ATHENS | Athens has always had a great food and drink scene, but for a long time, visitors tended to view the city as a stopping point enroute to the islands. Post COVID, the city has experienced a renaissance of sorts. Attracted by its Mediterranean climate and affordable rents, people have flocked to the city and opened numerous exciting hospitality venues.
The result of this is a city that has a food a drink scene that mixes traditional and modern, new and old. You can enjoy souvlaki and places that have been operating for over 100 years, and contemporary dishes at places which are redefining what Greek food can be.
No matter where you choose to eat, one thing that you’ll notice is the produce. Greece is famed for its fertile land and high quality produce, and food here tends to champion that.
In this Athens Food Guide, updated as at August 2025, I’ll tell you the places to visit if you want to experience the best food and drink in Athens.
I’ve placed the tips in alphabetical order, and they’re all worth checking out. Are any of your favourites listed below? Are there any places that you think should be on my Athens food guide?
72H Artisanal Bakery
Part of the wider Ergon House development (see later on in the list), 72H is the place to visit if you want Greek baked classics done right – wonderful 72hr slow fermented sourdough, and the best cinnamon scrolls in Athens. There’s traditional and creative flavour options, made using the best quality local produce.
You’ll also find a rotating selection of sandwiches, along with a variety of excellent hot and cold espresso and filter coffee.
Akra
During the day, Akra operates as a cafe and casual lunch spot, with the front counter of treats baked in house, and excellent coffee enticing diners. There’s a full lunch menu, and by night, it’s in full restaurant mode.
Cold, raw dishes, and hot dishes cooked on the open fire impress equally at Akra. It’s unfussy food at its heart, made using the best quality seasonal produce, respecting tradition with exceptional technique and contemporary flair. Several of the dishes are finished tableside, adding a sense of theatrics to the meal.
Annie Fine Cooking
Annie Fine Cooking is a charming spot that’s about showcasing the best Greek produce, in a contemporary way, with an Athenian heart. Think familiar flavours and textures presented in a new and exciting fashion.
The kitchen is headed up by Konstantina Kasparidou, who has worked in kitchens across Greece’s mainland and islands. Konstantina sees Annie as an extension of her own kitchen, creating inspired dishes on a menu that can change daily based on what’s good at the market that day, and what’s inspiring her.
Ristorante Atlantikos
Atlantikos is known for its high quality seafood. The sea’s bounty, grilled or fried, served simply in a variety of ways. There’s a lot that’s enticing on the menu. I highly recommend going for a grilled and a fried option at a minimum. The mixed fried plate is a great option, featuring lightly dusted and fried school prawns, calamari, and anchovies, with lemon.
For grilled fish, it’s a choice of around 10 different fish depending on what’s fresh that day, served with lemon and a side salad. Other dishes include things like seafood pasta, soup, baked dishes, and salads.
Avli
Avli is a tiny, hidden spot that you’ll want to visit for affordable, traditional taverna-style Greek dishes, served in a homely, unpretentious space that used to be an alleyway in-between workshops.
The compact menu features classic taverna dishes cooked using recipes from Takis’ extended family. Things like keftedakia (crisp crusted fried meatballs with a moist interior); pan-fried meats and offal; dolmades, saganaki, and salads.
Baba au Rum
Since opening in 2009 to much acclaim, Baba au Rum has remained one of the best spots in Athens in which to enjoy a cocktail. It’s a cosy spot, not at all flashy that lets its warm service and excellent drinks do the talking.
On the menu, you’ll find over 400 rums from around the world, rum takes on classic cocktails, and fantastic cocktail featuring other spirits. Combined with a great selection of music, Baba au Rum is the kind of place you could easily spend the entire night in.
Bel Ray
Located in Athens’ trendy Koukaki neighbourhood, Bel Ray is a great spot to visit any time of the day. The sun soaked space, housed inside a former mechanics garage, is popular with locals for breakfast. As the day evolves, the all day lunch and dinner becomes available, and by night it’s in bar mode, with excellent cocktails and an impressive selection of other alcoholic and non-alc drinks.
behold theman
Athens’ specialty coffee scene has grown leaps and bounds in recent years. One of the best spots to enjoy a great cup of coffee is café, behold theman. Beans are from local roaster, Omsom Coffee Roasters, and are used to make classic coffee drinks, alongside creative creations. There’s also alt-lattes, house lemonades, craft beers, and other specialty drinks.
The Bar In Front Of The Bar
The Bar In Front Of The Bar is a great streetside bar. The bar itself is a window that opens out onto bustling Petraki Street. There’s stools at the bar, and a few high tables with stools across the narrow street.
It’s all about cocktails here. You’ll find a tight menu of experimental cocktails using spirits, ferments, and ingredients created in house. There’s also classics, plus a few wines and beers. Head through the door beside the bar, and you’ll find the team’s jungle-themed speakeasy “Rumble in the Jungle”. It’s also worth a visit.
Diporto
Diporto is a tiny hidden basement taverna located around the corner from Athens’ central market. It opened in 1887, and is a great spot to enjoy delicious, humble, affordable food designed for the working class, cooked with market fresh produce.
There’s no menu at Diporto. You simply ask for a table and eat what’s given to you. Dishes are driven by the market, but more or less unchanged most days. A hearty vegetable stew with crusty bread to mop up the wonderful thick soup, lemony slow cooked chickpeas, and grilled sardines. Maybe some Greek salad too, with house retina wine served in a jug.
ERGON House
ERGON House is the Athens flagship from the ERGON team, who are behind one of my favourite Thessaloniki food spots, ERGON Agora. It’s a hotel, marketplace, bar, and restaurant in one. The hotel itself is a fantastic choice for lovers of good food, but even if you’re not a guest, there’s a lot on offer.
The market on the ground floor is home to a greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger, roastery, deli, and a home and kitchenware section. It’s filled with some of the best quality produce and artisan foodstuff in Greece. There’s also a bar and restaurant which celebrate the best of Greek cuisine, and the bakery that I mentioned earlier in this list, 72H Artisanal Bakery.
Fellos
If you’re looking to try wines from some of Greece’s most exciting up-and-coming independent winemakers, then Fellos is the place for you. It’s a modern space, opened in 2024, housed in what was a textiles factory.
There’s 40 wines available, 10 of which you can enjoy by the glass. The list, selected by sommelier Vasiliki Galani, is always changing. You’ll also find an assortment of interesting spritzes and aperitivos, made using Greek ingredients. For food, it’s a tight menu of Greek bar snacks and things between bread, with international flourishes.
Heteroclito
Staying on the topic of wine, another must-visit wine bar is Heteroclito. It opened in 2012 with the aim of highlighting the native grape varieties of Greece. Today, you’ll find just north of 200 Greek wines on the menu, with a focus on minimal intervention producers.
The 20-strong glass list rotates monthly, and gives a snapshot of some of the most exciting wines in Greece at the time. Inside, it’s a cosy, warm space. I highly recommend an outdoor seat though. In amongst bustling Plaka, it’s a great place to people watch and soak in the lively vibe of Athens.
Kalyvas Family Grill
Kalyvas Family Grill House was opened by Ioanna and Joanna Kalyvas is 1993, taking over from a much smaller hole in the wall grill spot they’d been operating around the corner since 1977. Today, Ioanna and Joana’s sons – Thimios, Dimitri, and Kostas, run the show.
The menu is filled with psitopolío classics. An assortment of grilled meats like gyros, souvlaki, kebabs, and meat cooked on the spit. There’s also a selection of grilled veg and sides. It’s not a huge menu, but it’s a very appealing one.
Karamanlidika
The Karamanlides are a traditionally Turkish-speaking Greek Orthodox people native to the region of Karaman in Anatolia. If you want to try their traditional food, Karamanlidika is the place to go.
It’s a modern take on the “pastomageirio” that developed during Byzantine times. Salted and cured meats are the speciality here, along with meze-style dishes made using the best quality ingredients and produce from small-scale Greek producers. There’s also a grocery section, where you can purchase many of these ingredients for home.
Kennedy
Combining brilliant wine and one of the best sound systems that I’ve experienced in a bar anywhere in the world, is Kennedy. It’s the brainchild of Christos Kondos, and an offshoot of his cultural and lifestyle magazine/journal, Kennedy.
The menu showcases minimal intervention French wines, and every bottle is available by the glass. There’s no kitchen, but you can order from a selection of local cheese, charcuterie, and bread.
As for that sound system, it plays music from Christos’ personal CD and vinyl collection, and is so good that as you head towards the bar from the street, you think there’s a live band playing.
Lefteris o Politis
Lefteris o Politis was opened in 1951 by Istanbul-born refugee Stavros Savvoglou, and has been serving up the same excellent pita wraps ever since.
Unlike the common gyros or souvlaki, the pita here is served with marinated long meatball-like kebabs, sprinkled with a bit of paprika and, if you choose the spicy option, chilli flakes. Along with meat, the pita is also filled with tomatoes, onion, and fresh parsley. And that’s it. It’s old school, and perfect.
Line
Line is one of the most innovative bars that I’ve visited in recent years. Much of what you’ll find on the menu is made on site. Seasonal fruits grown by small Greek producers, ferment and are turned into complex, wine-adjacent concoctions they call “why-ins”, while cocktails and seasonal riffs on the classics.
The Bar’s zero-waste philosophy also sees the kitchen and the bar working in tandem to great effect. On that, the food here is also excellent, with creative riffs on classic Greek dishes and bar favourites.
Mokka Specialty Coffee
Mokka can trace its history back to 1923, when Chris Samourkas opened his first coffee shop on 44 Athinas Street. It evolved to become one of Greece’s largest coffee producers, BRAVO, which was sold to Sara Lee in 1994.
In 1999, the family purchased and renovated the 44 Athinas Street building, and turned it into a speciality roaster and cefe, Mokka. Today, it’s run by the 4th generation of the Samourkas family. The coffee is top notch, in particular, the traditional Greek-style coffee.
Moden
Located in the neighbourhood of Pangrati, Moden is a hole-in-the-wall café known for its excellent coffee and pastries. Owner/chef Paul Tsiolekas’s space is anchored by a central kitchen and bar where coffee is made and pastries are showcased.
Pastry-wise, its a mix of favourites and rotating seasonal creations baked two doors up each day. The apple crumble pie, if you see it available, is a must try. For coffee, it’s classic options, plus a few house creations.
Monokeros Bakery
Just a short walk from Moden, also in Pangrati, you’ll find Monokeros Bakery. It’s an artesian bakery and patisserie, opened 2023 by siblings Pericles Stamboglis and Eleni Theodosopoulou.
High quality, local ingredients are a feature of Monokeros’s goods. They’re particularly known for their bread selection, made using a wide variety of flours and grains, many of which aren’t commonly used in the city’s bakeries. For pastry, seasonal specialities are a highlight, and there are plenty of vegan and vegetarian options.
I’m a big fan of their trachanopita, a pie made using cracked wheat and fermented milk.
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a bar and restaurant is located in Athens’ edgy Exarchia neighbourhood. The menu showcases the best seasonal produce sourced from independent Greek farmers and purveyors. Traditional dishes and classic flavours inform the menu, ranging from options that don’t stray too much from their origins, to exciting contemporary takes. Everything is cooked exclusively on wood-fired stoves, charcoal grills, and wood-fired ovens.
To drink, there’s over 400 Greek and foreign wines, with a focus on natural varieties. There’s also Greek craft beers and a great cocktail list, including plenty of non-alc options.
ΦΙΤΑ (Fita)
A contender for some of the most creative and innovative Greek food in Athens, is ΦΙΤΑ (“Fita”). Head chef Dimitris Dimitriadis, who’s parents were farmers, focuses on market-fresh seasonal produce sourced from small, independent, Greek producers. The menu leans heavily on seafood, vegetables, and legumes, and promotes lesser known, sustainable fish.
When I visited, there were a handful of Japanese flourishes dotted throughout the menu, making me even more exited to eat here. Think technique, rather than ingredients. Greek produce and flavours, seen though a different lens.
ΦΟΥΡΝΟΣ ΒΕΝΕΤΗ 1948
If you’re looking for a reliable bite to-go, then bakery chain Venetis 1948 is a serviceable option. There are a few locations around town, including one at Athens International Airport. You’ll find a large selection of bread and pastries – Greek classics and favourites from across Europe. While other bakeries on this list are objectively better, Venetis is a good default option.
Stani
Family-run Stani opened in 1931, moving to its current location in central Athens, in 1949. Famed for their high quality dairy produce, Stani’s first, and flagship product, is their yoghurt. There’s cows and sheep milk yoghurt, with a variety of fat and straining levels available.
Trey also make rizogalo (rice pudding), cream puddings, loucoumades (Greek honey donuts), and dairy-based pastries like galaktoboureko.
Tales Of Ales
I chanced upon Tales of Ales while walking around town one day, feeling like a beer. When I walked inside, I was rewarded with a tap list that’s one of the city’s best. Tales of Ales offers over 100 beers across its 12 taps and fridges. You’ll find core range and limited releases from some of Greece and the Balkan’s best craft breweries, along with international beers not often seen outside of their home countries.
Tapfield
Another quality option for craft beer in Athens is Tapfield. Similarly to Tales of Ales, but not as extensive, you’ll find a list of local and international craft beers on tap and in the fridges.
A few other spots to check out if you’re into craft beer are local breweries Strange Brew, and Blame The Sun. Both have taprooms in the city’s Koukaki neighbourhood, and both brew excellent beer.
Third Place
Third Place is my personal favourite when it comes to coffee in Athens. Housed in the ground floor of a 1960s apartment building, owners Katerina and Michalis have created a minimalist, relaxing space that offers excellent coffee, and specialty drinks along with a small selection of bites bites.
You can also purchase a selection of design objects, brewing equipment, homewares, and stationary, globally sourced from independent labels and brands.
Varvakios Central Municipal Market
If you’re looking for the best fresh produce in Athens, you need to visit Varvakeios. Located in the heart of town, it’s the city’s main municipal market. Operating since 1898, you’ll find a kreatagorá (meat market), psaragorá (fish market) and a lachanagorá (fruit and vegetable market).
There’s also loads of vendors selling local products like nuts, olive oil, dried figs, dairy, and more. You’ll also find multiple tavernas and food and drink spots dotted around.
Also, don’t be afraid to purchase fresh fruit and veg from any of the street vendors that you see dotted around the city. Let your eyes guide you – the produce tends to be high quality, farm-fresh, and affordable. On such place is the farmer’s market that takes place every Friday on the streets of the neighbourhood of Kolonaki.
Wild Souls
Wild Souls is a nut and seed based deli. They offer an assortment of snacks made using nut butters, a great variety of vegan cheeses, superfood bowls, fresh-cut salads, sandwiches, coffee and wine. In the retail section you’ll find things like nut butters, different flavours of halva, raw nuts, and jams. Their halva is some of the best that I’ve tried.
Have you been to Athens before? What are your favourite things to eat there, and your favourite place to eat them? What would you add to this Athens Food Guide?
