Pergola — Restaurant in Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands

Taverna Pergola has all the makings of a beautiful, authentic Greek restaurant in the heart of Corfu Town. The setting and atmosphere reflect traditional charm, and I can really see the potential for it to be a standout spot – especially with its fair pricing, which is refreshing compared to some tourist-driven establishments.

Unfortunately, my experience was seriously overshadowed by two major issues: poor customer service and an overwhelming pigeon problem.

The waitstaff were noticeably rude and dismissive, showing very little interest in basic customer service. It felt as though any interaction was a burden to them, and their attitude definitely took away from the experience.

Worse still, the restaurant was filled with pigeons. Not just the odd one flying by – they were walking around the floor, brushing up against customers’ legs, hopping on chairs and even onto tables. At one point during our family lunch of gyros and beers, a pigeon jumped directly onto our table and landed on my plate, making my meal inedible. I developed a real fear of them in the moment, especially when another pigeon tried to jump on someone’s shoulder in my party.

We informed the waiter about the pigeon landing on my food, and he simply replied with “ok” – no apology or concern. It was only when we brought it up again while paying that he decided to take the dish off the bill, which I appreciated, but it shouldn’t have taken that much effort.

As the rest of my party tried to finish what they could, we all watched another pigeon defecate on a nearby table, only for another to walk through it and track it around. Needless to say, it’s not what you want to see while eating.

It’s a real shame – the vision is clearly there, and the restaurant doesn’t try to exploit tourists with inflated prices. But the lack of effort in maintaining basic cleanliness and the disinterest from staff makes it hard to recommend. I understand pigeons are difficult to control, but leaving dirty plates on tables for up to 15 minutes is only inviting the problem.

With genuine improvements in service and some kind of system to manage the pigeons more proactively, Taverna Pergola could really shine. Until then, I’d think twice...

We came here mainly for the live music, which was honestly the only good part of the night. The band was fantastic — but everything else was a huge disappointment. First, we were only 6 minutes late for our reservation and they had already given away our table. Instead of finding a decent solution, they sat us inside where we couldn’t even see the music or the dancing, which was the whole reason we came. The food was just bad. The grilled octopus was dry and chewy, nothing like how it should be. The fried pork was even worse — it wasn’t crispy or flavorful, it just tasted like it had been boiled and then thrown on a plate. To make things worse, the staff wasn’t welcoming at all. Cold, unhelpful, and definitely not what you’d expect when you want to enjoy Greek hospitality. We left disappointed, and honestly wouldn’t recommend this place unless you only want to listen to the music from afar and don’t care about...

Traditional feel, good atmosphere and waiters/owners running around customers in organised chaos :)

I can see why the mixed reviews on service. I dont believe they are rude, it's just their way as when you finally get their attention they're very happy to to take your order or answer any questions.

The food is delicious, plentiful and greatly priced. As we were waiting for our mains we saw many dishes we wished we'd ordered

Unfortunately the only bad thing was, I never received the Ouzo I ordered :( Also if you need to grab the waiters/s attention Try whistling lol

Tip: not fussed about the bread? .. say no thanks or send it back (they dont mind as they plonk it on another tabke) as you will be charged a couple of...