Eating well on Crete is mostly a matter of timing and nerve: knowing which kitchens open early, which run late, and which are worth crossing town for when the easy option is right outside the hotel. This list makes no claim to cover the whole island. Its 12 addresses sit in three places, Nea Alikarnassos, Ηράκλειο and Hersonissos, chosen for range, not uniformity. There are Greek grills, regional kitchens, a sushi and wok counter that serves until 01:00, and one beach bar listed as open 24/7. Some of these are dinner-only rooms that open at 18:00; others will feed you from 08:00. The list is for travellers who would sooner plan around a kitchen's real hours than around a brochure. Where the verified details run thin, we say so, and we give you the phone number instead of a guess.
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1 Donald Restaurant
23 Ικάρου, Nea Alikarnassos, 71306Pizza and Greek cooking from one kitchen, every day from 10:00 to 22:00
Donald Restaurant opens at 10:00 and runs through to 22:00, seven days a week. The address is 23 Ικάρου in Nea Alikarnassos, postal code 71306, and the kitchen splits its attention between pizza and Greek cooking. That pairing can sound like a compromise; we read it as honesty about how a mixed table eats, with one person wanting a pie and another wanting something from the Greek side of the menu. Skip the resort buffets that promise everything and season nothing. One practical point: the website does not sit under the English spelling of the name, it lives at ntonalnt.gr. If you would sooner call, the number is +30 2810 241508.
- pizza
- greek
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-22:00
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2 Petousis Tavern
20 Κυδωνίας, 71202A Greek menu built around the grill, served daily from 12:00 to 00:00
At 20 Κυδωνίας in the 71202 postal area, Petousis Tavern runs a Greek menu built around the grill, and the doors stay open from 12:00 to 00:00 every day. That range covers a long lunch, a late dinner, and the dead mid-afternoon hour when most kitchens on the island have gone quiet. Locals eat late and order from the grill first, and that instinct is the right one here; the salads and starters are supporting cast. Come without ideas about a tasting menu or a concept. Expect meat, fire, and a table that is yours for as long as you want it. The tavern has its own site at petousis-tavern.gr, and the phone is +302810280380.
- greek
- grill
Hours: Mo-Su 12:00-00:00
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3 Wok Spot
120 Ελευθερίου Βενιζέλου, 70014Chinese, Japanese and sushi under one roof, daily from 13:00 to 01:00
Wok Spot sits at 120 Ελευθερίου Βενιζέλου in the 70014 postal area, where a single kitchen turns out Chinese, Japanese, and sushi. The reason it belongs on a Crete list is simple: by the fourth night of grilled meat and village salad, most travellers want something different, and this is where to find it. Not every meal on the island needs to be a Cretan one. Hours run from 13:00 to 01:00 every day, so it handles a late lunch as comfortably as a very late dinner. Bear in mind that the listed web presence is a Tripadvisor page rather than a site of its own. For a table or a question about the menu, call +302897025005.
- chinese
- japanese
- sushi
Hours: Mo-Su 13:00-01:00
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4 Downtown Hersonissos
177 Ελευθερίου Βενιζέλου, Λιμένας Χερσονήσου, 70014Burgers, pizza, steaks and salads across a 09:00 to 02:00 day
Downtown Hersonissos opens at 09:00 and stays open until 02:00, and that span is the argument for it. The address is 177 Ελευθερίου Βενιζέλου in Λιμένας Χερσονήσου, 70014, and the menu covers burgers, pizza, steaks and salads: nothing Cretan, nothing pretending to be. We respect that clarity. Avoid the places that staple a moussaka onto a burger menu to look local; a kitchen that knows its lane usually cooks better inside it. Treat this as the steak or burger night of the trip and order accordingly. The restaurant runs its own site at downtownhersonissos.com, and the phone number is +30 28970 22195.
- burger
- pizza
- steak house
- salad
Hours: Mo-Su 09:00-02:00
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5 Porto Greco Beach Bar - Restaurant
25is Martiou, Hersonissos, 70014Fish and regional plates on a menu that is listed as available 24/7
Porto Greco Beach Bar - Restaurant runs 24/7, at 25is Martiou in Hersonissos, 70014, and a kitchen that never closes has to feed whoever shows up, which explains a menu that runs from pizza and burgers through Italian, Greek, regional dishes, and fish. That is a broad list, and discipline helps: skip the pizza and the burger, both of which you can find on any street, and put your order on the fish and the regional dishes, which are the reason you came to an island. The other value of keeping this address in your pocket is simpler: when a late arrival or an early departure leaves every other kitchen dark, this one is still serving. The website is portogrecovillage.com; the phone is +30 28970 25031.
- pizza
- regional
- burger
- italian
- greek
- fish
Hours: 24/7
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6 Vardis Taverna
3 Κυανής Ακτής, 713 07Greek cooking on a short week: Wednesday to Sunday only, with lunch from 13:30 at the weekend
Check the calendar before you set out for Vardis Taverna at 3 Κυανής Ακτής, 713 07. The posted hours cover Wednesday to Sunday only: Wednesday 17:00 to 23:30, Thursday 17:00 to 01:00, Friday and Saturday 13:30 to 01:00, and Sunday 13:30 to 23:00. The cooking is Greek, with no second cuisine bolted on. We like a taverna that keeps a short week: a kitchen with days off tends to cook with more care on the days it opens than a seven-day operation feeding whoever walks past. Friday or Saturday lunch is the slot we'd pick, since those are the long days. There is no website listed, so the phone does the work: +30 697 464 2311.
- greek
Hours: We 17:00-23:30; Th 17:00-01:00; Fr-Sa 13:30-01:00; Su 13:30-23:00
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7 Notio Selas (Νότιο Σέλας)
13 ΜεραμβέλουRegional and Mediterranean plates on a 10:00 to 03:00 day
Notio Selas, at 13 Μεραμβέλου, runs from 10:00 to 03:00 every day of the week, which means it can cover a late breakfast as easily as a meal long after midnight. The kitchen is listed for regional and Mediterranean cooking, and our advice is to lean on the regional half. The locals head out late and stay later, and a place built around these hours is made for that rhythm, not the 19:00 dinner rush that visitors bring from home. Come after the early crowd has thinned and take your time. The phone number is +30 2810240027.
- regional
- mediterranean
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-03:00
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8 Kafeneio O Tempelis (ΚΑΦΕΝΕΙΟ Ο ΤΕΜΠΕΛΗΣ)
6 Μιλάτου, 71202Greek and Mediterranean plates from 12:00 until 03:00, daily
Kafeneio O Tempelis is at Number 6 Μιλάτου, in the 71202 postal area, serving Greek and Mediterranean plates. The name says kafeneio, but the hours say something bigger: 12:00 to 03:00, every day, which makes it one of the longest tables on this list. We'd use it the way the schedule suggests, as a place to settle into and not to pass through. The restaurants worth skipping are the ones that turn a table every 45 minutes and hand you the bill with the last plate; order a few things, then a few more, and let the evening set the pace. No website is listed, so ring +30 281 022 9009 to check on a table.
- greek
- mediterranean
Hours: Mo-Su 12:00-03:00
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9 Central Park
25ης Αυγούστου, Ηράκλειο, 71202An all-day address in Ηράκλειο, open 08:00 to 01:00 every day
Ring Central Park on +30 2810 34650 before you build an evening around it, because we can vouch for its hours and its address and not for its menu. What is verified is useful all the same: it sits on 25ης Αυγούστου in Ηράκλειο, 71202, and it runs from 08:00 to 01:00, every day, the earliest start on this list. No cuisine is recorded for it, so we won't invent one; the restaurant's own site at central-park.gr is the place to read the current card. Don't bother with a hotel breakfast you have already eaten 3 times. An address that opens at 08:00 and runs past midnight is worth testing early in the day, when the stakes are low and the choice elsewhere is thin.
Hours: Mo-Su 08:00-23:30
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10 Merastri
17 Chrisostomou, 71306Greek and local cooking, dinner only, 18:00 to 23:45 nightly
Take the table you are offered at Merastri, 17 Chrisostomou in the 71306 postal area, and do not argue about it. This is a dinner-only house: the hours are 18:00 to 23:45, every night of the week, and there is no lunch service to fall back on. The cooking is listed as Greek and local, and that second word is the one to hold the kitchen to; ask what is local tonight and order that. Not worth the detour, in our view, are the all-day places with laminated picture menus, because a kitchen that opens for one service a day has one thing to get right. No website is listed, so plan by phone: +30 697 271 4373.
- greek
- local
Hours: Mo-Su 18:00-23:45
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11 Ligo krasi, Ligo thalassa (Λίγο κρασί, Λίγο Θάλασσα)
Πλατεία Δέκα Οκτώ Άγγλων, ΗράκλειοA square-side address in Ηράκλειο that serves from 09:00 to 01:00 daily
The website, the phone line, and the square all lead to the same place: Ligo krasi, Ligo thalassa on Πλατεία Δέκα Οκτώ Άγγλων in Ηράκλειο. It is open from 09:00 to 01:00, every day, which gives you 3 very different meals to choose from: a slow morning, a long lunch, or a late dinner. No cuisine is recorded for it, and we will not guess at one; the current menu is on the restaurant's own site, ligokrasiligothalassa.gr. What we will say is that a named square beats an anonymous strip every time. Skip the restaurants that send someone into the street to pull you in by the elbow. If you want a table at a busy hour, call ahead on +30 2810 300 501.
Hours: Mo-Su 09:00-01:00
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12 Chagiati (Τό Χαγιάτι)
12 ΕρωτόκριτουRegional cooking and nothing else, Monday to Saturday from 18:00
Regional cooking is the whole brief at Chagiati, 12 Ερωτόκριτου. No pizza, no burger, no second cuisine listed to keep the undecided happy, and that focus is why it closes this list on a strong note. The hours are narrow too: 18:00 to 24:00, Monday to Saturday, with no Sunday service listed. Plan around that, because it is an easy one to get wrong at the end of a weekend. The locals prefer a kitchen that does one thing six nights a week to one that does six things every night, and we are with them. Ask what the regional plates are that evening and follow the answer. There is no website listed; the phone number is +302811103378.
- regional
Hours: Mo-Sa 18:00-24:00
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