Taverna Dias — Restaurant in Kassandra Municipality

A Culinary Shipwreck I Wouldn’t Wish on My Worst Enemy

We went to Dias Restaurant in Kallithea, on the Kassandra peninsula - my wife, our three kids, and I - and honestly, I’d rather have eaten stale bread in a parking lot than repeat this disaster. The chairs were so absurdly low and uncomfortable, I felt like a toddler at the grown-ups’ table, craning my neck just to reach my plate.

The food… calling it “tasteless” would be a compliment. It was a culinary black hole that sucked out every trace of flavor. Our so-called side dishes were shredded cabbage, a tomato, and some kind of pale, lifeless pepper - all completely unseasoned, tasting like damp kitchen rags. The fish was burned into a plank of wood, the calamari so rubbery I half-expected it to bounce off the plate. Even the fries were cold and sad, like they’d given up on life.

We left feeling physically sick - heavy stomachs, dry mouths, and that dreadful regret of knowing we wasted both time and money. The prices were a slap in the face: half a liter of water was five or six euros, as if it had been carried down by hand from a secret spring on Mount Olympus.

The service? Utter chaos. The “waiters” were kids barely in their twenties, with zero idea how to wait tables. They never came to check on us, never asked if we needed anything, and seemed more like lost tourists than actual staff.

This wasn’t just disappointing - it was a full-on gastronomic shipwreck. We didn’t leave the restaurant; we escaped it, vowing...

This is my third year in Kassandra but I have never been to this restaurant before. When we first arrived, the hostess was very hospitable and changed our table to be closer to the sea upon request. However, when the waiter who came to take our order was not in a great mood. We were a party of 5 and ordered many starters and for mains we wanted some fried anchovies, fresh fried calamari (per kilo) and fresh stuffed calamari (per kilo). When requesting this we asked how big is the portion. The waiter reluctantly said “four” so I asked “four hundred” and he said “yes” which I assumed was for both the portions of calamari. When the stuffed calamari arrived we were already kind of full from everything we had and were shocked to see a 1 kilo of stuffed calamari so we asked if there was a misunderstanding as we were told the portions are 400 gr. This is when he said that he was reffering to the fried calamari only and this is how the stuffed came. After an awkward discussion where we told him that we want to send back the big portion of stuffed calamari and be told us it is not possible, the manager came and told us the same story but was kind enough to tell us that she will only charge us for 400gr as we were initially told. In the end when we requested the check by card the same waiter came only with the POS but without the check🤣. It is unfourtunate that this went down as the location of the restaurant and the food itself...

Unfortunately, despite the fact that my friends and I were seated at the best table (with a sea view on the lower level), it felt like we were eating at a train station diner during a layover.

Even though the table was reserved in advance, we were told we had a strict 1.5-hour time limit. The table wasn’t even properly set - missing half the utensils, no napkins, no salt or pepper.

The waiter (or possibly the manager, as he seemed older) showed no interest in us - we had to drag words out of him. The price of the fish was quoted lower than it actually was. No one warned us about the huge portion sizes, so we ended up spending a lot on food, half of which we had to take away.

Even though we told the waiter we wanted to take the food with us, he began clearing the plates by placing the bottoms of dirty dishes directly onto our food - just as if he were clearing used tableware.

The manager also refused to accept cash from some of us for their meals, so the entire bill fell on one friend who had a card.

In short, the beauty of the location and the efforts of the kitchen were completely overshadowed by the careless service. If you want to feel like a tourist the staff doesn’t care about - this is the place. But if, like me, you live in Greece and want to bring friends or guests somewhere nice - don’t embarrass yourself by choosing...