Until very recently, Tinos was widely known for synonymous with Greece’s reverence for the Panagia (Virgin Mary) of Tinos church, with thousands of pilgrims visiting from around the world every August 15th. It wasn’t until the creation of the Tinos Food Paths group in 2015 that the island began to emerge as a prominent destination for outdoor activities – and consequently, the quality cuisine that hikers discovered along the way. Energetic and highly creative producers – dairy farms, small home businesses, wineries – along with cooking professionals, united and systematically showcased the unique products and distinctive local cuisine of the island.
The impressive gastronomic oeuvre of the island continues to be encouraged via initiatives by local and outside producers, chefs and restaurants. This year, for example, the Marathia restaurant is organising a four-day seminar with the participation of 15 chefs from all over Greece (Giannis Gavalas from Iraklia, Giannis Loukakis from Mourga Thessaloniki, Angelos Pagkalos from Serifos, Panagiotis Kastis from Leros). The chefs will be exchanging ideas, creating new dishes and flavours, and on the last day, will step into the kitchen and cook together, so as to bring the experience back to their own restaurants and make it the nucleus for the advancement of local cuisine.
Famous chefs who have visited and continue to visit Tinos are adding even more fantastic restaurants to the island’s exceptional list. Today, Tinos ranks among the top foodie destinations and is included among the most important gastronomic spots in the Aegean, while simultaneously maintaining its Greek, Cycladic culinary profile in a contemporary rendition.
The Restaurants Today
A characteristic of the rapid development of the island’s dining scene is compelling motion, with new restaurants emerging every year, replacing those that have closed. This summer, you can enjoy amazing wood-fired pizzas in Tinos at the sibling restaurant of the Italian Napul’é, led by Chef Maggy Tabakaki and the true Neapolitan, Francesco Ciccio. The restaurant will operate within the luxurious Aeolis Tinos Suites hotel in Triandaros, taking the place of the now-closed Zoga restaurant.
Additionally, you can order Greek delicacies from Chef Nasos Tzafalias at the new gastro-café Aganda, which opens where the Kapaki restaurant used to be, in the village square of Dyo Choria. Another new taverna is To Perivoli tis Kardianis, with a menu by Chef Dimitris Panagiotopoulos, a collaborator of the famous catering company Menoo by Giannis Platis. The promotion of local products has increased their demand and recognition, supported and encouraged local producers, and allowed restaurants to use them, creating inventive dishes.
Marathia
A pioneering restaurant in the evolution of the island’s gastronomy, created by Marinos Souranis, who was the first to seriously engage in fish maturation in Chora. The restaurant offers a sea view and a view of Chora, with service on a wooden deck above the waves. Talented Chef Michalis Marthas and Director Evripidis Apostolidis complete the team. The menu features dishes from local and Cycladic cuisine that flirt with fine dining concepts. Unique specialities include matured fish and avgotaraho (bottarga), as well as fish charcuterie like pastourmas and tuna bacon. Distinctive creations include tuna tartare with toasted bread, artichoke avgolemono, and oil flavoured with vine leaves, matured fish with burnt celery root cream, grilled wild plums, and leeks baked in the dough, a perfect smoked taramosalata, and a tart with Lemnos fava, cured mackarel, and sun-dried tomato jam.
Address: Tinos, Agios Fokas, Phone: +30 22830 23249, Website: www.marathiatinos.gr
Bianco Beach House Restaurant
A breezy dining spot with tables set right on the sand, a cosmopolitan environment and boho decor. Chef Ilias Kiazolis bases his menu on local products from small producers, creating a light and delicious menu. Signature dishes include risotto with spinach puree and sautéed baby calamari, catch of the day fish fricassee with seasonal greens, tart with cream made from Tinos cheeses, fried calamari with Tinos pork shoulder, and squid ink mayonnaise.
Address: Tinos, Vourni, Phone: +30 698 67 52 100, Instagram: www.instagram.com
Thalassaki
This fish restaurant boasts a unique atmosphere, with tables set on a pier right above the waves. Highly creative chef Antonia Zarpa cooks with a modern twist on local gastronomic tradition, focusing on seafood and fish while using local products (cheeses, artichokes, legumes) and vegetables from the restaurant’s garden. Try the artichoke salad with orange, wheat, and onion, or the grilled squid with taramosalata. An interesting move by Aris Tatsis—who runs the restaurant alongside Antonia—is the creation of a sub-menu with retsina wines on the wine list.
Address: Tinos, Ormos Ysternion, Phone: +30 22830 31366, Website: www.facebook.com
Itan Ena Mikro Karavi
Set in a beautiful courtyard shaded by a large vine, with an old hammam on the edge, a cellar and a tasting room. The owners, chef Antonis Psaltis and his sister Stamatoula, offer refined Tinian-Greek cuisine with local products: rabbit ravioli with stifado sauce, orzo with fish broth, saffron, and smoked eel, beetroot salad with couscous, yoghurt sauce with garlic and mint oil, grilled calamari with fava, an oven-baked kid with potatoes roasted with rosemary, aubergine salad with tahini and sour cheese, grouper with lemon zest, and fish soup.
Address: Tinos, Chora, Trion Ierarchon, Phone: +30 22830 22818, Website: www.mikrokaravi.com
Kalopsia
Perched by the sea in a comfortable space with elegant decoration featuring wood and earthy colours. Famous chef Giorgos Stylianoudakis creates delicious Greek cuisine with a contemporary flair while honouring Cretan gastronomic traditions, by proposing some emblematic dishes in his own version. Standout dishes include fish fricassee, artichoke tart, free-range chicken with okra, Cretan beef rib stifado, Cretan pan-fried lamb chops, and artichoke risotto with lamb.
Address: Tinos, Stavrou-Kionion Ave., Phone: +30 22830 25855, Website: www.facebook.com
Kounaria
A family taverna in an old two-story house. Tables are set in the square of Agios Ioannis and on the covered upstairs veranda with stunning mountain views of Exombourgo. Josephine Rouggeri cooks homemade, traditional Tinian food, using almost exclusively local products. Distinctive dishes include artichoke pie, fennel fritters, veal stifado, and oven-baked aubergines with tomato sauce and cheese. Additionally, spicy Tinian pork sausage and Tinian louza.
Address: Tinos, Aetofolia, Tripotamou-Kalloni Provincial Road, Phone: +30 22830 51777, +30 69787 95196, Website: kounaria.gr
Apodrasi
A picturesque family taverna since 1996, with views of the surrounding mountains and a vast cobblestone courtyard featuring a wooden shade and surrounded by trees. Owner Kostas Alvertis offers traditional cuisine with family-sourced meats (goat, lamb, pork) and vegetables from their garden. They also produce their own sausages and louzes. Standout dishes include the local fourtalia omelette with sausage and syglino or vegetables, oven-baked kid with artichoke purée and potatoes, and lamb chops.
Address: Tinos, Steni, Phone: +30 22830 41934, Website: apodrasitinos.com
San to Alati
Located almost next to the beach with panoramic sea views extending to Delos and Mykonos. The menu features Greek dishes with strong Tinian elements, created by Vasilis Plakias and his wife Maria. You can try the characteristic Tinian cheese ‘kariki’, artichoke pie with local artichokes, carrot and courgette, quince stewed with celery, cod fricassee, fried calamari with yoghurt, grilled sardines with caper salad and caper oil-lemon dressing.
Address: Tinos, Agios Fokas Beach, Phone: +30 22830 29266, Website: www.facebook.com
O Dinos
A two-level family taverna with a stunning sea view extending to Syros and a beautiful sunset. The menu is mainly seafood-based with some traditional meat dishes. Owner Antonis Vambakaris prepares, among many other things, chickpea fricassee with spinach, lettuce, pepper, and lemon, stewed quince with rosemary, lemony goat, and shrimp pasta (white and with tomato sauce). Fish comes from the fishing boats of Tinos and Andros, while beef, goat, and vegetables are sourced from the island.
Address: Tinos, Giannaki Bay, Kardiani, Phone: +30 22830 31673, Website: www.facebook.com
Pastry Shops and Their Sweets
Apart from delicious dishes, Tinos offers some of the most refined sweets in the Cyclades. The most characteristic and beloved dessert of the island is “lychnarakia” or “tsimpita“. These are open-faced sweet cheese pies filled with “petroma” cheese flavoured with cinnamon and clove. The filling is enclosed in a very thin dough that is folded into several layers. Almond-flavoured cookies with flower water and bitter almond, “psarakia” (Christmas sweets with walnut, spices, and honey), and diamond-shaped sesame cookies (traditionally served at weddings on lemon leaves) are three other charming Tinian sweets.
Here are some of the best pastry shops to visit for your sweet craving:
Chalaris
The first pastry shop of the Chalaris family opened in 1923, offering cookies, sweet rusks, Politiko samali (a type of semolina cake), and Tinian seven-yeast rusks. Here, you will find all the famous Tinian traditional sweets: almond sweets, “lychnarakia”, “psarakia”, halva pies, pasteli, mantolato, as well as classic Greek sweets: baklava, galaktoboureko, kourabiedes, and melomakarona (all year round), pastes, cakes, spoon sweets, and jams.
Address: Tinos, Chora, Taxiarchon 12, Phone: +30 22830 25087 and +30 22830 23274 & at Evangelistrias 3, +30 22830 23350
Mesklies
The family-run pastry workshop, operating since 1975, prepares amazingly refined “lychnarakia”. Additionally, they offer wonderful almond sweets and delicious handmade ice cream.
Address: Tinos Beach, Phone: +30 22830 22151, +30 22830 22874
Kalais Aperitivo Bar
A charming all-day bar located in the square, offering seating under the shade of broad plane trees. Visitors mainly come for the unique desserts made here, starring one of the island’s most famous vegetables, the artichoke: there’s artichoke cake and the establishment’s signature artichoke ice cream parfait, as well as baklava, and kataifi ekmek, all featuring artichoke. These delicacies are offered alongside a variety of cocktails, food, and coffee, as well as a classic molten chocolate cake and a cheesecake.
Address: Tinos, Komi, Phone: 22830 51212
O megalos Kafenes ‘The Big Café’
This century-old café-meze shop, puts out tables in the village’s central square, under the huge plane tree. Its absolute specialty is the sublime galaktoboureko (a light delight filled with rich cream in a transparently thin pastry). The café starts the day with breakfast and serves small dishes as the hours go by. Other delicious sweets offered include orange pie, kataifi ekmek, and walnut pie.
Address: Tinos, Pyrgos, Phone: 22830 31647
Serano
Situated at the old port of the island, Serano boasts panoramic sea views and tables on the sheltered cobblestone pavement. Operating since 1971, it offers good food (including Italian dishes), but it’s also very well known for its handmade, super-light, leavened doughnuts with a hole in the middle. Available with honey and cinnamon, chocolate, or ice cream.
Address: Tinos, Old Port, Phone: 22830 23011
Read also:
Tinos, Home to the Cyclades’ best Villages, is Ideal for Exploration beyond Summer
Volax: Spring escape in the mountainous village with the lunar landscape, on Tinos, in the Aegean
