Help & how it works

Joining CyprusBites

A name, an email address, and a password are all you need to get started. Membership is free and stays free, so the island can remember your details, favorites, bookings, Bites, and card.

What you do

1. Open MyPlate and choose Join
2. Give your name, email and a password
3. Add your mobile and type in the code we text you
4. Save two or three places you already love

Confirm your mobile number while you are there, because a venue answers a booking with a confirmed number faster than one without.

My plate, everything that is yours

One page for everything you have going on. What is in flight right now, the places you saved, the meals you recorded, your Bites, your badges and how reliably you turn up.

What you do

1. Open My plate from the menu
2. Read the top band for anything waiting on you
3. Use the tabs to reach your card, bookings, parties and stays

If something is waiting on you rather than on a venue, it shows up here first, so this is the page worth opening before you go anywhere else.

Save places you love

Tap the heart on any place to save it to your plate. Your favourites also quietly teach the app your taste, so your matches get sharper over time.

What you do

1. Tap the heart on a card or profile
2. Find them later under My plate
3. Tap again to remove

Saving a few places you already love is the quickest way to improve your recommendations.

Your taste profile

As you favourite, visit and book, we build a private taste profile, the cuisines, moods and price levels you lean toward. It powers the taste part of your match score and stays yours to see and edit.

What you do

1. Open My plate then Taste
2. See the traits we have learned
3. Adjust anything that does not feel like you

The more you use the app, the more personal your matches become.

Private notes and your own ratings

Keep a note on any venue that nobody else can read, and rate a visit for your own records. It is the detail you will want next year and will certainly have forgotten.

What you do

1. Open a venue and press Private note
2. Write what you want to remember
3. Rate a visit from My plate to keep your own score of it

A note is not a review, so write the practical things, where to park and what to order, that a public review would never carry.

Food passport and badges

Collect badges as you explore Cyprus, traditional taverns, seafood, coffee culture and more. It is a fun record of where you have been and nudges you toward parts of the island you have not tried.

What you do

1. Check in where you eat to earn stamps
2. Open My plate then Passport to see your badges
3. Chase the ones you are close to unlocking

Some badges reward variety, try a village tavern or a winery to round yours out.

Reviews and nudges

Now and then we ask how a recent visit was, or send a small offer from a place you love. It is only ever somewhere you favourited or checked into, it is capped so it never spams you, and a quick review helps other food-lovers, and the venue, a lot.

What you do

1. Open the notification from a place you visited
2. Leave a quick star rating and a line or two
3. Your review goes live after a quick check

Not in the mood? You can mute these anytime in your notification settings.

How was it? Six taps instead of a blank box

The morning after a table you actually sat at, we ask six quick questions. From your answers we write a sentence, show it to you, and only publish it once you have read it and are happy.

What you do

1. Open the How was it letter the morning after
2. Answer the six questions, a tap each
3. Read the sentence we wrote from them
4. Edit anything that is not quite right, then send

The star rating is worked out from your answers rather than asked for, so one person's four and another person's five finally mean the same thing.

Your own little address book

The people you keep inviting, saved once. It means a group order, a party invitation or a Gather goes out without you digging through your phone every time.

What you do

1. Open My plate then My contacts
2. Add a name with an email or a mobile
3. Pick them from the list the next time you invite anyone

Save a contact with a mobile number as well as an email, because an invitation to a group order that is closing in an hour is better read as a text.

Your details and what we may send you

Your name, the name that appears on your reviews, the language you read the site in, your password and your email address. The same page holds the two switches for whether we may write to you at all.

What you do

1. Open My plate then My details
2. Change what you need and save
3. Tick or untick the newsletter and the offers by text
4. Changing your email needs your password and a click in the new inbox

Unticking offers by text silences every campaign at once, because that one switch is read everywhere the platform decides whether it may text you.

Confirming your mobile number

One screen, one field. We text you a code, you type it in, and from then on your number carries a tick that venues can see and trust.

What you do

1. Open Confirm your mobile from My plate
2. Check the number and correct it if it is wrong
3. Type in the code we texted you
4. Ask for a new code if the message never arrived

Table confirmations by text only go to a confirmed number, so an unconfirmed one quietly costs you the are you still coming message.

Asking us something

Open a ticket and the whole conversation stays in one place, on the site and in your email. A real person answers, and you can rate the answer when it is done.

What you do

1. Open My plate then My tickets
2. Press New ticket and describe what happened
3. Reply in the thread, or just reply to our email
4. Rate the answer once it is sorted

Replying to our email lands in the same thread, so you never have to come back to the site to continue a conversation.

The assistant, for how does this work questions

A help assistant that answers based on what CyprusBites actually does, not guesswork. If it cannot answer, it hands you to a real person instead of inventing something.

What you do

1. Open Help and ask your question in plain words. Read the answer and the pages it points you to. Say it did not help, and it offers you a ticket instead

Ask it in whichever of the four languages you use, because it answers in the language you asked in.

Reporting a review or anything else

If something published on CyprusBites should not be there, report it. You get a reference, a private status page, and a decision with a reason, whether or not you have an account.

What you do

1. Open Report a concern from the page in question
2. Say what the content is and why it is a problem
3. Keep the reference you are given
4. Open your reference later to see where it got to

Describe what is wrong rather than how you feel about it, because a specific reason is what lets a decision be made quickly.

What we keep, and how to be counted out

We do not sell your data and we show no third-party advertising. Google Analytics only runs if you accept cookies, our own visit counter never leaves CyprusBites, and there is a page that opts you out of even that.

What you do

1. Decline the non-essential cookies if you would rather not be measured
2. Open Do not track me to be left out of our own counter
3. Read the privacy policy for the full list of what we hold

Opting out of the counter costs you nothing on the site, because none of your favourites, bookings or Bites depend on it.

Leaving, and taking your account with you

You can delete your account whenever you like. It happens in the app under You, then Delete account, or by writing to us, and it asks for your password first because it cannot be undone.

What you do

1. Open You in the app, then Delete account
2. Read what goes, and type your password to confirm
3. Or email help@cyprusbites.com and ask us to do it

If you only want the messages to stop, untick the newsletter and the offers by text in My details instead, and keep everything else.

Is CyprusBites working?

One page that says plainly whether table requests, takeaway orders, alerts to venues and email are working right now. It updates itself, and it is honest when it cannot tell.

What you do

1. Open Service status
2. Read the line for the thing you were trying to do
3. Open a ticket if the page says everything is fine and your thing is not

It is never cached, so a reload is a fresh answer rather than the answer from ten minutes ago.

Why there is no commission here

Delivery apps in Cyprus can charge up to thirty percent on each order. As a result, venues have increased their prices to cope with these fees, which means you've essentially been paying that surcharge all along. In contrast, CyprusBites does not take any commission from the food, allowing some venues to offer you lower prices instead.

What you do

1. Order takeaway ahead and collect it, and pay the venue directly
2. Look for Members save, which is the saving handed to you
3. Read How it works or the manifesto for the whole argument

A venue that gives members a lower takeaway price does move up a little in results, and that is the only thing on this platform that can move a venue up at all.

Search that forgives your spelling

One search box for the whole island. It finds venues of every kind, towns and districts, and our guides and articles, and it copes with the fact that Cyprus names can be spelled five ways.

What you do

1. Press the magnifier in the menu, or the Search tab in the app
2. Type part of a name, a town or a dish
3. Pick from the grouped results

Fewer letters beat more, because the search is built to forgive a wrong letter and cannot forgive a word you invented.

Your match score

The coloured ring on every place is how well it fits you right now, your mood and taste, plus the moment, how far it is, whether it is open, the weather, and your budget. Higher means a better fit for you, not just a better rating.

What you do

1. Open any restaurant or cafe
2. Look for the coloured ring on the card or profile
3. Tap the ring to see the reasons behind the score

The reasons under the score tell you why it matched, read them to learn what to tweak next time.

Search by how you feel, not just cuisine

The Concierge lets you pick a mood or occasion, long lazy lunch, first date, quick solo bite, and matches the table to it. It is the fastest way to find the right place when you know the feeling but not the name.

What you do

1. Open Concierge from the top menu
2. Pick a mood, party size and budget
3. Get a shortlist ranked by match, with the reasons shown

Combine a mood with a filter like sea view or outdoor to narrow it fast.

Hidden gems

Places that locals rate highly but tourists rarely find. We surface quality that is not yet crowded, so you can beat the queue and eat where Cypriots actually eat.

What you do

1. Look for the gem marker on cards
2. Open Explore to browse them by area
3. Check again before a trip, because gems change

Gems change as places get discovered, check back before a trip.

The island by kind of place

Restaurants are only the start. Cafes, bars, beaches, things to see, wineries, bakeries, caterers, party venues and places to stay each have their own door, with filters that suit that kind of place.

What you do

1. Open Explore from the menu
2. Pick the kind of place you want
3. Filter by district, town or what matters for that kind

Each kind has its own address, so /beaches or /cafes is one step rather than three, and worth bookmarking for the one you use most.

The map, and gathering a shortlist on it

The whole island on one map. Pan, zoom, tap a pin to read a place, and gather the ones you like into a shortlist you can open side by side or share as a link.

What you do

1. Open the map from the menu
2. Tap pins to read places without leaving the map
3. Add the good ones to your shortlist
4. Open the shortlist to see them together

The shortlist lives in the link itself, so you can send it to somebody with no account and they see exactly what you see.

Two places, side by side

When it is down to two, put them next to each other. Their character, price level, signals and opening hours in one view, so the decision is a reading rather than a hunch.

What you do

1. Open Compare from the menu
2. Type both names, or press Compare on a venue page
3. Read the two columns and pick one

You can type the start of a name rather than all of it, in either alphabet, and it resolves the venue for you.

Menus, in your own language

Many venues have their full menu on CyprusBites, with prices, on its own page. Where the venue has one, you read it in English, Greek, German or Russian without the venue printing a thing.

What you do

1. Open a venue and press Menu
2. Switch language from the menu if you want to
3. Look for the date the menu was last checked

The menu page carries when it was last checked, so you can see for yourself how fresh the prices are before you plan around them.

The little badges on a venue

The small marks on a venue card are what that venue can actually do for you. Each one is switched on by the venue itself, so it is a promise rather than a description.

What you do

1. Look at the badge row on a card or venue page
2. Open the one you want, the badge is the door to it
3. If a badge is absent, the venue does not offer that yet

A badge that is missing is information too, because no venue is ever shown with a badge it has not switched on.

Why the reviews here are worth reading

Every review says whether we saw the visit. Nobody is paid or rewarded for writing one. And no venue can pay for a higher place anywhere on CyprusBites, which is checked by the code every time a release is built.

What you do

1. Look for the proof mark beside a review
2. Read Was there as the strongest, Checked in as the weakest
3. Open the Trust page for the six promises in full

Sort your reading by the proof mark rather than by the star count, because an arrival-proven three is worth more than an unproven five.

Surprise me

For the evening when nobody will choose. One press and you land on a real place, picked at random out of the strongest matches for right now, with the reasons it was chosen still showing.

What you do

1. Press Surprise me
2. Read why it was picked
3. Press it again if that one is not the night

It only ever draws from places that fit you and are open now, so pressing it three times is three genuine options rather than three strangers.

What Cyprus is craving

The dishes and places people search for across the island and cannot find, drawn from real searches. If one of them is yours, ask to be told the moment it opens.

What you do

1. Open What Cyprus is craving
2. Filter to your district
3. Claim the craving that is yours
4. Confirm the email we send, and we will tell you when it appears

You have to confirm the email before we will ever write to you about it, so check for that one message or the alert never starts.

Your CyprusBites card

You will receive one card you can use throughout the island, but each venue will have its own balance. When you make a purchase, simply show the card, and the cost of your meal will be charged to it. Please note that the points you collect belong to the venue that issued them, so they stay at that location and cannot be converted to cash.

What you do

1. Open My plate then My card
2. Show the card when you pay, or read out your member number
3. Watch each venue's balance build on the same page
4. Add it to Apple Wallet where that button is offered

There is intentionally no total, as points from one venue cannot be combined with points from another, making a combined total meaningless.

Stamp cards, and nothing to type

At a cafe, a bakery or a bar your card is usually a stamp card. Buy nine, the tenth is free. You scan the card on the counter, press one button, and that is the whole of it.

What you do

1. Scan the printed card on the counter
2. Look at the dots to see where you stand
3. Press Collect my stamp
4. When a card is full, press it again to take the free one

One stamp per visit, and the amount does not matter, so a long black and a round for six both earn exactly one.

Points cards, and the one number you type

At a restaurant your card usually gives points, because the bill varies. If you are recording the meal yourself from the counter card, you type what you paid, and the venue gets to see it and refuse it.

What you do

1. Scan the printed card on the counter
2. Type what you paid, for example 24.60
3. Press Add it to my card
4. Check My card to see it arrive

Put in the real amount, because the venue reads what you typed on their own screen and a number that does not match their till is simply refused.

Your member number

Ten digits on the front of your card. The QR answers a camera, the number answers a person. It is what you read out when nobody can scan, and what a venue asks for when a rate belongs to you rather than to the bill.

What you do

1. Find the number on your card under My plate
2. Read it out when a till has no camera
3. Give it when a venue asks who the student rate is for

The last digit is a check digit, so a number typed wrong at a till is refused on the spot rather than quietly finding a stranger.

Check in to earn Bites

Bites are the reward currency you earn just for eating out. Check in when you are sitting at the table of a member venue and you collect Bites you can later spend on real treats.

What you do

1. Sit down at a member venue
2. Open the venue and tap Check in
3. Confirm, your Bites are added to your balance

Check in only works at the venue, so it stays honest, do it once you are actually there.

Spend your Bites on real treats

Turn Bites into actual things, a coffee, a dessert, sometimes a whole course, funded by venues that want to meet you. Browse the rewards, pick one you can afford, and show the code at the table.

What you do

1. Open Rewards from the menu
2. Pick a reward within your balance
3. Show the code to staff to redeem

Welcome treats near you are the easiest first redemption, look for the location marker.

Legend status

Regulars who check in often unlock Legend status for a while, a small thank-you that can mean better rewards and recognition at the places you support.

What you do

1. Keep checking in where you eat
2. Watch your status on My plate
3. Keep a steady rhythm rather than one big month

Consistency matters more than volume, a steady rhythm keeps your status warm.

Your weekly streak

Check in at least once in a week and the streak continues. From the second week onward, the first check-in of each new week carries a small bonus on top of the Bites you already earned.

What you do

1. Check in once in any week to start a streak
2. Check in again the following week to extend it
3. See the number of weeks on My plate

Only the first check-in of a week extends it, so a busy Saturday does not buy you next week off.

Bring a friend, both get Bites

Your own invite link sits on My plate. Share it, and when the person who joined on it checks in somewhere for the first time, you both get Bites.

What you do

1. Copy your invite link from My plate
2. Send it to somebody who eats out
3. They join and then check in once
4. The Bites land for both of you

Tell them the second half, because the Bites only arrive once they have actually been somewhere and checked in.

Comeback Passes

Some venues hand you a return perk at the bill. Claim it to your account and it lives in your passes with the reward, the venue, the code and how long is left, so it cannot be lost.

What you do

1. Open the Comeback Pass link the venue gave you
2. Sign in to claim it to your account
3. Find it later under My plate then Comeback Passes
4. Show it on your next visit for the venue to scan

Claim it the day you get it, because the claim link is one-time and the pass only becomes permanently yours once it is on your account.

The Student Club

Verify once with your university email address and you get a Student Card. Venues in the club give verified students at least fifteen percent off takeaway, honoured against your card.

What you do

1. Open My plate then Student Club
2. Give your university email address
3. Type in the code we send to that inbox
4. Show your Student Card, or give your member number, when you order

Cards expire every thirty-first of October, so verify again at the start of each academic year and graduates age out by themselves.

Book a table

Request a table straight from a venue that takes bookings. The venue confirms, and you get a booking with a code. On arrival the venue marks you there, which can also earn you Bites.

What you do

1. Open a venue and tap Reserve
2. Pick date, time and party size
3. Wait for confirmation then show your code on arrival

Add a note for anything special, a birthday, a quiet corner, a high chair.

Order takeaway and walk in

Order ahead from a venue that takes takeaway, and collect it when it is ready. You pay the venue directly, so nothing is taken out of the food, which is the whole reason this exists.

What you do

1. Open a venue that offers takeaway
2. Add what you want, with any extras, and send
3. Wait for the venue to accept and give you a time
4. Collect and show your code

Your usual order is saved, so the second time is two taps rather than a rebuild from the menu.

Your booking has its own page

Every confirmed booking lives at its own address, carried in the confirmation letter. No password needed. It holds the time, the code and its QR, the number to ring, the way there and the way to cancel.

What you do

1. Open the link in your confirmation letter
2. Show the code or its QR on arrival
3. Use Call the venue or Take me there on the way
4. Add it to your calendar, or to Apple Wallet where that is offered

Add it to your calendar from that page, because the calendar entry carries the venue, the time and the code, which is the one place you will certainly look.

Are you still coming?

About twelve hours before your table we ask you to confirm, and the answer is due about three hours before. It is one tap on your booking page, and it means a venue can sell a table you no longer want while there is still time.

What you do

1. Open the are you still coming message
2. Press Yes, I am coming on your booking page
3. Or cancel there instead, which is the kinder answer

Cancelling early never counts against your Show-Up Score, so if the plan has changed, say so rather than going quiet.

When a venue cannot take you

A no is not a dead end. The decline carries a link that shows you other places near that one, open at the same time, picked for the same evening rather than at random.

What you do

1. Open Show me alternatives nearby in the decline letter
2. Read the alternatives for your own date and party size
3. Ask one of them instead, in one tap

You need no password for that page, so you can forward the link to whoever you were eating with and let them choose.

If you book a table, please come

Nobody pays a deposit here and no card is held, so a venue that confirms your table is taking you at your word. Cancelling is free right up to the sitting. Missing a confirmed table without a word costs you Bites, and nothing else.

What you do

1. Cancel from your booking page if your plans change, at any point
2. Ten minutes before is fine, we would rather have the table back late
3. If you think we have got a missed table wrong, reply to the email and we put it back

There is no card on file and no fee, ever. The only currency in this is Bites, and we never take you below zero or leave you owing anything.

Your Show-Up Score

Every time you book a table and turn up, CyprusBites remembers it, and turns it into a Show-Up Score you carry to every venue. It climbs from Building to Reliable to Proven. Cancelling early, or a venue cancelling on you, never counts against you. Reach Proven and some restaurants confirm your table the instant you book.

What you do

1. Book a table and turn up, a pass scan or a check-in around your booking time both count
2. Watch your score climb from Building to Reliable to Proven
3. At Proven, venues that opt in confirm your table the moment you book

Only turning up matters. A fair early cancellation, or a venue that cancels on you, never dents your score.

Order at the table from your phone

Scan the little card on the table and you get that venue's menu in your own language. Where the venue takes orders this way you can order in rounds, call the waiter and ask for the bill, with no app and no account.

What you do

1. Scan the code on the table
2. Give your first name once, so the kitchen knows whose food is whose
3. Add a round and send it
4. Press Call the waiter or Ask for the bill when you need to

You order in rounds rather than one basket, so a second round of drinks is a few taps instead of starting the whole order again.

Pay for what you ordered

On a table that takes orders from phones, you can ask for your own share rather than the whole table's. It is worked out from what you actually sent, so nobody does arithmetic on a napkin.

What you do

1. Order your own rounds from your own phone
2. Press Just mine when you ask for the bill
3. Show the staff what it says

Because the split is built from the rounds you sent, giving your real name at the start is what makes it come out right.

Group orders, one collection for everybody

A crew, a shared link, and one takeaway order that somebody collects. Everybody adds their own items, the order goes in once, and the delivery cut nobody pays stays with the people who made the food.

What you do

1. Open Group orders and start one
2. Share the link, or invite your saved contacts
3. Everybody adds their items before it closes
4. The runner places the order and collects it

A standing crew is worth saving, because the same link works every week and you never set it up twice.

Party quotes, asked for you

Say what you are planning once. We ask the venues and the caterers, and each one answers with a real quote without seeing what the others wrote. You compare the answers side by side.

What you do

1. Open Plan a party and describe it once
2. Pick the venues you want asked, or let us add more
3. Compare the quotes as they come in
4. Accept one, and the agreement writes itself

Each venue quotes blind, so you are getting their real price rather than a number shaded by what somebody else asked for.

Somewhere to stay, with the all-in price

Ask several hotels, apartments or villas for your dates at once. Each answers with a real all-in price for your stay, and you compare the answers rather than hunting for what the extras were.

What you do

1. Open Places to stay and pick the ones you like
2. Give your dates and who is coming
3. Compare the offers as they arrive
4. Take one, and keep the offer sheet

The catalogue marks which places actually answer, and how often, so you can aim your request at the ones that reply.

Golden Hour alerts

Now and then a place you love goes quiet and opens a short, generous window, a real discount for the next couple of hours. If you favourited or visited it, we may tell you. It is only ever sent when it genuinely fits, never spam.

What you do

1. Favourite the places you love so they can reach you
2. Open the alert to see the offer and how long it lasts
3. Go enjoy it, it is often the calmest, nicest time to visit

Not in the mood? You can mute Golden Hour alerts anytime in notification settings.

Finding offers

Live offers across the island in one place, happy hours, set menus and seasonal deals. Real, current, and tied to places worth going to.

What you do

1. Open Offers from the menu
2. Filter by area or type
3. Tap through to the venue to see the details

Offers are time-boxed, check the end time before you head out.

A quieter night, a little treat

Some venues open a few genuinely calm slots and attach a treat to them. Pick one on the booking form and the house adds something when you arrive. It is still an ordinary table request.

What you do

1. Open the booking form at a venue that offers them
2. Press one of the quiet slots instead of typing a time
3. Send the request as normal
4. The treat lands when you arrive

Quiet slots are capped per venue, so they stay special rather than becoming a permanent markdown you learn to wait for.

The member price on takeaway

Some venues give members a straight percentage off an order placed ahead and collected. It is one number, it applies to the whole order, and you see it printed beside the normal price.

What you do

1. Look for Members save on a venue card
2. Open their takeaway menu to see both prices
3. Order ahead and collect to get the member price

It is never less than ten percent, because below that the promise stops meaning anything, and it is always shown next to the real price rather than instead of it.

Plan a day or a trip

Tell us where you are, how long, and who is with you, and the planner builds a sensible day, breakfast, lunch, dinner and things in between, from real places that fit your taste and opening hours.

What you do

1. Open Day planner
2. Set your area, days and party
3. Save or share the plan you get

Great for visitors, a three-day plan for Paphos with family takes seconds.

Decide together

Picking a place as a group is hard. Share a link, everyone adds their preferences, and we find the spot that fits the whole table, not just the loudest voice.

What you do

1. Open Together and create a group
2. Share the link with friends
3. Open the result once everyone has added their taste
4. Turn the decision into a real table request

Works best when each person spends ten seconds on their preferences.

Meet in the middle

When everybody is starting somewhere different, this finds the place whose worst journey is shortest, so nobody is the one stuck with the long drive.

What you do

1. Open Meet in the middle
2. Add where each person is starting from
3. Pick the kind of place you want
4. Read the fair pick and the ranked list behind it

It optimises the worst journey rather than the total, which is why it sometimes picks somewhere that is nobody's nearest and everybody's acceptable.

Food routes

Curated crawls across the island. A handful of stops in an order that makes sense, with the drive between them already thought about, so a day out needs no planning from you.

What you do

1. Open Food routes from the menu
2. Pick a route near where you are
3. Follow the stops in order, or start in the middle

Each stop is a full venue page, so you can read its hours and ask for a table before you set off rather than arriving to a closed door.

Guides, stories and the island itself

Written guides to how Cyprus eats, by district, by season and by weekend. Stories from the Cyprus table sit beside them, and two standing pages explain the island to a visitor in one read.

What you do

1. Open Food guides from the menu
2. Read the one for the district or the weekend you are planning
3. Try Eat like a local for finding the real tavernas
4. Try Discover Cyprus if this is your first visit

Guides are written and dated, so read the date, and follow anything you like through to the venue's own page for today's hours and menu.