Earlier this year, a woman got more than what she bargained for when she went to the DK Oyster Bar in Greece. Overpriced lemonade, which was not just very expensive for what is was, but also it was extremely bitter and inedible - no good lemonade, including and especially freshly made lemonade should taste like this.
But she is not the only one - there are many, many complaints about this restaurant across sites such as Google Reviews, trip advisor, Foursquare and others. In fact, there have been so many complaints about the restaurant in relation to scammy behavior, that TripAdvisor issued a scam warning about the premise.
This is the first restaurant - or indeed business - on TripAdvisor I have come across with a scam warning attached to it's page after the page received massive complaints about overpriced (and in some cases, poor quality food as well). This is very telling - given that this warning is rarely issued to users of TripAdvisor. Just last year, the restaurant was slapped with a 30,000 euro fine ($52,780.80 NZD) after ripping off two American tourists, after 7 or 8 violations were found. The restaurant has been involved in one or more court cases, which is also not a surprise after all.
The restaurant currently is sitting at a two star review on TripAdvisor - which is not a good look for any hospitality business with this sort of review. I've read articles of restaurant owners not paying the minimum wage, or bars where owners like Leo Molloy is a known homophobic, and I've definitely watched Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares where in some cases bad food not just tastes disgusting - but can send people to the hospital as well - but none of these cut the fact that this restaurant overcharges for food and drink - and this is not the only issue with them. The staff are reportedly very rude, and at worst, threatening and intimidating towards customers, and the male staff reportedly dress up like gang members and the female staff are in bikinis. While the bikini part is actually, to be fair, not an issue as in such given some hospitality businesses also have female staff dressed in revealing, partially nude or even without clothing at all, the male staff dressing up like gang members is an issue, because gangs around the world are known for violence, crime, and intimidating behavior.
The food and drink at the restaurant has mixed reviews, with many saying that it is just average, and some saying that the food is bad, with the customers being asked to pay way more than the fixed price on the menu, for just average and/or low quality food and/or drinks.
Also, when people leave genuine negative reviews on the page, the owner of DK Oyster Bar leaves a nasty and a rude response to customers who were upset by the overpriced food, the rude staff and also mediocre food/drinks. This is not professional behavior you would expect from an owner of a business.
One unhappy customer stated one of the staff attempted to steal their daughter's phone, (archive here for permanent evidence of attempted theft) while others have been subject to violence, others have been harassed into ordering and eating more food against their will and others were forced to order more alcohol, potentially making them drunk. The reviews about the drinks were also not good, especially with the wine and the cocktails.
Furthermore, Mykonos has plenty of restaurants - all of them surrounding DK Mykonos are packed, or almost packed (depending on the day of the week, as people need to work and during normal days when almost everyone is at work or school, it is not so busy), except DK Oyster bar itself, as shown in the footage below, it is empty with not a single person in sight. This is a huge red flag - this indicates the restaurant is up to no good.
Even Karen's Diner doesn't sink to this level - while the staff are known for being "rude", it is purposely done for pure entertainment. The chain restaurant is known for hilariously rude staff, which attracts customers who want some entertainment. Moreover - Karen's Diner doesn't charge for food and drink for the same price you could buy a Kenzo jacket or a small Ferragamo bag for. (The average price for a small Ferragamo bag is between $1000 - $2000NZD, while a Kenzo jacket varies in price between $500 upwards to a couple of thousand dollars). Also unlike DY Oyster Bar, Karen's Diner actually has some house rules in place, banning any kind of racism, abusive or other forms of hateful behavior.
I can only hope that things can improve by either the restaurant's manager, owner and staff changing their attitudes and cleaning up their act, or that the police and authorities actually step in and intervene by imposing criminal charges for scamming, fraud, violence, hate crimes, and reputational damage to Mykonos. These penalties can include massive fines, jail time (especially for owner and managers), order the closure of the business, OR order the business to be transferred to another person who has the capability to run it and make the place a good one. In the meantime, their liquor licenses should be suspended, given it is a very unsafe and a hostile environment for patrons, and serving alcohol to anyone at this restaurant can make things worse.
Verdict: Mykonos is an extremely beautiful area in Greece with lots of good hospitality areas. Unfortunately though, this one restaurant - DK Oyster bar - can ruin a person's time in Mykonos, or even the whole of their trip overall. Mykonos is a place worth visiting if you haven't already - but it has been placed in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, because of this restaurant. Please avoid this restaurant at all costs unless you want to pay for substandard or even bad food - at the cost of 10 bungy jumps, or 1 small designer bag, or even a flight ticket to a long distance country or a very exquisite and an expensive meal at fine dining restaurants at places such as the Savoy in London - or be harassed, intimidated by staff, or even become the subject of violence, or have your phone or other valuables stolen from you by a staff member. This is not a fine dining restaurant, and never will be - unless things change and the restaurant improves. If you are willing to splurge out on good food, please do your research on restaurants and places to eat, there are plenty of good restaurants in Mykonos that doesn't overcharge for extremely bad food, or have very rude staff that will harass, intimidate, bully, blackmail, coerce or threaten you. And remember that intimidating behavior, harassment (including blackmail, threats and coercion), sexism, gender based violence (or other types of violence), theft of customers' personal possessions is not professional behavior from the staff. In fact, these are actually criminal acts, some of them are hate crimes, others are violent offences and theft, and all can actually be prosecutable under the law.
There are many restaurants to choose from in Mykonos - and they serve great food and drinks, and the staff are nice to you. If you do choose to go for a very expensive fine dining one, there are plenty of options there too. Just do your research, look out for red flags and warning signs that a restaurant is up to no good, and if you have a budget, stick to it. The same applies for any hospitality precinct all over the world, including New Zealand (we do have a fair share of bad restaurants, including the ones owned by Roberto and Danny Jaz - both of them are brothers, in which they sexually assaulted and raped patrons at the former bar, Mama Hooch). When you pick a good restaurant with good ratings and and lots of people dine there, you know you are safe, and also likely to have a good time at that restaurant.
I highly encourage everyone to not only avoid this restaurant, but share this blog and also news articles about the restaurant to friends, family and followers on any social media platform. I don't want anyone getting scammed by DK Mykonos.
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AuthorI'm Natalie Dunn, who is an adrenaline junkie with a great sense of adventure. I have a huge passion for food and drinks and love trying out new things - in addition to my favorite food and drinks. I love to review restaurants, food and drinks, as well as the local markets. ArchivesCategories
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