparations taste the way they do: the ingredients are from the property.
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)
The most decorated restaurant on Zakynthos — Prosilio holds the Xrysoi Skoufoi (Greek "Golden Toques"), one of the most rigorous culinary distinctions in Greece, and appears in the FNL Guide, the country's most respected annual restaurant ranking. The menu takes Ionian ingredients through a lens that draws on North African and Middle Eastern influences without losing its Greek roots: Sougo aubergines in garlic sauce with corn cream and fried eggs; Seafood Mageiritsa with artichoke lemon cream. The courtyard setting — a secret garden just off Solomos Square — creates calm that most restaurants spend a decade manufacturing. This is genuinely one of the best restaurant experiences in the Ionian Islands.
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.
Nobelos Bio Restaurant (Agios Nikolaos, North Zakynthos)
An organic restaurant and beach club in the island's north — Agios Nikolaos, near the ferry to Kefalonia — where the sunbeds are on a rocky platform at water level and the restaurant sits just above, serving Mediterranean and seafood dishes made from certified organic ingredients. Reservations are essential (for both lunch table and sunbeds), and arrive before noon if you want a beachside spot — they're limited and much sought-after. The €50 sunbed fee is deducted from your food and drink bill, making it a well-priced day if you eat and swim properly.
Cuisine: Organic Mediterranean, seafood Price range: €30–55/person Best for: Couples, a full-day swim-and-lunch experience, north-coast exploration Good to know: Book lunch reservations in advance. Arrive before noon for sunbeds. The snorkelling from the platform is excellent — bring a mask.
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 psistarià — the specifically Greek grill-restaurant type, distinct from a taverna — in the center of Zakynthos Town. This means the focus is charcoal-grilled meats: skewers, chops, gyros, and souvlaki at prices that make the tourist-strip restaurants feel extortionate. Malanos has been the local benchmark for honest grills in the town since the 1980s; the queue at lunchtime is the quality indicator. The dining room is no-frills. The meat is not.
Cuisine: Greek grill — psistarià Price range: €6–12/person Best for: Budget travelers, meat lovers, a filling post-beach lunch at genuinely local prices Must order: The mixed grill plate (a full meal for one, under €10). The gyros wrap. Ask for the daily special — it changes. Good to know: Cash preferred. Central location, walkable from the waterfront. No reservation, no ceremony, no view. Just good 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 wine to order in Zakynthos: Verdea.
Verdea is Zakynthos's indigenous white wine — a dry, aromatic blend made from local varieties found nowhere else in Greece. It's produced in small quantities, barely exported, and the kind of thing you'll only taste here. Expect a refreshing, mineral-forward white that pairs naturally with the island's seafood. Order it at Kosta's Brothers, ask about it at Prosilio, or look for it at any taverna that lists Zakynthian wines — it's the surest way to drink something that isn't available at home.
Fish is priced by the kilogram, always.
At any seafood taverna — Porto Limnionas, Keri, Porto Zoro, and elsewhere — the waiter will point to the fish display and quote a price per kilo. Agree on the price and approximate weight before the fish goes to the grill. The practice is universal, honest, and predictable — as long as you ask. The moment of surprise on the bill is a time-honoured Ionian tradition you'd rather observe in others.
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.
Getting to the best restaurants requires a car.
Porto Limnionas, Volimes, Kambi, and Keri are all 25–30 minutes from Zakynthos Town on winding mountain and coastal roads. Public transport doesn't reach any of them. If these are on your list — and they should be — book a car before you arrive. Compare rates across all local agencies on DiscoverCars; Zakynthos tends toward seasonal pricing, and summer week-in-advance bookings save significantly over airport-day pickups.
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.
Written by
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.