Bountaraki — Restaurant in Paros Municipality

This restaurant is authentic and family-run. Not to say others aren’t, but it is more visible at Bountaraki. This, and the huge queues that form nightly give it a perception of higher quality and so the 4.8 average rating which it has at the time of writing, in my view, is wildly generous. I suspect the long queues (which create the illusion of “must-eat-here” quality) are influencing this.

We arrived just after sunset with approx. 15 tables ahead in the queue and queued for over an hour. Tip: if you must try it, join the queue before sunset.

After waiting all that time, we were stunned when a free table for four was given to the people behind us in line because we were only a party of three — incredibly disrespectful after such a wait, and felt like putting turnover above guest experience. You’re also playing roulette as you have no idea whether your table, when you get to the front will be inside or outside. We were unlucky and got a very average table inside, not one of the charming outdoor tables.. We could have continued waiting for an outside table but an hour wait was enough.

Service was chaotic — for example, guests seated after us had orders taken first. Staff were friendly, but nothing could overcome the frustration. The food was fine. Not the best we’d eaten on Paros, certainly not worth a one-hour queue. I suspect their signature dish is Moussaka and I might have thought differently if I’d gone for that, but the menu specifics a 30 minute wait for this dish. Also, little inconsistencies e.g. charging bread per person but serving just 5 pieces between 3 guests just made it so much more average.

In summary, friendly staff, average food, frustrating experience. Not...

We came for dinner, by 8pm there is a queue already at the door, it kind of adds a little to the experience and the hostess comes out and chats to you too.

We were sat on the outside, no view from here. It’s also close to the toilets inside, you’ll hear an occasional flush and maybe a whiff or two… The seating was comfortable for two but the bench meant the gentleman on the next table would occasionally lean back on me cos he had no separate space, not great for 3.

The food was tasty, well prepared and with a great variety, strong traditional food cooked fresh.

Sadly, our corner of the restaurant seemed to have a cockroach issue. The couple on the table next to us had a visitor run across their table, bold as brass! The gent flicked it off on to the floor and my daughter stamped on it. I then noticed a previous casualty under my table being devoured by ants. Before we left there was another visitor that ran across my hand on the bench and then hang around on the wall behind the neighbour’s table. It slowly made its way towards us, we managed to pay and run before it reached us.

Staff are very busy in the evening, there are a lot of people and more waiting outside. The hostess will come and check on you but it’s a very busy place.

Tables at the front seem to be the best but then you’ll have the queue staring at you with envy as you sit in comfort and enjoy...

We had high hopes for a traditional Greek meal here, but unfortunately, it fell short. The Greek salad was the worst we've had so far - warm tomatoes and no dressing made it unpleasant. The service left a lot to be desired. The waiter wasn't interested in helping us choose dishes and even added an item to our order that we never requested. When we mentioned it, he argued that we ordered it although he repeated the order with the two items we ordered and not 3. Sadly, it felt like non-locals aren't valued here.

to reply to the owner's review:

Don't twist the truth. The waiter repeated the order: 2 Greek salads, Moussaka, and Gamberetti Saganaki — and we even showed him the pictures to be crystal clear. Asking a different table to back up your story is ridiculous. That’s not just unprofessional, it’s insulting. If you messed up, take responsibility. Blaming the customer just makes you look worse :) And stop hiding behind your ‘1700+ reviews’ every time someone calls you out, repeating that in every defensive reply doesn’t make your...