Skopelos food is rooted in local production: island-made cheese, Skopelos plums (the island’s most distinctive agricultural product), fresh Aegean fish, and olive oil from the island’s groves. Eating well here requires less effort than on more tourist-heavy islands — the tavernas serve real food because the ingredients are real.
The Skopelos cheese pie
Skopelos tiropita — cheese pie — is the island’s defining dish. The Skopelos version is shaped as a spiral coil rather than the triangle or rectangle found elsewhere in Greece, and is filled with a mixture of local cheeses (typically feta and a fresh unsalted cheese called anthotyros), egg, and sometimes herbs. Every bakery and many tavernas serve it, but the best versions come from the small bakeries in Chora’s old town and from Glossa’s village bakery, where they’re made fresh from early morning. Eat it warm, ideally with a coffee, as breakfast or mid-morning snack.
Skopelos plums
The island grows a specific variety of plum that’s been cultivated here for centuries. The plums are eaten fresh in late summer, but more significantly they’re dried to produce prunes that appear in local cooking — with pork, with lamb, in sweet preserves, and in tarts. The plum harvest in late August creates a particular seasonal quality to the island. Look for jarred plum preserves and dried prunes at local shops — they’re among the best food souvenirs.
Fresh fish and seafood
Agnontas harbour-front tavernas serve fish that came off local boats the same morning. The standard of the fish is high; the preparation is simple — grilled, with olive oil and lemon. Octopus is typically dried on lines at Chora’s tavernas, grilled, and served with ouzo or wine. Grilled squid, sea urchin roe (in season), and small fried fish (marida) are other reliable options. The best fish tavernas are at Agnontas and along the port promenade in Chora.
What to drink
Local Skopelos wine production is small-scale — look for it at the island’s delis and the Apivita shop. Ouzo accompanies seafood; tsipouro (grape marc spirit) accompanies meze. The island’s cafes open from early morning for Greek coffee (served thick and sweet in the traditional style, or medium, or without sugar — specify when ordering) and continue through the day.
In This Section
- Tavernas — The best places to eat in Chora, Agnontas, and Glossa — what to order and when to book.
- Local food — Cheese pies, Skopelos plums, olive oil, honey — a guide to what’s genuinely local.
- Bars — Harbour bars, beach sundowners at Kastani, and rebetika music on weekend evenings.