Gemeni

Gemeni — also known locally as Yemeni — is a wine restaurant tucked into the narrow, winding streets of Naousa's old town on Paros. Open since 2007, it has built a reputation on a straightforward principle: slow cooking, local ingredients, and a wood oven that anchors the kitchen. With 960 Google reviews and a 4.4 rating, it's one of the more consistently praised spots in a village that takes its food seriously.

The menu leans toward traditional Greek recipes with careful sourcing — vine leaves filled with rice and herbs, chickpeas slow-cooked overnight in a terracotta pot, lamb wrapped in vine leaves and stuffed with Naxos cheese. These aren't showpiece dishes; they're the kind of food you'd find on a Greek grandmother's Sunday table, executed with enough intention to keep a dining room full every evening of the season.

The restaurant sits within the labyrinthine lanes of Naousa's old quarter, where whitewashed walls press close and the sound of the harbor carries on the breeze. It's a short walk from the main waterfront but far enough inside to feel removed from the peak-evening foot traffic along the port.

What to Expect

The dining room is decorated in traditional Cycladic style — think stone walls, wooden details, and the kind of interior that prioritizes warmth over Instagram aesthetics. The wood oven isn't decorative; it drives the cooking of multiple dishes across the menu, from the dolmades made to Nikos's mother's recipe to the slow-cooked chickpeas and wood-roasted lamb.

The wine list lives up to the restaurant's "wine restaurant" designation. Expect Parian and Cycladic wines alongside broader Greek labels, including the local Mandilaria grape, which also turns up as a sauce base for the pork fillet scaloppini.

The menu covers a full range of starters, salads, mains, and risottos. Notable dishes include:

• Dolmades — vine leaves filled with rice and herbs, wood-oven cooked, made to a family recipe
• Chickpeas — a local slow-cooked recipe in a traditional terracotta pot, left overnight in the wood oven
• Lamb in Vine Leaves — boneless lamb wrapped in vine leaves, stuffed with carrots and Naxos cheese, slow-cooked with potatoes
• Pork Fillet Scaloppini — sautéed with a Mandilaria red wine sauce from Paros, served with potato and turmeric purée
• Grilled Calamari — stuffed with herbs from the restaurant's own farm and Paros cow's cheese
• Yemeni Salad — rucola, lettuce, spinach, carrot, green apple, and aged Naxos cheese served in a corn tortilla nest with orange vinaigrette
• Octopus Salad — thin-sliced octopus with lentils, herbs, cucumber, peppers, and citrus vinaigrette
• Beetroot and Truffle Risotto — with parmesan and white truffle extra virgin olive oil
• Sea Bass Fillet — sautéed with sea salt and extra virgin olive oil, served with zucchini, carrots, and an olive oil-based sauce

Portions are generous, the kitchen uses produce from its own farm for some herbs, and the cheese sourcing from neighboring Naxos shows up across several dishes.

How to Get There

Gemeni is located on an unnamed road in Naousa (postal code 844 01), within the old town's pedestrian lanes. The easiest approach is to enter Naousa from the main road, park near the central square or along the approach road where parking is available, and walk into the old quarter on foot — the lanes are too narrow for vehicles.

If you're coming from Paros Town (Parikia), the drive to Naousa takes roughly 10–12 minutes via the main island road. Buses run between Parikia and Naousa regularly during the summer season, dropping you near the village entrance. From there it's a 5–10 minute walk into the old town.

For those staying in Naousa itself, the restaurant is walkable from most accommodation in the village. Taxis are available from Parikia's taxi rank and can be called to collect you from Naousa after dinner.

Phone: +30 2284 051445

Best Time to Visit

Gemeni is open year-round, daily from midnight to noon and again from 6:00 PM to midnight — a split schedule that covers both lunch and dinner service. The dinner sitting is busier, particularly between July and late August when Naousa fills with visitors and tables at well-reviewed restaurants fill quickly.

For a more relaxed experience, aim for June or September when the village is lively but less pressured. Arriving early in the evening — around 7:00 PM or shortly after — generally secures a table without a long wait during peak summer. Midweek evenings are quieter than Fridays and Saturdays.

The old town setting means the outdoor or semi-outdoor tables are pleasant on warm evenings, but the interior stone walls hold the day's heat well into the night, making it comfortable even on cooler spring and autumn evenings.

Tips for Visiting

• Reserve ahead in July and August. The restaurant is well-known among visitors to Naousa, and popular dinner slots — particularly outdoors — fill up. Call +30 2284 051445 or check the website to book.
• Order at least one wood-oven dish. The chickpeas and the lamb in vine leaves are the clearest demonstration of what the kitchen does best. Both require overnight or slow cooking, so they reflect genuine preparation rather than speed.
• Try the local wine pairing. Ask about Parian wines by the glass or bottle — Mandilaria is the island's signature red grape and matches well with the heavier meat dishes.
• The herbs come from the restaurant's own farm. This shows up most clearly in the grilled calamari stuffing and several of the salads — worth noting if you're curious about sourcing.
• Cheese from Naxos appears across the menu. The aged Naxos cheese in the salad and the Naxos cow's cheese in the calamari are distinct products worth ordering if you haven't tried them elsewhere on the island.
• Navigation in the old town takes a minute. The lanes around the Naousa waterfront are signposted but can feel disorienting on a first visit. Ask your hotel to mark the spot on a map, or use the coordinates (37.1246, 25.2383) on your phone before entering the pedestrian zone.
• The lunch sitting is quieter. If the wood-oven dishes are available at lunch, you'll find the space more relaxed and easier to linger in than a busy summer dinner service.
• Follow the Instagram account (@yemeni.paros) before you go. It gives a current picture of seasonal dishes and any changes to the menu, which evolves with what's available.

What to Order

For a complete meal, consider building around the wood oven. Start with the dolmades or the octopus salad, then move to the chickpeas as a shared side or the lamb in vine leaves as a main. The risottos — both the crayfish and zucchini version and the beetroot and truffle — suit those who want something less traditionally Greek.

The Yemeni Salad is worth ordering not as a starter but as a counterpoint to heavier mains: the orange vinaigrette and green apple cut through the richness of the slow-cooked meat dishes effectively.

For wine, ask specifically about Parian whites to go with the seafood and a glass of Mandilaria or a local red blend with the lamb or pork. The staff can advise based on what's open that evening.

If the moussaka is on the menu — made with aubergine, potato, minced beef, and a homemade béchamel — it's a reliable benchmark for the kitchen's approach to traditional Greek cooking.