Best Date Night Restaurants in Santorini 2026
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The date-night pick in Santorini for 2026 is 1800 in Oia, a candlelit 1845 mansion at about €55–€90 a head. Editorial runners-up: Metaxi Mas, Selene, Aktaion and Lauda.
“Take the corner by the bell,” the host at 1800 tells couples on the way in, and he is right: that is the table where the candles do the work the caldera cannot. Santorini sells sunsets, but a real date needs a real kitchen, a fair bill and a room quiet enough to lean across. Six tables earn the evening here, from a Michelin-starred monastery to a village taverna the locals keep for themselves.
Six Santorini Tables for Date Night
Owner Ioannis Zaggelidis restored a sea captain's 1845 mansion on Oia's Main Street and opened it as 1800, a candlelit courtyard of whitewashed stone and a sommelier-stocked cellar. Greek classics and Santorinian wine run about €55 to €90 a head, and the kitchen holds a Greek Golden Chef's Hat. Ask for a courtyard table and let the evening run long. The date-night room on the island.
Kostis Chrysoherakis came from Chania on holiday, stayed, and built the table every local quietly defends, below the church in Exo Gonia. No caldera, no tourist tax: slow-cooked rabbit, fava and island wine for about €25 to €45 a head. Book a week ahead in season and drive over the hill. The date for two people who came to eat and actually talk.
Michelin-starred chef Ettore Botrini has run Selene since 2021, inside an 18th-century monastery set back from the Fira crowds. The moon-named tasting menus lean on white aubergine, capers and Akrotiri produce, and the restaurant has held a Wine Spectator award since 2023. Expect €115 to €210 a head. The splurge end of a Santorini date, for couples who put the plate before the postcard.
The Roussos family has cooked Aktaion on Firostefani Square since 1922, three generations of the same Greek plates. This is the low-key date: a quiet square instead of a cliff rail, generous portions, about €25 to €45 a head, lunch and dinner daily. Walk down for the early-evening light. Best when you want honest food and conversation without the sunset-terrace surcharge.
In 2026 Lauda brought in Emmanuel Renaut, the three-Michelin-star chef behind Flocons de Sel in Megeve, to guide its kitchen at the Andronis hotel in Oia. The tasting menus are the way in; lunch starts near €42 and dinner tastings climb to €170. Book three to five weeks out. The date with real ambition, on the caldera side of Oia.
Television chef and cookbook author Yiannis Skarmoutsos runs The Athenian House in Imerovigli, where the signature lamb moussaka is built on Santorini white aubergine with tahini and a feta bechamel. The sunset seating is the draw, with the bill landing around €150 to €200 a head. Book the early slot for the light. The date you choose for the view as much as the food.
How to Book, and What It Costs
Lauda wants three to five weeks, longer for a sunset slot. Selene fills two to four weeks ahead in peak summer. 1800, Metaxi Mas and The Athenian House book up on summer weekends, so reserve a week or two out, while Aktaion still takes walk-ins on its quiet square. Most of the island runs April to October, so plan around the season.
Santorini rewards a plan. Aktaion and Metaxi Mas keep a date to about €25 to €45 a head; 1800 lands €55 to €90; the sunset rooms at The Athenian House and Lauda run €150 to €200, and Selene tops out near €210 for the long tasting. For a caldera view without a tasting menu, Argo in Fira, Ambrosia in Oia and Archipelagos on the cliff path are all worth a table.
Frequently Asked Questions
1800 in Oia is the editorial pick: a candlelit 1845 captain's mansion restored by owner Ioannis Zaggelidis, with Greek classics and a deep cellar for about 55 to 90 euro a head. For a Michelin-starred splurge, Selene in Fira runs a moon-named tasting from 115 to 210 euro, set back from the sunset crowds in an 18th-century monastery.
It depends on the view. Village tables like Aktaion and Metaxi Mas keep a date to roughly 25 to 45 euro a head with wine. The caldera room at 1800 runs 55 to 90 euro. The sunset-premium tables, The Athenian House and Lauda, land 150 to 200 euro, and Selene tops out near 210 euro for the full tasting menu.
1800 in Oia is the most romantic room, a candlelit stone courtyard inside an 1845 mansion, away from the crush. For sunset romance, the caldera terraces at Ambrosia, Argo and The Athenian House face the bay directly. Selene trades the view for calm and serious cooking in a historic monastery, which many couples find more romantic than another crowded rail.
Book Lauda three to five weeks out and Selene two to four weeks ahead in peak summer. 1800, The Athenian House and the sunset terraces fill on July and August weekends, so reserve a week or two early and ask for a sunset slot by name. Metaxi Mas needs about a week. Aktaion still takes walk-ins on its quiet Firostefani square.
Most of the island's date-night rooms run April to October, then close for winter. 1800, Metaxi Mas, Lauda and the caldera terraces all keep to that season, serving dinner nightly through summer. If you visit in the off-season, call ahead, because hours shrink and many kitchens shut until spring. Aktaion, open year-round, is the safer winter bet.