3 Best Restaurants in Epirus and Thessaly, Greece

Also know as Elias's Garden restaurant, this simple taverna with a traditional Greek menu and a waterfall in the garden attracts everyone from visiting royalty to Olympic-medal winners. Kids get their own pethika piata (kids' plates). Unusual appetizers include spicy fried feta with peppers and grilled mushrooms. Among the main dishes are beef stamna (baked in a covered clay pot with herbs, potatoes, and cheese), rabbit with onions stew, a range of local village sausages and perfectly fried vegetable croquettes.

At this spot on the main square, a local favorite since 1925, the Gkertsos family serves food prepared by the matriarch, Ketty. Meteora is known for hearty main courses—try Ketty's special wine-and-pepper chicken, veal, or pork stifado (stew)—and some specialties from Asia Minor, including tzoutzoukakia Smyrneika, aromatic meatballs in a red sauce laced with cumin. The surrounding hills and mountains are noted for goat and sheep rearing, and these meats are grilled to perfection here. Customers are ushered through the kitchen to place their order.