An American soldier and his friends on a holiday in Greece were shocked when a restaurant they were dining in charged them $935 for six plates of calamari, six beers, three salads, water, and tomato juice.
Francisco Tajeda, 38, from Brooklyn, told the media that he and his friends were on the beach when they were lured inside DK Oyster by a hostess promising special offers.
“Multiple times we asked for the menu, but she never brought one out,” Francisco told Daily Mail. “But we were very hungry so we ordered Caesar salads without seeing the prices.”
He said they were perplexed because the waitress told them she didn’t know the price and they were denied a menu even after asking for it multiple times.“After asking again for a menu to order mains but still not getting one, we thought the place seemed shady, so we said ‘let’s get another appetizer, finish this beer, and get out of here,'” said Tajeda, a soldier with New York’s 69th Infantry Regiment.
Tajeda shared his experience at the restaurant on Tripadvisor and asked people to avoid the place: “This place is a rip-off, look at the picture I posted. They charged us 830 euros for calamari, 6 beers, and 3 salads. The staff is not honest and refuse to provide a menu and prices. AVOID THIS PLACE AT ALL COST! No pun intended.”
“When the bill came I was like ’this is ridiculous, why on earth are we being charged this much?‘ The beer we couldn’t complain about too much, I’ve traveled a lot and sometimes beers can be expensive. But $600 for calamari we just couldn’t understand—it was unbelievable,’” he said.
He said although they were reluctant, they paid the bill because they wanted to avoid any conflict in a foreign land. However, when the interacted with the locals later they realized they had been duped.“The locals told us it was illegal, as the tax was not on the ticket–it was an illegal receipt. They told us we’d been scammed.
“We went to the police and made a report but we had to get on a plane back home a couple of hours later, so there wasn’t much we could do,” he said.
The restaurant’s owner, Dimitris Kalamaras, refuted the allegations and said their luxury surroundings justify their exorbitant prices.
“We regret the language of the person who posted this photo. Indeed, the prices are correct,” Dimitris Kalamaras told Daily Mail.
“Although we feel that they reflect the level of our efforts, care and the quality of the food served in one of the world’s most coveted beaches, we can sympathize with an unsatisfied customer,” he said.He said the restaurant values its customers and the costs are carefully accounted for.
“However, the word trap is not fair...Why is a luxury hotel allowed to charge 200-500 euros per night and nobody compares it to a room to let? Why does a customer of a small retailer pay for a jacket 50.00 euros and others charge up to thousands? Are we all criminals, thieves, bad people?” he said.
