I kali kardia (Mpochoris - apo to 1920)

I Kali Kardia — known locally by the family name Mpochoris, or Bohoris — has been feeding islanders and visitors from the same address in Kimolos Chorio since 1920. That makes it one of the longest-running tavernas in the Cyclades, now into its fourth generation of family ownership and still working from the original recipes.

The restaurant sits on the main road through Kimolos Chorio, the island's compact capital, at an elevation that puts it a short walk from the windmills and the Venetian kastro quarter. With a rating of 4.1 across more than 1,150 Google reviews, it is consistently the most-reviewed dining spot on an island that receives a fraction of the tourist traffic of its neighbours Milos and Sifnos. That volume of feedback from a small island says something real about repeat visits and word-of-mouth.

The place operates as both a traditional taverna and an all-day cafe, opening at 6 AM and running through to midnight every day of the week. That unusually long window means it covers breakfast coffee and pastry, a proper midday meal, and evening dining under the same roof.

What to Expect

The interior is fitted with traditional wooden tables and, according to the website, air-conditioned rooms — useful context on a Cycladic island where August afternoons can be punishing. The atmosphere is a working taverna rather than a polished tourist restaurant: expect local families at lunch, ferry passengers stopping in before the boat to Milos, and the kind of noise that comes from a place that takes itself seriously as a neighbourhood institution rather than a backdrop for photographs.

The kitchen's stated philosophy is consistent use of the same recipes and local raw materials since 1920. On a small island like Kimolos, that claim carries more weight than it might elsewhere — supply chains are short, and a family with a century of local ties would have access to island-grown produce, local dairy, and seafood landed at the port below. The menu covers the broad register of traditional Greek taverna cooking: cooked dishes (mayirefta), grills, salads, and mezedes, prepared from scratch rather than reheated. As a breakfast restaurant, it also serves early-morning coffee and food for those catching the first ferry or heading out to the island's beaches before the heat builds.

The terrace or outdoor seating, positioned on the Chorio's main road, gives a view over the village rooftops toward the sea — a practical advantage on a clear evening.

How to Get There

Kimolos Chorio is the only real settlement on the island and is reached by a short road from Psathi port, where the ferry from Milos docks. The port-to-Chorio road takes roughly 10 minutes on foot or 2–3 minutes by car. Kali Kardia is on the main road through the Chorio, making it hard to miss once you are in the village.

There is no bus network on Kimolos in the conventional sense, but taxis and small vehicles operate between Psathi and Chorio. If you arrive by ferry, drivers offering lifts up to the Chorio are usually present at the port. Parking in the Chorio is informal but generally available near the main road. The restaurant is accessible on foot from anywhere in the village.

Best Time to Visit

Kimolos receives the bulk of its visitors between late June and early September, when the island fills up relative to its small accommodation stock. During peak season, lunch at a well-known taverna with over 1,100 reviews should be treated like any popular island restaurant: arrive before 1 PM or after 2:30 PM to avoid the busiest period. The 6 AM opening makes it a genuine option for early breakfast before a beach day or before boarding the ferry.

Shoulder season — May, June, and September — is when Kimolos is at its most relaxed. The restaurant is open year-round in some capacity, though hours and full menu availability in the off-season are worth confirming directly, since the island's population drops sharply once the summer ends. The meltemi wind picks up through July and August on the western Cyclades; evenings on a covered terrace are generally the most comfortable time for a long meal.

Tips for Visiting

• Book or arrive early in high season. With over 1,100 reviews, this is the island's most prominent dining name. Tables fill during the July–August peak.
• Use the early opening for breakfast. The 6 AM start is not common among Cycladic tavernas. If you have a morning ferry or want coffee before heading to the beaches at Prassa or Aliki, this is a reliable option.
• Call ahead for large groups. The phone number is +30 2287 051495. On a small island, a group booking at short notice during peak season can be difficult without prior contact.
• Ask about the daily cooked dishes. Traditional Greek tavernas serve mayirefta — oven-cooked dishes made in the morning — which often run out by mid-afternoon. Arriving at lunch gives you the full range.
• The restaurant is on the main village road. If you are arriving by foot from the kastro or the windmills, you will pass it naturally. Use it as a landmark when orientating yourself in the Chorio.
• Check the website for seasonal updates. The official site is kalikardia-kimolos.com, which should carry any changes to hours or closure periods during the off-season.
• Kimolos is a quiet island. Dining here is not the same experience as eating at a busy Mykonos taverna. The pace is slower, service is personal, and the clientele is a mix of Greeks and experienced island-hoppers rather than mass-market tourists.

What to Order

The menu has not been published in the research available, but the taverna's century-old recipes and local sourcing point toward the standard strengths of traditional Cycladic cooking. Expect fresh fish and seafood when available — Kimolos is a small fishing island, and the port at Psathi lands catch regularly. Slow-cooked meat dishes, particularly lamb and goat, are typical of island tavernas in this part of the Cyclades. Local cheese, particularly the Cycladic fresh cheeses related to those made on nearby Milos and Sifnos, would be a reasonable expectation on a mezedes plate.

Kimolos is known among Greek food writers for its own variety of soft white cheese, sometimes compared to a fresh myzithra. If the kitchen sources locally, a dish featuring island dairy is worth asking about. The all-day cafe function also suggests a range of Greek coffee preparations, pastries, and light snacks available outside the main meal windows.

For the most current menu and prices, the restaurant's website or a direct call will give you accurate information before your visit.

History and Context

Four generations of the same family running a taverna in the same village is not a common claim even in Greece, where family businesses in the food trade are the norm rather than the exception. The 1920 founding date places the origin of Kali Kardia in the interwar period, when Kimolos was a functioning mining island — cimolite, a white clay used in ancient times as a bleaching agent, gave the island its name — and the Chorio was the social and commercial centre of a self-contained community with limited outside contact.

The Mpochoris (Bohoris) family name attached to the restaurant is a form of local identity that persists in the Greek tradition of calling an establishment by the family that runs it as much as by its official name. "Kali Kardia" translates directly as "good heart" — a name that functions as both a sentiment and a signal of the kind of hospitality the place aims to project.

Over the course of a century, the restaurant would have served Kimolos through the disruptions of the Second World War and the German occupation of the Cyclades, the postwar decline of the island's mining economy, and the eventual slow growth of island tourism from the 1980s onward. That continuity, in a village whose permanent population is counted in the hundreds, gives the place a social function that extends beyond food.