Cafe Aina has been tucked away on King Street since 2018, delighting locals and visitors alike with a fantastic array of traditional Greek food, personable customer service, and a warm atmosphere. However, the beloved family business has recently been put up for sale as the owners are looking to retire. As a favourite dinner spot for many folk in Brig, we decided to pay them a visit to enjoy, reflect on, and review the food, immortalising the personable service and warm atmosphere in writing before the restaurant changes hands.
Creating a group of food enthusiasts, including Brig’s very own food editor, six of us gathered along a well-dressed table to experience the joyful destination and beautiful food. If you have ever visited Cafe Aina, you will know that our opinion undoubtedly will be very high indeed. If you are yet to visit Cafe Aina, then now is the time to pay them a visit. Though the cafe itself will not be lost, the spark of joy that the owners currently fill the restaurant with is at risk with new ownership. The highly valued care, attention, and affection that the owners currently harbour for their customers may also translate differently under new ownership.
Our evening at Cafe Aina
To begin this reflection, it is worth mentioning that all six of us who visited had a 10/10 experience. We were greeted by the owner’s son with a kind smile, and he provided warm, funny, personable, and attentive service for our entire visit. His service plays a huge role in creating the happy soul of the restaurant, filling the tables around us with laughter emboldened by beer and good food.
I breached my comfort zone, confidently ordering the Greek beer ‘Mythos’. As a stubbornly anti-beer drinker, I surprised myself by enjoying the drink massively. Drinking from the bottle, I did feel like I should be on a beach enjoying the sun somewhere, but Stirling’s King Street certainly wasn’t the worst alternative that evening.
Between us, we ordered the Chicken Souvlaki (£8.25), Falafel Souvlaki (£8.25), Halloumi Souvlaki (£9.00), and the Chicken Gyros (£8.25). The food arrived in good time, with the fillings wrapped in a hot and fresh pitta bread loaded with properly seasoned chips, amazing homemade vegan tzatziki, and fresh tomatoes and red onion.
It was phenomenal. Conversation ceased promptly as we sank our faces unashamedly into the Souvlakis, like bees to honeysuckle. We worked out that there was no art to eating these monsters – it was a matter of committing your self-respect and cleanliness to consuming the loaded pitta bread, and it was worth every crumb of mess.
No corners had been cut on the quality of the ingredients or the amount of them – there was a brilliant value for money that really encouraged us, as broke students, to fully enjoy ourselves. The Souvlakis were more than generously filled. The chicken was gorgeously seasoned and tasty, and the vegetarian options that we tried were just as good as the meat options – if not more so.
A review of a restaurant should be balanced, noticing any aspects that fall short or negatively impact the experience. For Cafe Aina, I can think of nothing to criticise. Every part of the evening was brilliant. Ensure you bring good company to enjoy the food and atmosphere with, as Cafe Aina is a space designed to be filled with laughter, and go and cover your face in fresh tzatziki and pitta bread.
Cafe Aina will not be lost to Stirling with the sale of the business. The owners are in search of someone to continue the successful business as we know it, with all the necessary skills to be handed over. Here’s to many more years of fantastic Greek food in Stirling – thank you to the current owners for creating this beloved restaurant. We’ll be back soon.
Featured Image Credit: Alice Pollard
Journalism student at the University of Stirling & BRAW Magazine editor 24/25 and 25/26 🙂
You can see my portfolio here: https://www.clippings.me/alicepollard
