Urgent warning over notorious restaurant in Greek holiday hotspot where tourists charged HUNDREDS for drinks and snacks
TOURISTS have been warned to stay away from a notorious “rip-off” Greek restaurant where diners face eye-watering bills.
Diners in sun-soaked Mykonos spoke of steep prices, “inedible” meals and “intimidation” tactics from management at DK Oyster bar.
The restaurant, in Platys Gialos, has been bombarded with negative reviews from furious diners and has a reputation for their high prices.
On TripAdvisor, DK Oyster Bar currently has 804 one star reviews, 34 two star reviews, 20 three star reviews, 52 four star reviews and 342 five star reviews.
But angry customers have set up a dedicated website to warn other tourists and share their experiences.
The restaurant has hit back at the reviewers – claiming the customers are exaggerating or making the claims up.
Dimitrios Kalamaras, DK Oyster Bar’s owner, has previously defended his prices – bragging they are simply “beyond the budget” of some of his customers.
He accused customers of lying on TripAdvisor – and said he installed three blackboards at the entrance to the restaurant displaying his prices.
Dimitrios said “no adult in their right mind” would order a drink without seeing how much it costs first and told customers to discuss the price with the manager before they order.
According to Greek City Times, the restaurant was fined last year after two US tourists were charged £480 for two drinks and a portion of crab legs.
During the investigation of the company’s books, up to eight violations were found, resulting in a fine of £25,000.
The two American women took legal action against three waiters of the restaurant and the manager for threats.
In the restaurant’s latest one star review, a couple from Toronto, Canada, explained how they visited the eatery for a “quick snack” and drinks – but were soon slapped with an astronomical bill.
Alex and Lindsay Been said they ordered a beer, a cocktail, and a dozen oysters – and the restaurant charged almost £350 (400 euros).
The couple said staff escorted them to a back room to pay instead of bringing the bill to their table.
Lindsay said in the review: “They gave him [Alex] the bill which was over 400 euros. He was shocked and asked for a breakdown.
“They had a computer screen that they turned to him and it was all in Greek, but we don’t speak Greek.
“He got a sketchy vibe from them and didn’t want to get himself in a bad situation so he ended up paying it.
“He definitely felt intimidated and he’s the friendliest guy, so even if the bill was double he probably would have paid it to avoid any problems.”
Owner Dimitrios strongly denied the claims and hit back at the review from Lyndsay Breen.
He said: “She claims that she ‘repeatedly asked for a cocktail menu’, and adds that ‘the server didn’t seem to want to provide one’.
“Despite that, she placed an order… an experienced well-travelled person who makes a living through their experiences in the world did what most adults in the right mind would not do, ordered drinks and food from a waiter who refused to present a menu.
“This false claim has been used so much against our restaurant by dozens of anonymous users in Trip Advisor that we decided to place three huge blackboards by the entrance of the restaurant displaying the menu and the prices.
“We believe that the value of the offered experience is high and we have no intention to explain why we charge more than a supermarket or a traditional taverna, which can be quite wonderful but is surely a completely different concept than ours.”
A couple of months later, in June, a dad-of-two hit headlines when he was burned by the now infamous high prices at DK Oyster Bar.
French-born David Bitten, who runs a restaurant business himself, ordered a bottle of wine and two virgin Pina Coladas before he claims the waiter pressured them into ordering some seafood dishes.
After wrestling through plates of “chewy” calamari, “inedible” pasta and a fruit platter, David was stung with the heart-stopping bill.
He said: “The 1,205.60 euro (£1,018.34) bill was in Greek, of course, and I had no choice but to pay it.
“The next day after checking my bank account I realised that [they] charged me 1,387.59 euros (£1,172.86).”
The restaurant came under fire again when a couple were hit with a staggering 800 euro bill (around £711) for two drinks, four crab legs and a salad.
Sun seekers Jessica Yarnall, 31, and Adam Hagaun, 30, said they thought they had ordered 25 euro cocktails when they put in their boozy order.
But the couple were handed a suspiciously extortionate bill – and staff insisted the couple pay up.
Jessica said: “There were waiters outside trying to get people in. They asked if we wanted to eat and we said we’d get one drink.
“I’d asked for a menu with prices to make sure it was in our price range. The menu made it seem like a really affordable place to eat.
“We sat down and talked about whether to eat or not. They were very pushy. We thought maybe that’s how it is and we didn’t want to be rude.
“We asked what was good and they said crab legs and a Greek salad so we said ‘ok let us think about it’ then they brought out bread rolls.
“We told them we didn’t order anything yet and they said we had.
“There was a little bit of a language barrier so we think when we said we’d think about it he thought we meant yes so when we were trying to work out how much it was going to cost they started bringing out the food and they said we definitely ordered this.”
Although the restaurant has been regularly slammed online, several happy customers have left the eatery a glittering five-star review.
One wrote: “We received the best service as the staff was very friendly and made sure that everything was alright! An amazing experience overall! Highly recommend!”
Another said: “I find it Odd all the negative reviews, I had a blast and returned the next day! Food was quality, service was phenomenal!”
A third said: “Have received excellent service. Amazing food plates. Every meal was different, give a try. You’ll enjoy it like us. Keep it up the good work!”