Popi's Grill

For our first meal in Naxos, we went to a place that our guidebook and all the signs said was the oldest family tavern in Naxos. It has been around since 1948 and they served products from their own farm. With that type of "advertising," Popi's Grill sounded like the perfect place for us.


We started out with a small bottle of white wine which was made in Naxos. (As was the case at many of our Naxos meals, we focused on anything on the menu that was a product or specialty of Naxos, since we figured it would be difficult to get those items elsewhere.) We don't remember much about this wine right now but it was good.


We got our usual order of saganaki. This saganaki was fine (crusty edges, chewy insides) but it wasn't the best we had in Greece. It was like the saganaki we would get at home (but again, without the flames).


We also got a Greek salad consisting of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, onions, peppers and feta cheese. This was nice and refreshing. In our opinion, it's difficult to go wrong with a Greek salad in Greece. Everything is fresh, flavorful and healthy.


They gave us a platter of grilled bread. The bread was grilled with olive oil and herbs, and it was really, really good. It was nice as an accompaniment to the other dishes and also on its own.


The fried calamari was nicely fried and crisp. It didn't come with any sauces - only lemon - and was a good mix of the rings and the legs.


Our last selection was the "sausage of Naxos" (again, I think we picked everything that said Naxos in its name). It was a little dry, probably a little overgrilled, but the sausage itself was nicely spiced. It came with a side of fried potato slices.


At the end of the meal, they brought over small shot glasses. I think these were complimentary and are supposed to aid in digestion. It was a little spiced, if we remember correctly.


We had a pretty good meal at Popi's Grill. It wasn't our favorite meal in Naxos or even our favorite meal in the Chora (main town) area of Naxos, but it was solid. Sadly the restaurant was empty the entire time we were there and every time we passed by on other nights. We usually gravitate toward places that are busy (better food turnover, follow the locals, etc) but this time we had trusted things we read which said this place was good. We weren't disappointed with the experience but were puzzled as to how they could stay in business. It looked like they also had a part of the business that consisted of selling items from their farm in large quantities to other restaurants and that part looked relatively busy. We hope that's the case. The people at Popi's were really nice and, as the oldest family tavern in Naxos, we would like them to stay in business.