Tinos Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Hampton

Forgot I even existed. Call the half an hour ahead of time. She told me to arrive in 15 minutes. I sat there for 45 minutes watching the absolute confusion of the world's youngest hostess. There was a older lady there you could tell she was management. You should never leave a child to do an adult's job. Absolutely useless to leave a child to do a job that you know. She would have to leave the front area consistently to come back to ask you questions. And then when the management does come in there is no remorse. There is no apologies for a party of five who booked online for reservation. This is what I observed while I was waiting for my takeout order. The poor girl had no idea how to handle the customers at all. They were not disrupted. They were not obtrusive. They were not mean to her at all. They were very kindly asking her and they were showing on her on their phone that there was a reservation. These people come there all the time. The whole entire 25 minute fiasco. All they had to do was find the party of five a new table. The place was not packed. It was very quiet evening after making these poor people understand after 25 minutes of waiting to be told. Will try to find you another table instead of doing that. The very first 5 minutes they realized before the young hostess had to go get the supervisor. The young hostess should just know if there isn't a reservation, look around the restaurant for a party of five table and give it to the customers who are standing there instead of allowing all the seated people that were seated in the area. All the people that were coming in to pick up food instead of allowing the party of five to congest in the front area instead of moving the party of five over to the bar for free complementary drink because tino's kitchen really messed up on their online seating arrangements. It was not the customer's fault. It was not anyone's fault except for confirmation from the head hostess station the night before. Just like every other normal restaurant does calls ahead to make sure they want the reservation so they're not wasting the waitresses time. I am a pure-blooded Greek and I have been in the restaurant business 53 years I have seen more stupid things happen in my time. I have worked with the front of the house to the back of the house, but this poor young girl should not have never had this job. I don't know who trained her but she was not trained. She had no idea to how even to look up a reservation and how to handle customers. The way I was handled was I came in to pick up my takeout order. She could not find my slip. She went out back five different times to find my slip all five times. Not saying a word to me. I sat in the corner and observed it was an absolute mess. I almost got up and walked away but I was really hungry now when I got my food. Please teach your head hostess and anybody who answers the phone that takes orders. How to say the Greek appetizers correctly. A customer should never have to teach any employee that is working inside of a Greek restaurant. How to say the words in Greek. I should be an automatic part of training. I should have known when the person did not know what I was talking about on the phone that there was a bad idea to place an order. But for what I observed on how you allow that young girl by throwing her to the wolves on a fri night and she had absolutely no idea how to handle it. I personally have worked in the restaurant business all of my life and you do not send a young girl to do the job of an older woman. Someone who is seasoned and trained properly of how to handle customers and also how to handle their employees. The young girl tried her very best. The very best that she could. She was nervous. She was upset because the customers were upset. She did not know how to say or explain to them what was going on. Except for saying constantly we don't have a reservation. I don't know what to do with you. The fault places upon the ownership and that person who trained her. Taziki is phenomenal for the price of the food it's...

Date night found us going south again to a restaurant we had never been to before for dinner. This night our focus was on Tinos Kitchen + Bar at 325 Lafayette Rd in Hampton.

I'm glad we had reservations because the place was packed when we arrived and were seated at our table. We began looking over the menus and taking in the view from our table(Pics 1-3). Gotta tell you, they're pretty cool, right? Our waiter Collin took our order for drinks. He brought us a bottle of sparkling San Pellegrino, some cranberry juice for mixing, a plate of lime wedges and he also brought us a bread basket(Pic 4).

For our appetizer we ordered the Meze Plate(Pic 5). This included house-made hummus, tzatziki, roasted almonds, olives, Tinos meatballs, spanakopita, manchego, pita and lavash. We also chose as an add-on, the warm feta dip(this is a "must"!!!). There was a lot of food to this app. The meatballs were packed with so much flavor and the feta dip was other worldly. Your taste buds don't take a break by any stretch in this entire dish. Everything was just fantastic!!!

For dinner, we selected the Chicken Kebab(Pic 6) to share. This entree had Greek Rice, village salad and tzatziki in addition to a skewer of chicken. Every piece of that chicken was perfectly moist and tender and had great flavor. The village salad had strips of cucumber, red onions, tomato, olives and feta. The dressing it was tossed with was light and very refreshing. Everything was amazing.

For dessert, we each ordered our own. My wife chose the Chocolate Pot De Creme(Pic 7). It was pure chocolate goodness. Great flavor and not heavy in the least. I ordered the Orange Blossom Milk Pie(Pic 8). This was matching custard cups topped with a blood orange ginger sauce with crushed pistachios. It too was very light and the sauce was a perfect accompaniment to a uniquely different dessert. I would definitely order it again in a heartbeat.

We are so glad we made the trip to Tinos. The atmosphere is beautiful, the staff is friendly and provide fantastic service. Collin took care of us extremely well. The food is amazing and the selection of offerings is extensive. We will definitely be making a return trip. If you haven't been or haven't been in a while, it's time. Make your reservation and make the trip to Tinos Kitchen + Bar. You'll be glad you...

The first time I went to try this restaurant it was closed. I went to The Galley Hatch, a pub below Tino's. There is also The Galley Hatch restaurant attached to the other side of the building. The staff at The Galley Hatch informed me Tino's was normally open during that hour but they had closed due to staffing issues. The second time I went to this restaurant it was open and it was empty. The hostess greeted me but reported the only open spots were at the (empty) bar. I offered to go to The Galley Hatch (again). Within that 5 second conversation, the hostess announced that somehow a table on the deck had miraculously become available. It was chilly and the hostess offered to turn on the heaters above the deck. The server was very friendly, he took the drink order, but has no knowledge of Greek style food. The appetizer was ordered. Time went by and another server offered us bread. More time went by, more bread. The appetizer came and we were informed the oven was broken. The issue with the oven caused the delay with the raw vegetable, cold tomato, olive tapenade, pita, and dip appetizer. The Feta dip is good, I had it downstairs at the Galley Hatch the first time. I asked to take the rest of the appetizer home... all of the vegetables were thrown away and the rest was dumped in a box together. (*gasp) Our table was within wear shot of the door and hostess stand. While we waited for our meal, we could hear people coming into the restaurant. Every, single, person that came to eat, was turned away by the hostess. There were 2 ladies that asked since no tables were available, could they sit at the empty bar. The hostess told them that all of the bar seats had reservations that would arrive in the next 10 minutes. A bar flash mob! The restaurant was still empty. We waited, we watched more people come in and be directed to turn around and leave. We got our entree, it was tiny, expensive, and confusing. This is not Greek cuisine. For my plate, I had Cod, couscous, and brussel sprouts for my meal. Moral of the story... trust the hostess' judgement, don't eat here. I am writing the review more for the Chef and Manager... in hopes...