An Eater’s Guide to Crete, Greece’s Largest Island

Crete has been a food destination a long time in the making. Greece’s biggest island is dotted with centuries-old olive trees (including the oldest olive tree in the world still producing fruit), believed to be remnants of the once thriving Minoan civilization. Over thousands of years in the Bronze Age, the Minoans paved roads, developed a written language, and established locavore foodways that would eventually attract millions of tourists to the island every year.

Situated between the Aegean and the Libyan Sea, less than an hour from Athens by plane or an overnight ride by boat, Crete makes an easy tourism destination (and permanent home for a growing number of digital nomads). The sun-drenched island receives mild weather all year round, creating a sweet climate and fertile ground for crops and restaurants. With constant local and international attention, complete with food festivals and ad campaigns, Crete has become the ultimate culinary destination in Greece.

In 1964’s Oscar-winning Zorba the Greek, the title character (arguably Crete’s most famous resident) embodies an attitude that still pervades the island, centered on great food, wine, dancing, and the good life.

What is Cretan cuisine?

The vast island is divided into four regional units: Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion, and Lasithi (the first three named for their largest respective city). The regions share a lot of ingredients but each adds its own flavorful twists. Though big cities attract most of the international attention, small villages boast traditional dishes worth checking out as well.

Like elsewhere in Greece, restaurants are interwoven with taverns and kafenia (cafes), two integral types of businesses utilizing local produce and classic recipes, often prepared by owners in their own homes. Taverns are typically family friendly, serving fixed menus of stews, stuffed vegetables, and roasted and grilled meats. Smaller villages often include a kafenio, where a mostly male crowd tends to gather to socialize, listen to live music (often a lyra player), drink coffee or raki, and grab a bite; cafes tend to serve small bites like local cheeses, omelets with apaki (Byzantine cured and smoked pork), meatballs, wild greens, fresh vegetables and olives, and staka (sheep or goat’s milk cream).

Many of the cooking techniques used on the island today have their origins in Minoan Crete, including chochlioi, Crete’s famous snail dish. Minoans also laid the foundations of the broader cuisine by first cultivating chickpeas and lentils; raising pigs, goats, and sheep; hunting and fishing; and collecting wild greens, fruits, and mushrooms. Residents have long grown or foraged these ingredients near their homes, creating a locavore diet that surprised visiting researchers from the Rockefeller Foundation in the late 1940s, who didn’t expect residents of the poor island to live so long; the research subsequently helped spread the word about the now-famous Mediterranean diet.

Over the centuries, occupations by Venetians (13th-17th century) and Ottomans (17th-19th century) also left their mark on the island’s architecture, culture, and gastronomy. Venetians brought their love of rice, which they cooked with beans or prepared as a dessert with milk, sugar, and cinnamon; once considered a luxury, rice is now a cornerstone of Cretan cuisine. The Ottomans shared their love for herbs, cultivated the first potatoes in Lasithi, and influenced the names of some dishes like tzoulamas, a sweet-salty pie from the village of Mesara made with rice, liver, nuts, and sugar.

Many Cretans are still engaged in food production, farming, raising animals, and making cheese and wine. Restaurateurs have gotten in on production too, sustainably farming their own ingredients, even as they push the boundaries of Cretan cuisine with new techniques. Though they live on an island, Cretans often skip fish in favor of meat, especially goat and lamb, which are cooked in many ways and used to produce some of Greece’s most famous cheeses. More recently, farmers have turned to avocados, becoming the top suppliers in the country.

Key food words for visitors

Dakos salad: Probably Crete’s most famous salad, this dish consists of a piece of dakos (rusk), topped with grated tomato, feta or mizithra (a sweet soft cheese made of sheep’s or goat’s milk), a drizzle of olive oil, and a few flakes of dried oregano. Olives or pickled capers can add extra flavor as well. It can accompany a main dish or become a meal by itself.

Chochlioi: These snails, traditionally handpicked during the rainy days of autumn or spring, have been a signature dish on the island since the time of the Minoans. You may see them in stews or casseroles, but the most common form is boubouristoi, in which the snails are boiled, dusted with flour, and pan fried in olive oil and vinegar.

Staka: One of Crete’s special delicacies, staka is the cream that forms on the surface of goat and sheep milk immediately after milking. It can be consumed on its own, cooked over very low heat with some salt, flour, and a zip of water. Or it can be used to lend a fatty sheen to dishes like eggs, pasta, or gamopilafo, a dish of rice with goat meat commonly served at weddings.

Antikristo: You might see this circular barbecue grill, also known as an ofto, set up around a fire pit in a smaller village or rural area. It allows a chef to cook a whole animal, usually lamb or goat, cut into parts; the meat is cooked over indirect heat, becoming perfectly crispy on the outside while remaining tender inside.

Tsikoudia (aka raki): Though raki is enjoyed all over Greece, Crete is famous for this alcoholic beverage, also known as tsikoudia. You’re likely to receive a glass at the end of every meal at restaurants and private homes, intended as a gesture of hospitality. Made from the residue of fresh grapes pressed during winemaking and typically landing around 30 to 40 percent alcohol, raki is a strong way to end a meal.

Xerotigana: Crete’s most popular dessert consists of fried phyllo sheets dipped in honey syrup and sprinkled with cinnamon and grated walnuts. Many home cooks will make their own phyllo, adding a shot of raki to soften the dessert.

Local wine and beer: Some of the biggest and best winemakers in the country are based in Crete. Liatiko, an ancient variety of wine that can vary in color, owes its name to the month that it is finished (July). There are also reds like Kotsifali, Mantilari, Tsardana, and Romeiko, and whites like Vilana, Thrapsathiri, and Vidiano, among others. Go for a tasting at some of Crete’s top wineries, including Manousakis and Dourakis in Chania, Michalakis Estate and Lyrarakis in Heraklion, Klados and Metaxakis in Rethymno, and Toplou in Lasithi, which belongs to the monastery of the same name.

Though most Cretans are more interested in wine and raki, breweries and microbreweries have also started emerging all over the island. Barbantonis, Solo, and Notos in Heraklion and Charma, Lyra, Lafkas, and Xaos in Chania are all worth a visit.

The best restaurants in every region of Crete

Chania

The western part of Crete is the most populated, making it a hub for food businesses. Visitors generally head for the old town of Chania, on the north coast, to see the picturesque buildings surrounding the old Venetian port. Nearby you’ll find classic restaurants like Tamam, which has been serving traditional food like Sfakiani pita (traditional cheese pie with honey from Sfakia village) since 1982 inside a 15th-century Venetian bath house.

In the last few years, new spots have further bolstered the city’s culinary reputation. There’s Red Jane, an artisanal bakery known for its sourdough, set in an abandoned interwar foundry. At brasserie and art gallery Maiami, artist Alexandra Manousakis serves some of her favorite foods, like lemon feta pasta, on the ceramics she creates. Alibertos, run by sommelier George Badogiannis, pairs wagyu, grilled rib-eye angus, and other premium beef cuts with bottles from an extensive wine cellar. Matzenta Kuzina del Sol finds throughlines between Mexican cuisine and Cretan ingredients, while cafes like Monogram and Grain Café are expanding the specialty coffee scene. Above all, don’t miss Almyvita by Ettore Botrini, one of Greece’s most famous chefs, who runs the Michelin-starred Botrini’s in Athens.

Just outside town, you’ll find Ntounias, an organic farm and tavern cooking young goat in a traditional wood-fired oven and braised veal in a clay pot. Farther west in Kaliviani, workers at Gramvousa grow ingredients in the restaurant’s own garden, roast meat on an antikristo, and serve up kalitsounia, pies with a variety of fillings. Family-owned olive mill Biolea recently opened its own restaurant serving ​​fava beans with bitter orange and seaweed, smoked pork chops, and other items in the small village of Kolymvari.

Matzenta Kuzina del Sol

Rethymno

Rethymno, in the center of the north coast, is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Greece. Fortetza, the Venetian fortress on top of Palaiokastro hill, is a landmark, while the remnants of the Venetian and Ottoman occupations blend beautifully with churches and more recent additions to the city’s multicultural layers.

The restaurant scene similarly blends the old with the new. Katerina Xekalou, a true pioneer of the local scene, is the mind behind Avli, an award-winning restaurant for modern Cretan gastronomy, stuffed into a 16th-century Venetian villa along with a wine cellar, luxurious hotel, and traditional produce shop. Not far away, you’ll find Raki Ba Raki, Xekalou’s modern take on a kafenio, which serves simple but delicious dishes like shrimp saganaki, rabbit casserole, and slow-cooked lamb with yogurt. Hasika, also in the old city, offers Greek meze like beef liver with herbs and lemon, lamb tsigariasto (stew) with bulgur, or cod with okra.

As you cross the Rethymno region to the south, toward the Libyan Sea, try Iliomanolis, a tavern in the village of Kanevos that has offered seasonal cuisine since 1994, including highlights like braised goat and stuffed vegetables. Also pay a visit to lyra player Alexandros Papadakis, who reopened Thromyli, a century-old kafenio in Ardaktos, where he serves only a few seasonal dishes each day, often made with foraged ingredients. Finally, in Anogeia, you’ll find one of the oldest kafenio on the island, the 150-year-old Plateia tou Syntagmatos (aka Kafenio Mixalos, drawn from the name of its former owner).

Heraklion

Known also as Iraklion, Crete’s largest city and administrative capital is home to the Heraklion Gastronomy Days festival, launched in 2018 to bring together Crete’s top cooking talent, and UNESCO recognized Heraklion as one of seven World Cities of Gastronomy in 2023.

Though it sits inside the city, Peskesi sources ingredients from its farm in the village of Hersonissos to create popular dishes like chochlioi boubouristoi, rooster burgers, and kreokakavos, an ancient pork and honey dish (that Athenaeus referenced in his third-century book Deipnosophistae). You’ll get even more traditional items at Thigaterra, which turns out pies filled with seasonal greens, carob leaf, and galeni (Cretan cream cheese), alongside quality meats like young lamb used for gamopilafo (wedding pilaf risotto). The family-owned Athali puts a few twists on Cretan flavors, like lamb and pork antikristo, rooster cooked in wine, or kalitsounia (pie) with honey for dessert. The star of the city might be Apiri Greek Eatery, a project by renowned chef Stefanos Lavrenidis, who brings experience in some of Northern Europe’s finest kitchens, like the two-Michelin-starred Kadeau in Copenhagen, to traditional Cretan cuisine.

The restaurants are just as varied outside the city. For traditional Cretan food, visit Koula’s Tastes, a tavern in Skalani, or Dichalo, a tavern in Agriana that quickly earned accolades after it opened in 2020. For one of the most engaging meals on the island, head to Gianni’s Taverna in Kyparissi to taste the work of Giannis Somarakis, who generally cooks whatever he wants each day. The unmarked tavern is located in the former home of Somarakis’s grandfather, where guests dine by candlelight.

Lasithi

The easternmost region of Crete is the least populated, but that doesn’t mean its food is any less interesting. Just ask archaeologist Jerolyn Morrison, who lives in Ierapetra on the southern coast; originally from the U.S., she traveled to Crete to study the Minoan culture, but began hosting the Minoan Tastes dinner series in 2012. Since then she has been organizing private events, walking tours, and feasts of dishes cooked according to ancient recipes in Minoan-style pots.

Over in Kroustas, the Stavrakakis family has been serving traditional Cretan dishes since 1968 at the appropriately named tavern O Kroustas. There you’ll find katsikaki tsigariasto, a casserole of young goat meat, olive oil, and onions, typically served with french fries. Kalliotzina first opened as a traditional cafe back in 1954, but the owners’ children transformed the place into a full restaurant for items like chochlious in tomato sauce and stuffed grape leaves and pumpkin flowers. At Dragon’s Cave (Spilia tou Drakou), a tavern in Ierapetra, customers can watch the staff bake bread in a traditional wooden oven, before digging into grilled lamb ribs or fish soup with vegetables from the garden. One of the latest additions, Magali is set in the luxurious Elounda hotel. Chef Giorgos Papakyritsis brings a deep understanding of Cretan cuisine to meals like rooster with sioufihta, a local pasta.

Demetrios Ioannou

The best hotels for great food on Crete

Domus Blanc Boutique Hotel

Just off Chania’s port sits the former residence of Paul Blanc, the 19th-century French consul, who often threw parties and galas there. Sisters Aria and Litsa Paraskevaki repurposed the property 130 years later as a boutique hotel, with 12 suites and a beautiful garden, where you can dine at Atelier Bistro. The restaurant’s signature cocktails go well with finger food by chef Iosif Petrof, while breakfast and brunch feature local ingredients in twists on French cuisine. Rooms start at 190 euros.
Mavrogenidon 4-6, Halepa, Chania, Crete 73134

Eleonas Country Village

Just outside Zaros, in the shadow of the mythical Psiloritis mountain, Eleonas resembles a small village. The property’s 22 private stone cottages make a perfect holiday destination for agrotourists, who can hike, mountain bike, bird watch, and take a rare orchid tour. Hungry travelers should go on a guided truffle hunt, before settling down to the on-site restaurant’s Cretan cuisine; the kitchen whips up local recipes with local ingredients, along with an extensive wine list from Cretan vineyards. Rooms start at 158 euros.
Zaros, Heraklion, Crete 70002

Κapsaliana Village Hotel

In the village of Kapsaliana, this luxury hotel consists of 25 stylish guesthouses set in the Cretan and Venetian architecture of Kapsaliana, a once-abandoned 16th century village built around an olive mill that used to supply oil to the Arkadi Monastery. The hotel offers experiences like a vegetable harvest, cooking lessons, and wine and olive oil tastings. Executive chef Pavlos Kyriakis, who has worked in Michelin-starred restaurants like Spondi in Athens and Benu in San Francisco, curates the property’s menus, devising gourmet takes on Cretan cuisine. Rooms start at 120 euros.
Kapsaliana, Rethymnon, Crete 74100

Minos Beach Art Hotel

One of the most interesting hotels in Crete is situated in the seaside town of Agios Nikolaos in Lasithi. The luxury bungalows overlooking the crystal clear waters of Mirabello Bay and the spectacular contemporary art in the sculpture garden have attracted politicians and celebrities since 1962, including figures like Walt Disney. The various on-site restaurants celebrate Cretan cuisine and invite renowned chefs from across Greece and the world to collaborate on unique culinary experiences for guests. Rooms start at 479 euros.
Akti Ilia Sotirchou, Ag.Nikolaos, Lasithi, Crete 72100

Demetrios Ioannou is an independent reporter and documentary photographer based between Athens, Greece, and Istanbul, Turkey. His work has been featured in The New York Times, National Geographic, NPR, The Daily Beast, Time Out and BBC Travel, among others.