Lefteris Rooms & Tavern – A Late-Night Fire-Grill Stop on the Road to Elafonissi

Lefteris Tavern in Kampos, Crete, is one of those places that you find only if you take the coastal road to Elafonissi.

If you drive to Elafonissi along the coastal road through Livadia and Kampos instead of taking the faster inland route, you don’t just get better views.
You also have a chance to meet people like the owner of Lefteris Rooms & Tavern – a family guesthouse and village taverna that still cooks the old-fashioned way, over real fire, even late at night.

This is not a trendy beachfront restaurant or an Instagram spot. It is the kind of place that quietly works for more than forty years, serving locals, Italians with paper maps, and a few lucky travellers who decide to stop when the rest of the island is already asleep.

Where is Lefteris Rooms & Tavern?

Lefteris Rooms & Tavern sits in a small village on the western side of Crete, on the scenic road that runs along the coast from Kissamos towards Elafonissi Beach via Livadia and Kampos.
It is the kind of place you notice because of the warm light and the wooden veranda, not because of big signs or loud music.

Most people heading to Elafonissi use the faster inland road. But if you follow the coastal route, passing through villages and tiny bays, you eventually reach this quiet taverna with a few rooms upstairs, flowers around the entrance, and a simple sign that says “Lefteris Rooms & Tavern”.

Arriving at 11 p.m. – when every kitchen is already closed

My wife and I were driving towards Elafonissi late in the evening. It was already around 11 p.m., the hour when almost every village kitchen on Crete is closed, and the island becomes quiet.
We had passed several villages without finding a place that still served food, and we were already mentally preparing to arrive at the campsite hungry.

Then we saw Lefteris Rooms & Tavern. Wooden beams, a covered veranda, soft light, a couple of tables outside, and a young woman working behind the bar.
Something about the place simply called us, so we stopped and walked in to ask the question that always feels a bit awkward that late at night:
“Is it still possible to eat something?”

The girl went to speak with the owner. After a short conversation she came back with the answer that changed the whole night:
“If they need food, I will light the fire.”

The owner who lit the fire just for us

A few minutes later the owner appeared – calm, friendly, with the kind of quiet confidence that you only get after decades of doing the same work well.
He has been in this business for about 43 years. Before him, it was his father who built the rooms and started the taverna.
Now he continues the family story, running the place with his wife and a small team.

Instead of telling us that the kitchen was closed, he walked straight to the open grill, prepared the wood and charcoal, and lit a real fire.
Sparks flew inside the brick fireplace, the coals started glowing, and within minutes the whole veranda smelled like honest village cooking.

This is exactly what makes Lefteris Tavern Kampos Crete so special – it stays true to the old ways.

What we ordered: giant pork brizola on live fire

We kept it simple and asked for what the taverna does best:
two pork brizola steaks, grilled over the open fire.

The owner first marinated the meat with a mixture of butter and rigani (Greek oregano), brushing it generously so that the herbs and fat would melt into the meat while grilling.
He worked slowly and confidently, placing the brizola over the coals, turning it at the right moment, and checking the heat with the experience of someone who has been doing this for a lifetime.

When the plates arrived, they were almost shocking in size: each brizola was a long, thick piece of perfectly charred pork, served with a mountain of fries and a wedge of lemon.
The meat was smoky and juicy at the same time, with a crispy outside and soft inside – the kind of flavour that only real fire and good meat can create.

Many travellers stop at Lefteris Tavern Kampos Crete for its fire-grilled pork that tastes like home.

All the mezze “on the house”

What makes this place truly special is not only the meat. While the brizola was grilling, the table slowly started to fill with small plates –
mezze that we never actually ordered:

• freshly made tzatziki,
• crispy little bites of fried appetizers,
• homemade bread and toasts,
• a pile of fries to share,
• and later, small sweets and local treats.

All of this was offered as a gift. The only things we officially ordered were the two brizola steaks and two beers.
The rest was simply the owner’s way of saying: “You are welcome here.”

More than a taverna – it felt like visiting someone’s home

At some point the owner sat down with us and started talking.
He told us about his life, about how his father started the rooms and the taverna, about the years of work, the tourists who keep coming back, and the locals who treat this place as a second home.
He spoke calmly, without hurry, as if the night was made for long conversations.

There was an Italian couple at another table, planning their route with a paper map, clearly as happy as we were.
From time to time the owner would bring something to their table too – a drink here, a small dessert there – making sure everyone felt taken care of.

The young woman who first greeted us even wrote down the name of my website on a piece of paper.
I told them that my project, CreteTales, was still young and in development, but that I promised to write about them.
Months later, in the quiet season, I am keeping that promise with this guide.

The bill: simple, honest and more than fair

For two huge pork brizola steaks, all the mezze, bread, fries, local treats and two beers, the final bill was around €60 for two people.
Considering the size of the portions, the quality of the meat, the late hour, the atmosphere, and all the extras “on the house”, it felt almost symbolic.

But the real value of the evening had nothing to do with money.
It was about being treated not as random tourists, but as guests.
About staying in a village taverna until almost 1 a.m., talking, eating, listening to the summer night and the quiet music, and then driving further towards Elafonissi with the feeling that Crete had just opened one more small door for us.

Why Lefteris Tavern Kampos Crete Is Worth a Stop

If you are driving through Kampos village or heading to Elafonissi, Lefteris Tavern Kampos Crete is the perfect late-night stop.

Practical tips if you want to stop here

• Route: take the coastal road from Kissamos towards Elafonissi via Livadia and Kampos instead of the faster inland route.
• Type of place: small family-run guesthouse with rooms upstairs and a traditional taverna on the ground floor.
• Best time: evening or night, when the veranda lights are on and the grill is working.
• What to order: pork brizola from the charcoal grill, beer, and let the owner choose a few mezze plates for you.
• Budget: around €25–30 per person for a big meat dish, drinks and plenty of sides; sometimes you will get even more than you ordered.

If you love places with character, people with stories, and food cooked in front of your eyes on real fire,
Lefteris Rooms & Tavern is absolutely worth a stop on your way to or from Elafonissi.