Taverna Pithari — Restaurant in Municipality of Chersonissos

Went in and had 1.5 hrs before we had to leave to catch a bus for a flight. It all seemed decent until after the starters when they said Mains would take 5 minutes max and after 15 minutes we asked where they were as we had a flight to catch and they said 5 more minutes and probably came after another 10. We got the “Meze” for reference.

The starters were much better than the mains, although the starters were only slightly above average, the mains were far below average.

The mains came and we asked what was in some of the dishes and the waitress just said “I don’t know”. We ate what we could of the mains and then asked if we could get the bill and pay in cash ASAP as we had to go. Then our waitress who served us the entire meal, who we asked for the bill of to asap as we gotta to for a flight, decided to bring us over a bottle of vodka which we politely declined as we had to go, which she took offense to. I understand it’s the culture, but we’d said repeatedly that we were in a rush.

This waitress then took the vodka and decided not to even bring us the bill, even after repeated eye contact made with us. She just decided to start clearing some tables instead. Please note, there were like 3 tables eating on the terrace bit that she was working on (where we sat) and she was clearing empty tables.

After like 10 minutes of trying to get attention from any of the 4 workers up on the terrace, we went to the main bar and got greeted fairly bluntly and explained that we would like to pay as we need to go asap as we have a flight. In response, the waitress said “yeh, just gimme like 5 mins” and turned around. Then my girlfriend asked again as we had to go ASAP, to which she didn’t respond and just yelled at other employees to come sort us, to which none arrived.

Then, the original waitress that we had, who sat us down and we told her first that we had to go after 1.5 hrs to get a flight, spawned in out of no where with a plate of “pancakes” and said very rudely, and I quote “could you not have waited another minute for your pancakes”. Again, I understand the culture here is like that, and the entire week me and girlfriend have eaten at many places and been thrilled with how they give you free stuff after meals (drinks and food). However, having told the staff many times that we have a flight and have to leave ASAP, the last thing we really wanted to do was go back up, sit down, and eat some pancakes…

She then sighed and charged us too much. 1 Aperol spritz (€8.50) and 1 Meze to share (€42) and somehow came up with €56. To be honest, we were so fuming at the rudeness and in such a rush that we just gave her the money, she stormed off to get our change, and then we left.

To be honest, if we could, we would rate this place zero stars. It looks nice, and view is “mid”, but the food is sub par and the service is shocking.

Honestly, should have read the reviews before...

We ate here twice during our stay in Koutoulafari. We ate early the first time, around 6pm, and found the taverna to be very quiet and staff were fairly welcoming. We both had chicken, with different sauces, and really enjoyed our meal. As we had enjoyed the food so much, we decided to return a few nights later for some authentic greek food. We ordered octopus, saganaki, white beans, greek potatoes and garlic mushrooms. Now. Here we had some problems. Firstly, the mushrooms were not greek. We were served mushrooms in black bean sauce - we tried to explain this to the staff, that they weren't 'garlic' mushrooms 'in white wine' as described, but the waiter didn't know, because he never tried them - and that was that. It's only in hindsight and seeing versions of this food elsewhere, that I realise the travesty of what we were served. The saganaki was a very creamy cheese, more like camembert, although I believe it should have a more halloumi like texture, and served with lemon or honey - ours was not, it was just plain. The octopus, weirdly had no suckers, and just one tentacle seems strange too in comparison to other places. The greek potatoes and beans were top notch though. I can only think the kitchen couldn't cope, as they had a large table of approx 20 in, and it was full house as we'd come later (7pm and on a Friday).

So, a mixed review. I really loved our first night here - I should add, their own vine is very good too! But, our second night was quite a disappointment, and based on this alone, I wouldn't return. The atmosphere, with live music (from a travelling saxophonist) felt very traditional, and an offering of Raki and watermelon was given after everyone's meal - personally, not keen on it, very strong alcohol with zero flavour, but maybe that's our palate. We didn't get Raki anywhere else during our stay, so I have...

We were a party of two. We took our seats and a waitress came to give us the menu. After a while the waitress came to take our order. I wanted to try the gyros but instead of the fries that came with it I asked if I could have rice. Mind you they serve rice at the restaurant as well. The waitress told me cold trying to upsell ‘you can have it as a side’ and I told her that I didn’t not want the fries, only the rice. But that was not possible and that I would be ‘changing’ the recipe. This was the most ridiculous answer I’ve heard. I wanted to change a side that came with the meat, it’s not like I asked to put rice in the moussaka instead of the potato, that would be changing the recipe :).

The waitress was so surprised that I didn’t want a starter. Like really surprised. I thought I was quite rude.

So after some time my dish came with fries. After eating the gyros, I think we’ve waited 20-30min for the table to be cleaned. Very slow and not paying any attention. The food was so-so, it was very greasy.

Would not recommend. If you’re looking for quality food and lovely staff you should try...