The famous caramote prawn from Amvrakikos, the famous papalina (sardine) and the famous red mullet: the three super-weapons of Preveza that you can enjoy in every fish tavern in town, always fresh and at great prices.
Boats arrive every morning at Aktia Gorgona, Preveza’s quay. And, depending on the weather, they’re loaded with the above-mentioned fish and seafood, that you can buy, fresh, on the spot. Add to the “holy trinity” above one more local delicacy, rarer, more expensive and exclusive: bottargo from Amvrakikos, with the fine taste and the subtle aroma. Its season is the summer, but you can find it throughout the year at some delicatessens.
The gulf of Amvrakikos is a marvellous national park, and also the largest wetland in Greece. In reality, it’s not a gulf but an enclosed sea that’s responsible for the culinary feast that Preveza offers. After all, it welcomes the nutritional elements from the rivers Arachthos, Louros and the tributary Vovos: twenty lagoons form at their estuaries, adding great flavour to the catch. That’s why the Epirus region is trying to get the papalina, the red mullet and the Amvrakikos prawn PDO (Protected Designation Origin)/PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) certified.
Apart from papalina and red mullet, of course, you’ll find fresh fish anywhere anytime, varying depending on the season – if for example someone recommends you try the ocean bream, order it without hesitation. The so-called ‘petali’ is a local specialty, that is flathead grey mullet sliced open, salted and sundried for many hours and then grilled over coals. It’s a proper main dish and not just a meze.
You’ll also find calamari, great squid, and some octopus, while the catch often includes lobsters and slipper lobsters, and shellfish, though they’re not easy to find at a restaurant in Preveza, as they’re sent to other cities. Apart from the picturesque fish taverns in the historic centre and the beaches, you’ll also find modern Greek cuisine restaurants and gastronomy restaurants with fish as the main event. There are also options for meat in town but fewer in comparison.
For visitors who like vintage aesthetics, authenticity and innovation, Preveza, despite being small, has a variety of cookshops, coffee shops, ouzo taverns and even street food options. What makes them special? Well, their great quality, their marvellous ingredients, and the passion put in their preparation.
Ouzo in particular has a long tradition in town: it’s the favourite spirit of the locals and they have local distilleries like Roumpou and Fisekis, while wine lovers will also have a good time, since some restaurants have good wine lists (consisting mostly of Greek labels), as well as staff that know and love good wine.
Finally, Preveza has some really nice and warm café-bars and café-bar-restaurants. Most are open only Friday to Sunday during the winter, while others are only open in the summer.
Restaurants – Taverns
ALATI Sea food & more
This is a one of kind fish tavern in Preveza, as it is the only one offering, apart from the classic recipes – grilled, fried or steamed fish and seafood –, creative dishes taking into account the recent trends of Greek gastronomy. The white tarama mousse with bottargo flakes, the fish fillet with greens, the inventive Alati calamari (calamari stuffed with bulgur and sundried tomato pesto), the caramote prawn orzo and the prawn and rocket trachanas (traditional pasta made with flour, milk or yogurt) stand out.
It’s located on the town’s quay, at Aktia Gorgona, next to the fish boats arriving each morning. It’s simply decorated with white and blue details, has a lovely view of the Amvrakikos gulf, and when the weather is good, serves food outside, right next to the sea. Fresh fish daily (depending on the season and weather), calamari, octopus, squid and even lobster and slipper lobster. The menu also includes some meat dishes, while the wine list has a selection of labels from the Greek and international vines. Fast and polite service.
31 Eleftheriou Venizelou, Old city, tel. 0030 2682 027145
Ambassador Wine Bar & Restaurant
A very nice meat restaurant, the only one in town. It’s housed in a listed mansion dating back to 1856, that used to house the English consulate (the locals still call it the Consulate). In the summer, they serve you in their romantic garden, and in the winter in the atrium with the large windows, as well as in the hall with the small bar and the classic decoration.
The menu focuses around great quality meat. They have a great organic Asturia tomahawk and T-bone steak. Ask for the meat to be prepared according to your liking. The beef shank and onion stew, served with cauliflower puree, as well as the beef and shrimp risotto are interesting. They also offer vegan options. Manos Tozios is the chef. Their wine list, consisting of mostly Greek labels, is excellent: ask the owner, Panagiotis Tsialios to recommend a wine. The service is fast and polite.
14 Karyotaki str, historic centre, tel. 0030 2682 089088
Celest Bar Restaurant
A modern, all-day restaurant at the new Preveza marina with the perfect sea view through the large windows and with an amazing roof-garden for when the weather is good. International cuisine with an emphasis on Italian dishes, using Greek products. The menu includes quite a few meat dishes and fish, as well as many pasta and risotto options.
The savoury cheesecake with barley rusk base, tomato, feta mousse and olive jam stands out, as does the black angus rib eye steak in salt crust, the bottarga in almond crust, and from the desserts, the poached pear served with cream cheese, forest fruit jam and burnt meringues is great. Mihalis Nastoulis is the chef in charge. It also offers breakfast, brunch (with a variety of pancakes), savoury snacks, many desserts and cocktails.
Preveza Marina, tel. 0030 2682 306930
Sesa
“Sesa Boutique Hotel’s” awarded restaurant serves contemporary Greek cuisine based on novelty combinations that result in tasty elegant dishes, while at the same time preserving tradition. Kostas Terzoudis is the executive chef.
Among the dishes that stand out are the shrimp linguine with vanilla flavoured bisque, the calamari with spinach, mango chutney, chorizo and coconut buttermilk, as well as the chimichurri seabass with boiled seasonal greens and paprika sauce. You’ll be seated at a wooden deck on the beach. Please note that the dishes we mention are from last summer, as the restaurant is only open during the summer.
Sesa Boutique Hotel, Kanali, tel. 0030 2682 052705
Saitan Pazar
A special restaurant on the street of the same name in the historic centre of Preveza, the most colourful and beautiful street of the old city. Atmospheric, friendly, playing great music, with nice cutlery, great service and extremely nice owners – Stathis and Marina. The food is tasty and well-prepared, using quality ingredients and great cooking techniques.
We particularly liked the goat cheese with the caramelised nuts and cereal crust served with rose jam, the squid ink risotto, and the bottargo pasta. The menu also includes meat dishes, as well as vegetarian and vegan options. They have a small wine list, a variety of ouzo (including the local brand Roumpou), spirits and cocktails. And to close it all off, spoon sweets and a fluffy walnut pie.
Saitan Pazar, Old city, tel. 0030 2682 060863
Amvrosios
One of the oldest fish taverns in Preveza, open since 1935. It’s making history with amazing grilled sardine and prawns, perfectly fried fish and petali, bakaliaro skordalia (traditional salt cod and garlic dip) and many appetizers, like courgette balls, beets, boiled greens, feta cheese spread, garlic dip, fried courgette chips etc. The menu also includes grilled meat dishes.
The décor is pleasant with naïf paintings of drunks on the walls and open wine barrels on the loft. When the weather permits it, they put tables outside on the roofed cobbled alley.
9 Grigoriou E, historic centre, tel. 0030 2682 027192
Alatopipero
Family grill with a long history and a great record in classic meat dishes. One of the few places in Preveza exclusively offering meat.
Meat prepared on the grill, over coals, skewered, in a wood burning oven, fatty meat (mutton, goat), frigadelia (intestines and liver), great lamb and pork kontosouvli, and classic appetizers. A stone hall beautifully decorated with reeds, a garden with various wood and stone structures, trees and plants. They make their own bulk wine.
11 Nikis str, Preveza, tel. 0030 2682 025392
Treli Garida
Very well-known fish tavern that serves large portions of seafood and fish on the grill: squid, sardines, Amvrakikos prawns, petali etc, plus a large variety of classic appetizers, as well as some grilled meat.
They have seating both inside, in two rustic halls, and outside.
7 Andrianoupoleos str, Old city, tel. 0030 2682 025691
Psatha
Traditional family tavern open since 1978. It has a large, pleasant and light hall with a small balcony all around. They have tables outside, on the pedestrian street where they have many flowers. A wide variety of traditional Greek casserole dishes on display, grilled meats, fried fish. They use great ingredients, and the prices are seasonable.
4 Dardanelion str, Old city, tel. 0030 2682 023051
Filippas
The owner, Dimitris Hristakis, is a fisherman and owns fish boats and offers all sorts of seafood: Amvrakikos prawns grilled or fried with garlic, prawn pasta, grilled and baked squid, calamari stuffed with cheese, and a wide range of fish. The main hall is spacious and there’s a large art installation projecting a three-dimensional swordfish.
4 Andrianoupoleos, Old city, tel. 0030 2682 061015
The more unique ones
Dimitrios Raptis restaurant
Nothing in its exterior shows that this amazing cookshop has been around since 1933. They serve patsas (Greek tripe soup), boiled goat, mutton, and a delicious, rare soup made with cow head and feet, a balm to the soul.
They have a display featuring all the classic Greek casserole dishes – beans and vegetables, chicken roast with potatoes, moussaka, pastitsio (baked dish with pasta, minced beef, cheese and bechamel), fish soup, soutzoukakia (traditional type of meat balls with origins in Asia Minor) that alternate daily, depending on the season. The very tall Dimitris Raptis in in charge of the kitchen and opens at 5.30 in the morning and closes at 16.00.
51 Panagi Tsaldari, tel. 0030 2682 025782
Meletidis
A cult coffee shop – meze tavern whose exterior does not prepare you for the extravagant vintage/retro interior: heavy wooden furniture, vitrines, cupboards and cabinets, mirrors, photographs, radios, a phonograph, blue wooden and straw coffee shop chairs. All decades of the first half of the 20th century are present here.
Even though it’s mainly an ouzo “kingdom”, they also serve tsipouro, as well as beer, while they keep tradition serving a different meze for each ouzo order. The meze usually is a casserole dish that is exclusively served as meze and you can’t order it, like for example octopus in tomato sauce, baked gigantes beans in olive oil and tomato sauce, spanakorizo (spinach and rice dish), squid pasta in tomato sauce etc. The tables are traditional coffee shop metal or marble topped.
Irinis avenue, Foros square, tel. 0030 2682 027182
A rank of its own
Chubbies fine street food
Chef Thodoros Mitsis has created a space offering filling sandwiches that belong in a delicatessen. In his little shop, he makes his own charcuterie meat with no preservatives: California dream beef, marinated for a whole day, chicken with garlic and fresh herbs, pork with smoked salt, onion and pepper, vegan salami with gluten flour, herbs and spices. He combines them with bean spreads e.g., beans scented with café de Paris, lentils and sundried tomato pesto etc.
You can add one of the cooked garnishes he prepared to the sandwiches, like mushroom saganaki (traditional way of preparing a dish in a small frying pan using tomato sauce, often spicy – or grilled), cauliflower in tomato sauce, white and purple cabbage in mustard with smoked paprika, etc. Finally, the desserts – that change daily – include apple cooked with spices in red wine, garnished with vanilla cream and cinnamon biscuit. Also, the red pumpkin glazing is great.
73 Panagi Tsaldari str, tel. 0030 2682 022206
Cafe, Bar, Club
Tserki
High-ceilinged and atmospheric with gorgeous arched doors. It opens in the morning serving coffee and sweets and stays open till late at night with a great collection of premium drinks, wine by the glass, cocktails, and great music.
1 Dardanelion str, historic centre, tel. 0030 2682 027072
Art cafe Botilia sto Pelago
Housed in a neoclassical building, with pastel colours and artsy vibes. Coffee, chocolate, tea, drinks and desserts. It’s decorated with art by local artists. You can sit and plan your trip in peace.
9 Theofanous & Ionias str, Old city, tel. 0030 2682 400432
Apothiki
A popular, alternative bar on Saitan Pazar, the most famous street in the historic centre. With rock, reggae, jazz and blues tunes, sophisticated cocktails, and a great spirits and beer list. It opens in the evening, and during the winter is only open Friday to Sunday. Use your GPS and ask around and you’ll be able to find it.
8 Ionias & Hristou Kontou str, Old city
Kourdisto Portokali
Café-bar-restaurant on the sea, airy and modern, with an endless view. A first-rate option for a glamourous outing in Preveza. It opens late in the afternoon and offers coffee, hookah, drinks, salads, burgers and desserts, and stays open till early in the morning turning into a club.
It’ only open during the summer.
40 Eleftheriou Venizelou str, Paralia, tel. 0030 6974815055
ALILA Tales & Spirits
All-day café-bar, laidback and nice, right by the sea with a lovely view. They offer coffee, great brunch, snacks, desserts and ice cream. The menu includes a wide range of international dishes, they offer drinks, cocktails and have a good wine list. It’s only open during the summer.
39-40 Eleftheriou Venizelou str, Paralia, tel.0030 2682 05174
Read also:
Preveza: Between the mountain and the sea, on the gorgeous Epirotic
Meraviglia: An architectural marvel in Preveza celebrating the concept of slow living
