A dinner date is a different kind of booking from the ones that surround it on this site, and it tends to go wrong for reasons that have nothing to do with the companion. It goes wrong because the table was booked for nine and nobody eats at nine here, because the restaurant was in Little Venice and there was nowhere to park, or because two people met each other for the first time at the door of a busy dining room. All of that is avoidable with twenty minutes of planning.
What follows is about the social mechanics: where to eat, when to sit down, how to handle the introduction, what to wear, and how the evening usually unfolds afterwards. For adults arranging a legal booking with another adult.
Getting the timing right
Greek dinner hours
Locals sit down at half past nine at the earliest and often closer to eleven. A restaurant at eight in high season is either empty or full of people who flew in that morning. If you want atmosphere rather than an efficient meal, book for ten.
Meeting before the table
We strongly suggest the two of you meet somewhere quiet forty minutes or so before the reservation — a hotel bar, a terrace, anywhere with chairs. Walking into a full dining room as strangers is the single most common thing that makes one of these evenings stilted. Twenty minutes of conversation beforehand changes the entire tone of the meal.
How long to allow
A proper dinner here runs three hours without anyone hurrying. Add the drink beforehand and you are at four. Book the companion’s time accordingly rather than for the length of the meal alone, or you will spend the dessert course watching a clock.
Choosing where to eat
Chora and Little Venice
The obvious choice, and the most atmospheric, particularly the waterfront tables at sunset. The trade-off is access: the old town is pedestrianised and a vehicle cannot reach most of it, so there is a walk through the lanes at each end. In heels, in August, that walk is a genuine consideration.
Ano Mera and the interior
The village square has several tavernas that are better than almost anything on the waterfront and a third of the price. It is quiet, it is where people who live here eat, and it is far easier to reach and park at. For a first dinner it is often the better call.
The beach clubs
Psarou, Ornos and Platis Gialos all have restaurants that run from late lunch through to the evening. They suit an early dinner that turns into a long one, and they solve the parking problem. Our pages on Psarou and on Ornos and Platis Gialos cover those areas.
Hotel restaurants
Underrated for this purpose. If you are already staying there the logistics disappear entirely, the staff are discreet by training, and the evening can continue upstairs without a journey attached. See the hotel page for how that side is handled.
Booking the table
Reserve it yourself
Book in your own name, for two, as you would any other reservation. There is nothing to explain to anyone and no reason to say anything beyond the number of covers.
High season reality
In the peak weeks the well-known places want several days’ notice, and the waterfront tables in Little Venice can want more than that. If the restaurant matters more than the date, book the restaurant first and tell us afterwards.
Ask for the right table
A corner or an edge, rather than the middle of the room. Not for secrecy — nobody is watching — but because you can hear each other, which over three hours matters a great deal.
What to expect on the night
Dress
Mykonos is smart but not formal. Expensive resortwear rather than suits. Companions dress for the venue, and if you tell us where the table is booked they will dress appropriately for it; a beach club at eight and a Little Venice terrace at ten are not the same brief.
Conversation
This is the part of the evening that is actually being booked. A dinner date is a social engagement with a companion who can hold a conversation across three hours with people she has just met, in more than one language. Tell us if there is a particular language you would prefer.
The bill
Yours, as the host. Nothing about the arrangement between us affects how the table is handled, and it is settled in the ordinary way at the end of the meal.
Other people
If you are dining as part of a larger group — colleagues, friends, a business dinner — say so when you book. It is entirely normal and it changes nothing, but it is not something to discover at the table.
After dinner
Continuing the evening
Most dinner bookings do continue, and the sensible thing is to book the time in one block from the outset rather than extending at midnight. Extending is possible and often fine, but on a busy Saturday it may not be, and that is a poor moment to find out.
Getting back
Chora after a late dinner is the hardest place on the island to leave. Vehicles cannot enter the old town, the taxi rank is a long walk away and the queue is real. Arranging the return before you sit down is worth the two minutes; our transport page sets out the options.
Or not returning at all
Which is why so many dinner bookings are arranged as part of an overnight. The transport problem stops existing and the end of the meal stops being a deadline.
Rates for a dinner booking
How it is charged
By time, from the meeting beforehand to the end of the engagement, at the standard hourly rate with the usual reduction for longer bookings. There is no separate dinner tariff and no surcharge for a public venue.
Season
The hourly figure moves with the calendar in the ordinary way, highest in August and at base level in the quieter months. See the rates page.
The meal itself
Not included, and not something we take a cut of. You book the table and you settle the bill.
Common questions
What time should I book the restaurant?
Around ten in the evening. Greek dinner hours run late and a table at eight in high season will be either empty or full of people who arrived that morning.
Should we meet before the restaurant?
Yes, and it makes a large difference. Forty minutes at a quiet bar beforehand means you walk into the dining room already in conversation rather than introducing yourselves in front of a full room.
How long should I book for?
Dinner here runs to three hours unhurried, and with a drink beforehand you are at four. Book the whole block rather than the length of the meal.
Where is best to eat?
Little Venice for atmosphere, Ano Mera for food and ease, the beach clubs for a long early evening, and your own hotel if you want the logistics to disappear.
Who books the table?
You do, in your own name, for two. There is nothing that needs explaining to the restaurant.
What should we wear?
Smart but not formal — resortwear rather than tailoring. Tell us the venue and the companion will dress for it, since a beach club and a Little Venice terrace call for different things.
Can the evening continue afterwards?
Usually, yes, but book the time in one block from the start. On a busy night extending at midnight may not be possible, and that is an awkward moment to discover it.