For decades, Santorini's cliff-edge tavernas charged caldera prices for food that wouldn't survive on the mainland. The sunset did the work. The kitchen just had to not ruin it.
That is changing. The island now has Michelin-recognized kitchens and a genuine culinary identity built on volcanic soil. The catch: you still need to know which restaurants sell the view and which ones cook. This guide is built on the second category, with one exception where the view and the food finally deserve each other.
The volcanic ingredients that matter
Santorini's volcanic soil produces ingredients with concentrated flavor that mainland Greek kitchens cannot replicate. The five you need to know:
Fava - a yellow split-pea purée served cold with olive oil and onion. Properly made, it is silky and custard-like, with a nutty depth from the mineral soil. Order it everywhere.
Tomatokeftedes - cherry-tomato fritters made with the tiny, intensely sweet Santorini tomatoes. The tomatoes are roasted or sun-dried before frying, and a good kitchen seasons the batter with mint and fresh onion. A bad kitchen serves soggy patties that taste of oil.
White aubergine - grown only here, with thinner skin and fewer seeds than the purple variety. Grilled with garlic and tomato, it has a sweetness that works as either a meze or a main.
Capers - wild-grown on the volcanic hillsides, sharper and more floral than commercial capers. Any taverna worth your time will have them on the table.
Chlorotyri - a soft, tangy local cheese made from goat and cow milk. Hard to find outside the island. Spread it on bread with honey and capers.
The wines: Assyrtiko and Vinsanto
The Assyrtiko grape is Santorini's other volcanic product. The vines are trained into basket-shaped "kouloura" to protect them from wind, and the roots dig meters into pumice to find water. The wine is bone-dry, high-acid, and mineral - it tastes of the stone it grew in.
Order Assyrtiko by the glass at every meal. The top producers are Gaia, Sigalas, Santo Wines, and Venetsanos. A bottle at a restaurant runs €25-45. By the glass, expect €6-10.
Vinsanto is the island's sweet wine, made from sun-dried Assyrtiko and Aidani grapes and aged for years. It is thick, amber, and tastes of dried apricot and caramel. Order one glass for dessert. It is €8-12 per glass, and a half-bottle runs €18-28.
Where to eat
Metaxy Mas — Exo Gonia
The restaurant that Santorini locals name first when asked where they eat. It sits in the inland village of Exo Gonia, ten minutes by car from Fira, with no caldera view. The courtyard is plain. The wine is local. The cooking is why you come.
The fava here is the island's benchmark: silky, properly seasoned, served warm with caramelized onion and caper leaves. The tomatokeftedes are crisp outside and almost jammy inside. The grilled meats are handled with precision. Prices run €20–35 per person. Reserve for dinner. This is the best food-to-price ratio on the island, and the location filters out tourists who do not want to leave the cliff-edge strip.
Selene - Fira
The restaurant that invented Santorini's modern food identity. Giorgos Hatzigiannakis opened the original Selene in 1985 and proved that volcanic terroir - fava, capers, white aubergine, cherry tomatoes - could support serious cooking. The restaurant has relocated several times and now operates from a former Catholic monastery in Fira, with a cloistered atrium that feels ancient and appropriate.
The current kitchen is run by Michelin-starred chef Ettore Botrini, and the wine pairings are curated by Master of Wine Yiannis Karakasis. The tasting menu is €45-75 per person, and the Vinsanto pairing is worth the upgrade. This is not a sunset restaurant. It is a food restaurant, and it demands your attention.
Lycabettus - Oia
The one caldera restaurant where the cooking earns the location. Lycabettus sits on the Oia rim and carries Michelin recognition. The tasting menu - €70-120 per person, no à la carte - treats Santorini ingredients with technique that would distinguish the kitchen anywhere. The wine pairings are genuinely guided, not just poured.
Reserve at least three days ahead for a caldera-edge table. The sunset seating books out weeks in advance in July and August. This is your one splurge on the view, and it is worth it.
Ambrosia - Oia
A caldera-rim restaurant that has maintained quality alongside the view for years. The cooking is Greek-Mediterranean with genuine care, the wine list is deep and local, and the terrace delivers the visual theater that Oia promises. Prices run €50-80 per person. Reserve well ahead for a front-row caldera table.
Amoudi Fish Taverna - Amoudi Bay
Amoudi is the port below Oia, reached by descending a long staircase or by road. Four tavernas line the waterfront, all serving fish caught that morning. Amoudi Fish Taverna is the pick of the group - grilled octopus that is actually tender, fresh sardines, and a fava that holds its own against the inland specialists. Dinner here after sunset is one of the island's honest pleasures. Prices run €25-40 per person. No need to reserve for lunch. Dinner reservations recommended.
To Psaraki - Vlychada
A fish taverna at the southern marina, away from both the caldera crowds and the beach-club scene. The owner sources from local boats. The menu depends on the catch. The grilled sea bream and the fried small fish are consistently excellent, and the prices - €20-32 per person - reflect a marina location rather than a tourist one. You will need a car or a taxi. That is the point.
Aktaion - Firostefani
A 100-year-old taverna run by the third generation of the same family. The fava with fried capers and spring onions is reliable. The tomatokeftedes are crisp. The braised veal with smoky aubergine purée is the kind of dish you order twice. Most tables outside have caldera views, but the prices - €18-28 per person - do not punish you for them. The interior is decorated with the owner's wood carvings. It is a family business in the old sense.
Lucky's Souvlaki - Fira
The budget lifeline. Lucky's serves gyros, souvlaki wraps, and pork sausage from €3-8, and the quality is surprisingly high for the price. The seating is minimal - a few stools across the lane. This is not a dinner destination. It is a lunch stop or a late-night recovery meal. But after days of €60 restaurant bills, it is essential.
Roza's - Vourvoulos
A roadside eatery in the island's interior, run by a husband-and-wife team. The menu is creative Greek with Anatolian touches: smoked eel wrapped in vine leaves, wild fennel fritters, sweet and sour quail. The nearby Vassaltis Vineyards makes a natural pairing for a pre- or post-lunch wine tasting. Prices run €25-40 per person. Dinner reservations recommended.
Lava Taverna - Perivolos Beach
At the quiet end of Perivolos beach, Lava is what Santorini's tavernas used to be: blue-and-white tables on a waterfront patio, a kitchen you can walk into, and a menu of whatever was cooked that morning. The day's catch is on ice at the back. No fancy service, no sunset markup. Prices run €15-22 per person. Come for lunch after a swim.
Ftelos Brewery - Karterados
A craft brewery just outside Fira producing organic beers including the Blue Monkey lager. The attached restaurant, MALT, serves dishes like graviera-stuffed anchovies and herb-grilled lamb. A tasting flight with a meze plate is €12-18. A useful afternoon stop, and the contrast with Assyrtiko-heavy wine lists is welcome.
Penelope's - Pyrgos
A hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the inland village of Pyrgos, next to a church. Penelope makes what may be the best tomatokeftedes on the island. The Greek salad uses proper Santorini tomatoes and caper leaves. The dolmades are handmade. The setting is a small room with four tables. Prices run €12-18 per person. Cash preferred. This is the restaurant you find by wandering the back streets, and it rewards the effort.
The strategy
Santorini punishes the undecided. Caldera-rim restaurants in Oia and Fira charge a 30-50 percent premium for the view, and many have coasted on that for years. Eat at the view once - Lycabettus or Ambrosia - and spend your other meals where the food is the point.
The inland villages - Pyrgos, Exo Gonia, Megalochori - and the south-coast harbors deliver better food at lower prices because they are not selling the cliff. The beach tavernas at Perivolos and Perissa are honest. The backstreets of Fira hide meze restaurants where the prices drop by half.
What to skip
The restaurants with a caldera view and a laminated menu in six languages. The places in Oia that herd tour groups in for sunset. Any establishment that advertises "traditional Greek night" with plate-breaking. The waterfront tavernas in Fira that charge €18 for a Greek salad.
Practical details
Dinner service starts at 7:30 PM for sunset tables, 9 PM for post-sunset. Lunch in the villages and at the south coast runs 1-3 PM. Book caldera restaurants three to seven days ahead in July and August. A rental car or scooter is essential for reaching Exo Gonia, Vourvoulos, Pyrgos, and Vlychada - the island's bus system connects Fira, Oia, and the beaches, but the interior villages require your own transport.
A daily food budget: breakfast at a bakery, €4-7; lunch at a taverna, €15-25; dinner at a mid-range restaurant, €25-40; one splurge dinner, €70-120. Wine by the glass, €6-10. A gyros stop, €3-8. Count on €55-90 per day if you eat well, or €35-50 if you mix tavernas with the occasional souvlaki lunch.
By Tomás Rivera
Madrid-born food critic and nightlife connoisseur. Tomás has been reviewing tapas bars and underground music venues for 15 years. He knows every back-alley gin joint from Mexico City to Manila and believes the night reveals a city is true character.