Elpeace Restaurant

Elpeace sits directly on Mylopotas Beach, one of the longest sandy stretches in the Cyclades, and it does something you won't find elsewhere on Ios: it combines fresh Mediterranean seafood with a proper sushi bar. The concept came from a group of friends who built experience in the Athens restaurant scene before bringing their Japanese-influenced technique to this wide, south-facing beach on Ios island.

The restaurant holds a 4.6-star rating across 251 Google reviews, which is a meaningful signal on an island that sees serious summer traffic and has no shortage of competition along the Mylopotas beachfront. You can contact the team directly at [email protected] or by phone at +30 2286 093473.

For travelers who want more than a gyros plate after a day in the water, Elpeace offers a focused alternative — one that takes both the seafood sourcing and the sushi craft seriously, without asking you to leave the beach atmosphere behind.

What to Expect

The setting is the first thing you notice. Mylopotas is a broad crescent of pale sand that curves for roughly two kilometers south of Ios Town, and Elpeace occupies a beachfront position that gives you views across the Aegean while you eat. The atmosphere tracks with the beach itself: relaxed and unhurried during the early afternoon, livelier as the evening draws in.

The menu divides into two clear lanes. On one side you have Mediterranean seafood preparations that lean on Greek flavors — the kind of cooking where the quality of the fish is the point, not an elaborate sauce. On the other, you have a sushi bar built around the team's background in Japanese cuisine, with the seafood component connecting both halves of the menu. Fish bowls appear to be a popular order based on guest accounts, and the bar side of the operation means espresso martinis and other cocktails are available alongside the food.

The kitchen runs lunch through to late evening, opening at 1:00 PM every day of the week and closing at 11:30 PM. That schedule covers both a proper sit-down lunch after a morning swim and a relaxed dinner as the sun goes down over the water. Reservations are worth considering in peak season — July and August on Ios see the beach at full capacity, and a beachfront table at a well-rated restaurant fills up quickly.

The combination of a beach bar and a serious food menu places Elpeace somewhere between a casual taverna and a destination restaurant. The sushi is the differentiating factor; it's not an afterthought but the result of accumulated experience that the founders explicitly brought from Athens.

How to Get There

Mylopotas Beach is roughly 3 kilometers from Ios Town (Chora) by road. The most straightforward approach from Chora is by bus — the KTEL Ios bus runs a regular route down to Mylopotas during summer, with the stop at the beach within easy walking distance of the beachfront establishments. The journey takes around ten minutes.

By car or scooter, follow the main road south from Ios Town toward Mylopotas; the descent gives you a clear view of the bay before you arrive. Parking is available near the beach, though spaces fill up mid-morning in peak season. If you're based at one of the hotels or studios along the Mylopotas strip, Elpeace is likely within walking distance.

Taxis from Chora to Mylopotas are a straightforward option for an evening meal if you'd rather not navigate the road at night. The coordinates for Elpeace are 36.713578, 25.295748, which will bring you directly to the location on Google Maps.

Best Time to Visit

Elpeace is open year-round in its listed hours, but Ios is a strongly seasonal island. The main tourist season runs from late May through early September, with July and August representing peak crowd levels. During these months Mylopotas Beach is busy throughout the day, and demand for beachfront dining is highest.

For lunch, arriving at opening (1:00 PM) or slightly after gives you the best chance of a beachfront table without a wait. The beach crowd thins a little in the late afternoon, and the early evening slot — around 7:00 to 8:00 PM — combines cooler temperatures with the beach atmosphere still in full effect.

Shoulder season visits in June or early September tend to have more manageable crowds, and the weather is still well suited to outdoor dining. The Aegean meltemi wind can pick up in August, which is worth knowing if you're planning a long outdoor dinner — evenings are generally calmer than afternoons.

Tips for Visiting

• Book ahead in July and August. Beachfront tables at well-reviewed restaurants on Mylopotas fill quickly in high season. Contact Elpeace by phone (+30 2286 093473) or email ([email protected]) to check availability.
• The sushi bar is a genuine draw, not a novelty. The team has a documented background in Japanese cuisine from their time in Athens — it's worth ordering from that side of the menu rather than defaulting to familiar Greek dishes you could find anywhere.
• Arrive for the late lunch window if crowds concern you. Mylopotas is at peak density from late morning to mid-afternoon. Coming in at 2:00 or 3:00 PM means the beach is still lively but the midday rush has passed.
• Check the social channels for current menu items. Elpeace is active on Instagram (@elpeace_ios_island) and TikTok (@_elpeace), where seasonal specials and current dishes tend to appear.
• Build in time for a drink after dinner. The bar element of Elpeace means the experience extends naturally past the meal — espresso martinis and beach cocktails are part of what makes this a full evening option rather than a quick stop.
• Combine with a beach day. If you're spending the day at Mylopotas anyway, Elpeace is a natural lunch or dinner stop without requiring you to leave the beach. Bring what you need for the full day.
• The fish bowl options appear frequently in guest posts and social content — if you see them on the current menu, they're worth considering as a starting point before deciding between the seafood and sushi sections.

What to Order

The menu at Elpeace runs across two categories: Mediterranean seafood dishes built on Greek flavor traditions, and sushi prepared by a team with dedicated experience in Japanese technique. While the full current menu isn't reproduced here, the kitchen connects both lanes through its focus on quality seafood.

Guest accounts repeatedly mention the fish bowls as a standout order — a format that suits the beach setting and bridges the gap between the two menu sides. The sushi bar appears to offer the kind of range you'd expect from a team that considers Japanese cuisine a specialism rather than an add-on, with the seafood quality doing the work that freshness requires.

On the drinks side, the bar produces cocktails — espresso martinis appear in multiple guest references — and the overall drinks program suits both a long lunch and an evening meal. For a beachfront setting on a Cycladic island in summer, the combination of cold drinks and seafood-forward food is exactly what the location calls for.

If you're uncertain where to start, the pairing of something from the sushi menu with a cold local drink before moving to a seafood main follows the format the restaurant seems designed around.