Heraklion

• •Fills with locals at lunch, arrive early
• •Meal for three with wine ≈ €32
• •Home cooking in a tiny room

Home-cooking lunch spot · Koroneou 21, city centre

A tiny lunch room just off the pedestrian centre that fills with locals, so arrive early. Home cooked food at honest prices.

Suggested: moussaka, meatballs, giant beans

• •Hidden courtyard under a big tree
• •Kapriko is the speciality
• •Extremely good prices per local press

Courtyard taverna · Lakkos quarter

A hidden courtyard under a huge tree in Lakkos, with a hand painted sign and a long family history. Traditional dishes at very good prices, including kapriko, pork cooked slowly with citrus leaves.

Suggested: kapriko, handmade pasteli ice cream

• •Locals year round since the 1980s
• •Lamb chops and staka
• •Covered terrace above the rooftops

Neighbourhood taverna · Oasi district

A taverna in the residential Oasi district that has drawn Herakliots year round since the 1980s. Proper Cretan cooking and a covered terrace above the rooftops.

Suggested: lamb chops, staka

• •Hidden garden courtyard
• •Live music Tuesday and Thursday
• •Run by George and Maria

Mezedopoleio · Ellis 25, hidden alley

Behind a plain door at the end of a vine covered alley hides a garden courtyard run by George and Maria. Mezedes, house wine and live Greek music on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Suggested: mezedes, house wine

• •Menu only in Greek
• •4.9 from 500+ reviews
• •Courtyard under the vines

Family courtyard taverna · Smyrnis 31

A family courtyard taverna where the menu is written only in Greek and the staff happily translate. Home cooking under the vines at very fair prices.

Suggested: home cooked dishes

• •Same recipe since 1922
• •Third generation family
• •Morning ritual on Lion Square

Bougatsa house, since 1922 · Lion Square

Bougatsa made to the same Armenian refugee recipe since 1922, eaten with a Greek coffee on Lion Square. Breakfast here is a Heraklion ritual, three generations deep.

Suggested: bougatsa with cream, bougatsa with myzithra

• •About a century on the square
• •Top rated dessert spot in the city
• •Tables by the Morosini fountain

Bougatsa cafe · Lions Square, by the fountain

The other side of the square's hundred year bougatsa rivalry, founded by a family from Smyrna. Traditional and modern fillings, tables by the Morosini fountain.

Suggested: bougatsa, classic or modern

• •Same family since 1924
• •Fifteen square metres, four tables
• •Raki with meze, the old way

Kafeneio, since 1924 · Municipal Market, Odos 1866

A fifteen square metre time capsule beside the Municipal Market, run by the same family for four generations. The walls carry a century of photographs and the raki comes with small plates, the old way.

Suggested: raki with meze, Greek coffee

• •On the old rebetiko square
• •Very cheap by every account
• •Raki and cold meze plates

Rakadiko · Lakkos quarter

On the little square of Lakkos, the old rebetiko quarter, this kafeneio helped bring the neighbourhood back to life. Locals of all ages sit over raki and cold plates while the square goes quiet around them.

Suggested: raki, cold meze plates

• •Reviews almost entirely in Greek
• •Famous savoury patty
• •Rebetiko murals on the walls

Kafeneio and rakadiko · Sakoulieridon 25, Agia Triada

A small family kafeneio in Agia Triada with the neighbourhood's rebetiko history painted on its walls. Regulars swear by the savoury patty, and its review pages are almost entirely in Greek, which tells you who drinks here.

Suggested: the savoury patty, raki

• •Neoclassical mansion, tree through the courtyard
• •Decades old institution
• •Occasional live Cretan nights

Bar in an old mansion · Andreou Kritis 2

A decades old bar inside a neoclassical mansion on a backstreet, with a tree growing through the covered courtyard. Gig posters, a spiral staircase and occasional live Cretan music nights.

Suggested: wine or a cocktail in the courtyard

• •Small plates ≈ €3
• •Free nibbles with every drink
• •Rock and roll walls

Rakadiko · Amnissou 2

The classic rakadiko formula with a rock and roll record collection on the walls. Order raki and the small plates keep arriving; the bill at the end stays friendly.

Suggested: raki, whatever small plates arrive

• •Family ouzeri since 1978
• •Quiet alley off the harbour
• •Raki and a sweet on the house to finish

Ouzeri, since 1978 · Plateia Agiou Dimitriou, by the old port

A family ouzeri in a quiet alley off the harbour, serving fish meze since 1978. The meal ends the old way, with raki and a sweet on the house.

Suggested: grilled octopus, fish meze, ouzo

• •Cretan craft beer on tap
• •A short walk from the seafront
• •Chalkboard changes often

Craft beer taproom · Chandakos 58

The modern face of local drinking, a small taproom pouring Cretan craft beer a short walk from the seafront. Local brewers on the taps and a chalkboard that changes often.

Suggested: local draft beer