Platanos cafe

Platanos Cafe sits in the mountain village of Filoti, on the road that winds between Naxos Town and Apiranthos, shaded by the large plane tree that gives the place its name. It is not a beachside tourist stop — it is where villagers, hikers coming down from Mount Zas, and road-trippers passing through the Tragaea plateau all end up at the same table. With a 4.6-star rating from over 2,100 Google reviews, the reputation has spread well beyond Filoti itself.

The backstory is unusual for a Greek mountain café. According to the owners, the family's pizza-making tradition began in Canada in the late 1960s, and that handmade dough and wood-fired technique came back to Naxos. The result is a menu that goes further than you might expect from a café under a plane tree.

What to Expect

The menu leans harder on food than the word "cafe" implies. Signature pizzas include one topped with Arseniko Naxou — the island's aged hard cheese — alongside Parma prosciutto and a three-cheese blend, and another with local chicken fillet, fresh mushrooms, and Naxos kefalograviera PDO. A chocolate pizza made in the traditional wood-fired oven rounds things out on the sweet side.

On the lighter end, the Filoti Salad combines xinomyzithra (Naxos sour fresh cheese), dakos, tomato, cucumber, onion, pepper, and olives. Fresh-pressed juices run to combinations like beetroot-apple-carrot and watermelon-pineapple-orange. Coffee is available from opening, and the bar side — cocktails included — runs until the small hours.

The setting under the plane tree, in a traditional village square, does a lot of the atmosphere work on its own.

How to Get There

Filoti sits roughly 18 km southeast of Naxos Town, on the provincial road toward Apiranthos (Epar.Od. Naxou-Apiranthou). By car, the drive from Naxos Town takes around 25 minutes via the Tragaea road, passing through Halki. Parking is available in and around the village square.

KTEL buses run from Naxos Town bus station (Chora) to Filoti on a regular schedule — the journey takes approximately 35–40 minutes. Check the current KTEL Naxos timetable before travelling, as schedules vary by season. The cafe is easy to find on foot from the bus stop: look for the plane tree in the central square.

For hikers, Filoti is the standard starting or finishing point for the ascent of Mount Zas (Zeus), the highest peak in the Cyclades. Platanos Cafe is a natural stop before or after the trail.

Best Time to Visit

The cafe opens at 8am every day and closes at 2am, making it functional across the full arc of a day out in the Naxos interior. Mornings are quieter and good for coffee before hiking. Lunchtimes in July and August can get busy, particularly on weekends when day-trippers from the coast come through the Tragaea. Evenings in the village are calm by coastal resort standards, and the square under the plane tree has a different quality once the heat drops.

Shoulder season — May, June, September, October — is when Filoti is most pleasant: comfortable temperatures, fewer crowds, and the surrounding Tragaea olive groves at their greenest or turning golden.

Tips for Visiting

• Phone ahead in peak season if you want a table during the midday rush: +30 2285 031038.
• The Filoti Salad uses xinomyzithra, a distinctly Naxian cheese — try it here if you haven't encountered it on the coast.
• Combine with Mount Zas: the trailhead is close to Filoti village; the round trip takes roughly 2.5–3 hours and the cafe is a natural reward at the end.
• Bring cash as backup — village establishments on Naxos sometimes have card reader issues, especially during busy periods.
• Wednesday happy hours are listed on the website with half-price wine bottles — worth timing a visit if you're flexible.
• Drive the full Tragaea loop: pair Platanos with a stop in Halki and a look at the Byzantine churches dotting the plateau on the way back to Chora.

What's Nearby

Filoti is the largest village in the Tragaea plateau and sits below Mount Zas (1,001 m), the highest point in the Cyclades. The Church of the Dormition of the Virgin (Kimisis tis Theotokou) is a notable landmark within the village. The road east from Filoti continues to Apiranthos, one of the most distinctive marble-paved villages on Naxos, worth combining into the same half-day circuit. Halki, 5 km west, has the Panagia Protothroni church and the Vallindras Citron Distillery — another stop with strong local-produce credentials.