Taverna Bar Vasilis

I don’t know if I ever felt more welcomed than here at any family restaurant. Thank you! Thank you for your hospitality, for the amazing food, the free desserts and for making our evening great.We tried the big prawns and the shrimp souvlaki and both were perfect and very big portions The view from the restaurant is also breathtaking We will come back for sure!

Fantastic restaurant. Booking is essential and easy to do via FB messenger.The portions are enormous and delicious, also beautifully presented. The service is super friendly and entertaining. The location is gorgeous overlooking the beach.We ate here twice it was so good.The fruit plate / dessert/ raki are a lovely touch and the best we have had on this holiday.Highly recommended . Would love to go again!

First of all I will never understand why anyone would ever write a review, let alone a 1-star review for a restaurant they’ve never eaten at before. How privileged you must be to think you’re entitled to eat at a restaurant that is fully booked ahead of time. For the record, I am an American who had exceptional service at this amazing family run restaurant!Now to start my actual review… My husband and I had a phenomenal dinner at Taverna Bar Vasilis. Apparently the stars aligned because we showed up without a reservation and the restaurant was already fully booked for the night. They let us know if we waited around 30 minutes there *MIGHT* be a table opening up. Because we’d heard such wonderful things about this restaurant, we happily waited on the beach. About 40 minutes later they had a no show reservation and we were in, yay!!To start, the restaurant is absolutely adorable. It has cute beachy decor and vibes with nice stone accents on the walls. Next, the service here was incredible. To my understanding, all of the servers were either sons or nephews of the chef who is the owner. While some people mentioned the food being expensive, I actually found it to be cheap for the quality and quantity of food we were receiving.The food here was amazing! My husband and I sampled a few of the appetizers and shared an entree. I would highly recommend the split pea dip, shrimp saganaki, and the grilled octopus. I’d say it may be the best octopus I’ve ever tried. The portions here are huge and there’s no way you will leave hungry! All the ingredients seemed to be extremely fresh and high quality.If you’re coming to Crete, make sure you eat here, it’s an incredible experience! You can tell this family puts so much love in to their restaurant, food and customers. I would highly recommend making a reservation at least 2 weeks ahead of time (I heard you can do this through their Facebook page).Pro tip, you may be able to order from the beach chairs if they’re fully booked.

If I could give Taverna Bar Vasilis 10 stars, I would! This is my top favorite restaurant in the world. From the moment you walk in, you're treated to a warm welcome and a glass of raki. The snacks they serve before the food are delicious and get you ready for the main event. The food is simply the best—big portions, great prices, and every bite is amazing. The super friendly family that runs it makes you feel right at home. We visited every day during our stay and ditched the dinner at the all-inclusive. If you want to save money and have the best food in the world, just book the hotel and eat here! This place is heaven on earth and should be a 3-star Michelin restaurant, no doubt about it.

The service was amazing, the family is super friendly and makes it a true Cretan dining experience. The seafood was outstanding, the kids were happy and the desserts were amazing. We had the mixed seafood baked cheese and the special of the day fish roe, the prepared a mixed bread and pita basket that went well with all the dishes. The beer and white wine were cold as well as the water. Which made it an enjoyable experience despite the 38C temperature.You need a reservation as they fill up quickly. They seem to have two services one at lunch and one at dinner.

It's not only about the food, which is as good here as a select few of the tavernas in this town. It's the show that the boys put on around it. Items like the dolmades, baked fetta, steamed greens and octopus are terrific...and the comp desserts a cut above anywhere else. Add the very decent cask wine and comp booze, and the recipe is for a very good time, with a team that know exactly what they're doing. You need to book at dinner, though I really enjoyed the matinee (lunch) too.

Just go! This place is phenomenal and all of the family members working here are so sweet and hospitable. Food is delicious, fresh and excellently priced. My fiance loved the grilled sea bass and calamari. Very accommodating for dietary restrictions — I’m a vegetarian and things are clearly labeled. They also provided off menu suggestions as well (they cooked an incredible orzo dish with a garlic wine sauce and veggies), which is so appreciated.They even make their own olive oil (!!) which is some of the best we’ve ever had. I could drink bottles of it.We loved it so much we came two nights in a row. :)

We are so glad we found Taverna Bar Vasilis on the last day of it being open! We had lunch there and came back for dinner! The family are all so lovely, very welcoming and kind and the food is incredible!We highly recommend and we will hopefully be back next year!