Eats Along Perivolos Beach – Santorini

Although we found better food on other beaches, we spent the most time at Perivolos Beach. It was the sandiest of the beaches (it’s a black beach similar to Perissa, but with smaller volcanic pebbles and with a wider beachfront), had the nicest umbrellas and chairs, and the cleanest restrooms (which hopefully meant no excuse for people to do their business in the water). Here are just a few quick notes on some of the food we had along the beach.

Perivolos Beach is lined with hotels, and each property has their own umbrellas and chairs. The more expensive hotels charge more for their umbrellas and chairs, but they usually have more extensive menus and better wifi. Also, some restaurants don’t offer takeout since they want you to sit on their property, so if you’re with a group, it’s a good idea to have everyone (or at least the picky ones) look at the restaurant menu before you settle on a spot.

Anemos had the widest, most bed-like chairs, and their wifi was the strongest. However, their food and alcohol menu was limited. Two of the bottles of champagne on the menu weren’t available so we had to make do with a bottle of Moscato d’Asti which normally I don’t like, but made for a easy, light drink for a lazy day at the beach. Alli also ordered a plate of Italian spaghetti (€10.70/$15.19), spaghetti with tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella, which was surprisingly good. Again, it was those delicious Santorini tomatoes.

The food at Anemos is brought to the beach in the cutest wicker picnic basket, plate and all. So as can be imagined, they don’t offer takeout. A few days later, Alli tried getting takeout and she was denied, even when she promised to bring back the basket. I guess she looked like trouble. One umbrella with two chairs cost (€7/$9.93).

Anemos
Perivolos Beach
Santorini, Greece
22860-82220

Sea Side by Notos seemed to be the trendiest hotel restaurant on the beach, but the prices were relatively reasonable, on par with Anemos. The restaurant looked very promising, but I wasn’t crazy about the food. I ordered tagliatelle with smoked salmon and cuttlefish ink for lunch and the flavor of the smoked salmon overwhelmed the taste of the cuttlefish ink, which isn’t a mild flavor to begin with.

I did, however, like the plate of fried pastry with spreads which came to the table instead of bread. In Greece, you’re always charged for bread that arrives at the table (you can refuse), so I was glad to pay for something actually more interesting. The fried pastry was basically fried, dense pita, and the three spreads were tuna, olive with feta, and tomato. All three were very tasty. I considered asking for more fried bread to finish the spreads, but then I didn’t because I wanted to save room for my entrée. After I got my pasta and they took the spreads away, I really regretted not doing so. Hindsight’s a b*tch.

Conveniently, Sea Side does offer takeout. When Alli was turned away at Anemos, she got a stuffed burger with vegetables and chloro cheese (fresh cheese from Santorini) at Sea Side. The burger was juicy and had lots of flavor, but I’d say it was more of a meatloaf sandwich than a burger.

Sea Side by Notos
Perivolos Beach
Santorini, Greece
22860-82801

Kaboypakia or Kavourakia, a homey tavern serving more traditional food situated in between Sea Side and Anemos was far less expensive. Alvin and I ordered a ton of food for the entire group only to find out after we rented chairs at the far end of beach that they didn’t offer takeout. (The chairs at the opposite end of Anemos were only €5/$7.09, but the café on the premises didn’t have much except salads and spinach pies.) We ended up having the others join us at Kaboypakia. None of the food was mind-blowing, but I was quite satisfied with the tender fried calamari and the saganaki. Fried anything is hard not to like. The entire lunch with a bottle of water cost €42.60 ($60.36).

Kaboypakia/Kavourakia
Perivolos Beach
Santorini, Greece

The food at Perivolos Beach wasn’t as stellar as the beach itself, but as you can see, I still ate very well.