Xilaras

Xilaras is a traditional Greek taverna on Paros with one detail that sets it apart from most island restaurants: the ingredients used in the kitchen are grown in the garden immediately behind the building. That farm-to-table setup is not a marketing label here — it's simply how the place has always operated, producing its own vegetables and herbs and turning them into the kind of slow-cooked dishes that take time to make properly.

The coordinates place Xilaras in the southwestern part of Paros, roughly in the area between Alyki and Drios — a quieter stretch of the island away from the busier tourist corridors of Parikia and Naoussa. That location alone signals what kind of restaurant this is: one that draws a local crowd alongside visitors who have made the effort to seek it out, rather than foot traffic from a busy waterfront strip.

Note that there is a separate business on Paros also trading under the Xilaras name — Xilaras Rentals, a vehicle hire company operating out of Drios since 1995. The two are unrelated. This article covers the restaurant only.

What to Expect

Xilaras operates in the tradition of the Greek family taverna: a menu built around cooked dishes (known in Greek as mageirefta) rather than grilled-to-order plates, meaning many items are prepared earlier in the day and served at their best in the hours that follow. This style of cooking — braised lamb, stuffed vegetables, slow-cooked legumes, baked casseroles — is increasingly rare even on the Greek islands, where tourist demand has pushed many kitchens toward faster, more standardized menus.

The use of the restaurant's own fresh produce gives the cooking a directness that is hard to replicate with market-sourced ingredients. Expect seasonal vegetables to appear prominently, prepared in the straightforward ways that Greek home cooking favours: dressed with olive oil, seasoned simply, and cooked until soft. Salads are likely to include produce pulled from the same plot.

The atmosphere is relaxed and unpretentious. This is not a destination for elaborate presentation or curated interiors — the appeal is in honest food, reasonable prices by island standards, and a setting that feels more like someone's home garden than a commercial dining room.

Because the menu follows what the garden and season produce, the specific dishes available on any given day may vary. Arriving with flexibility rather than a fixed expectation of a particular dish is the sensible approach.

How to Get There

Xilaras sits in the southern part of Paros, based on its coordinates near the coast between Alyki and the Drios area. If you are coming from Parikia, the main port town, the drive takes roughly 20 to 25 minutes south along the main island road. From Naoussa in the north, allow around 30 to 35 minutes by car.

Public buses on Paros connect Parikia with Alyki and Drios, though frequency drops in the shoulder season and services typically stop running in the early evening — which matters if you are planning a dinner visit. Checking the KTEL Paros schedule before you go is worthwhile. A taxi from Parikia or Naoussa is a straightforward option for an evening meal when buses are not running.

Parking in this part of the island is generally easier than in the main towns. If you are driving, arriving by car causes no particular logistical difficulty. Scooter rental is common on Paros and gives you the flexibility to reach restaurants like this one on your own schedule.

Best Time to Visit

Xilaras is likely to operate through the main tourist season, roughly May through October, which is the standard pattern for island tavernas of this type. The shoulder months of May, June, and September offer more comfortable temperatures for sitting outdoors and tend to bring a calmer, more local crowd than the peak weeks of July and August.

For lunch, arriving between 1pm and 2:30pm gives you the best access to the full range of cooked dishes, which are typically prepared fresh each morning and may run out as the day progresses. Dinner service on Greek islands usually begins around 7:30pm and runs late, though a kitchen relying on slow-cooked preparations may have more limited options later in the evening.

The southern part of Paros catches the meltemi wind less directly than the exposed northern coast, making outdoor dining more consistently comfortable across the summer months.

Tips for Visiting

• Ask what was prepared that day rather than defaulting to the written menu. In a mageirefta-style kitchen, the best dishes are the ones made fresh that morning, and the staff will tell you what's at its best.
• If you are visiting in July or August, consider a lunch visit over dinner. Midday is when the cooked dishes are freshest, and the southern part of Paros is less crowded than the main tourist centres at that hour.
• The restaurant has a Facebook page (facebook.com/Xilaras.Restaurant) which is the most reliable way to check current opening status before making the trip, particularly in the shoulder season when hours can be irregular.
• Do not confuse this restaurant with Xilaras Rentals, the vehicle hire company also based in the Drios area. They share a name but are separate businesses.
• Bring cash as a backup. Many smaller island tavernas in less-touristed areas prefer cash or have intermittent card terminal connectivity.
• If you are renting a vehicle to explore Paros independently, the southern coast road between Alyki and Drios passes through genuinely quiet scenery and Xilaras makes a natural lunch stop on that route.
• Dietary requirements are worth mentioning when you arrive rather than assuming the kitchen can adapt on the spot. Traditional Greek cooking often uses meat stocks in vegetable dishes, and advance notice helps.

What to Order

Based on the restaurant's own description, the menu centres on traditional cooked dishes made with produce grown on the property. In a Greek taverna of this type, that typically means a rotating selection of dishes such as gemista (stuffed tomatoes and peppers with rice), fasolakia (green beans stewed in tomato and olive oil), briam (roasted mixed vegetables), and meat preparations like stifado or kleftiko, depending on the season and what has been harvested.

Greek salads built from garden tomatoes, cucumbers, and locally sourced feta are a logical choice when the produce is this fresh. Bread served with a good olive oil is worth eating rather than setting aside.

Because the menu follows seasonal availability, specific dishes cannot be confirmed in advance — but the underlying logic of the kitchen (own-grown ingredients, traditional preparation methods) gives you a reasonable guide to what to look for when you arrive.