Athens’s rich culinary world might feel intimidating to tackle – especially for those who find themselves with just a day or two in Greece’s capital city as a jumping-off point for their island holiday. We’re firm believers in Athens as a destination in its own right, one that merits a long stay, not a stopover – especially when we consider the vast variety of food it has to offer. Whether you have six days or six hours to spend in the city, we’ve narrowed down what we believe to be some of the best restaurants in Athens, a beyond the ordinary collection of our favorite tavernas, drink spots, and dessert joints across town. Our local team has been writing about Athens food for almost a decade, and considers the following some of the city’s essential bites.
This restaurant predates Athens’s Cretan restaurant fad and – more importantly – serves the real thing. Hidden in one of the city’s many arcades and in a rather unappealing location, drab and hectic Kanigos Square in downtown, Kriti is a shrine to everything Cretan. The menu is dazzling in both quality and variety. Most people opt for a number of starters with a carafe of raki. Our favorites include stamnagathi (a spicy wild herb, boiled and best served with lemon), saganaki (fried feta in phyllo pastry with honey and sesame seeds), baby tomatoes filled with spicy soft cheese, xoxlioi (snails in garlic) and apaki (smoked Cretan pork that has been marinated in vinegar).
Not to be missed are the delicacies from Sfakia in Southwest Crete: pita sfakiani (a fried pie made with mizithra cheese) or sausage from that area. Dessert – usually dried apricots filled with cream – is on the house. Kriti is not a place to go for a quick bite. The service is slow, and you’ll linger over your meal – and each time you remind Takis, the owner, that you need the bill, he’ll serve you another round of raki.
The neighborhood of Metaxourgeio was in decline for years, with a number of beautiful old buildings abandoned or leased at ridiculously low prices to be used as brothels or cheap housing. However, the theaters and bohemian kafenia and bars here also attracted intellectuals and artists. In the early 2000s, the neighborhood began to show signs of revitalization with renovations taking place and well-known contemporary art galleries, creative restaurants, and little bars moving in – all respecting and preserving the neighborhood’s low-key, freewheeling vibes.
Seychelles has a beautiful location on Avdi square, and while it may bear the same name as the tropical island, it is in fact the best mezedopoleio in Athens. The restaurant opened in early 2014 and immediately became the talk of the town. The creative, seasonal, ever-changing menu of Anna and Fotis blends the traditional and modern and focuses on using ingredients made by small producers from around Greece. We like the chickpea salad with fresh mint and feta cheese, octopus cooked in red wine and served on creamed peas, beef tongue grilled to perfection and vegetable-stuffed beets served with yogurt. The cheese list is impeccable, as are the prices. A night dining in the boisterous courtyard is a true Athens experience. Reservations recommended.
Greeks love pairing the strong Mediterranean sun with a frothy freddo espresso or cappuccino – a double shot of espresso shaken well and iced. Our favorite freddo in central Athens (which is full of quality coffee shops) is Dope. This micro-roaster opened in 2019 near the Central Market. Co-owner Antonis Tzaroukian oversees the coffee roasting, which is done entirely on the premises, and is also a huge fan of the freddo, which they call cryo (κρύο) at Dope. In his expert opinion, beans from Ethiopia, Kenya and Congo are best for iced coffee since they tend to contain more natural sugars, and when roasted properly they develop a natural sweetness that makes the final result more pleasant. Plus they usually have more fruity and floral aromas that really sing in an iced coffee like the freddo.
Piraeus is the main link between Athens and many of the nearby islands, and has historically been inhabited by islanders, sailors and seamen. Margaro, short for Margarita, was one such islander, moving from Mykonos to Piraeus in the early 20th century. In 1917, Margaro opened her first oinopoleion (tavern) in the heart of Piraeus, serving daily casseroles and baked dishes to the sailors and dockworkers. In the 40s, she moved closer to the coast, and by the 70s her son, Lazaros, had taken over the taverna, gradually adding more fish; fresh, simple, small, and affordable.
When the weather is good, Margaro scatters tables out in the street. You may end up eating right by the gate of the Naval Academy, watching the young cadets dressed in their sparkling white uniforms. The menu at this century-old taverna is small (in fact, there’s no written version) and that’s its main charm– all of Margaro’s regulars already know their order. Specials often include fried red mullet, shrimp and scampi (when in season) and, occasionally, fried pandora (a white fish in the sea bream family. The fish, all fried on a two-burner stove, are served with fresh bread and Margaro’s famous tomato salad.
Evi Papadopoulou is no stranger to the culinary arts. A well-regarded food journalist who has written articles on pastries and desserts in the top Greek gastronomy publications, she is also a classically trained chef. She studied at the culinary school of renowned Italian pastry chef Iginio Massari and followed that up with specialized training in making artisanal gelato at Francesco Palmieri’s prestigious laboratory in Puglia, Italy.
She opened Le Greche in July 2014 near Syntagma Square, and can thus be blamed for starting the trend of high-quality gelato in Athens. Only the best ingredients make it through the doors of Evi’s laboratory. She makes her gelato from scratch according to classic Italian recipes. Velvety-textured, well-balanced and flavorful, here is top gelato. Among our favorite flavors are pistachio, fiore di latte, figs with mascarpone (made with the finest figs from Kalamata), and fresh lemon and mint sorbet.
Wonder what a working-class taverna was like in the past? Have a meal at this 135-year-old restaurant. The basement tavern has no sign, no menu and no culinary experimentation. Just simple home cooking like Greek salad or plates of small fried fish or sausage. The white-haired owner, Mitsos, a rather brusque athletic figure, lets you know what’s on offer. In the winter, the chickpea stew doused in olive oil is a highlight – and enough to feed two. Sip the house retsina (white wine with pine resin) poured from wooden barrels on the wall.
With just eight tables, expect to dine with strangers. This is the kind of place where you can see pretty much anyone from the mayor of Athens to elderly men working in the market who like yelling about politics and their love lives (“I had a Bulgarian girlfriend for five years and then she died,” one man confided to another the last time we were there). Diporto has managed to hold onto its rustic charm and low-key quality while long being on the tourist radar – the only thing that has kept up with the times are the prices.
A visit to Varsos is like traveling back in time to one of the city’s grand patisseries of the 1950s.
It was established by the Varsos family in 1892 in central Athens, but it is the wonderfully old-fashioned Kifisia location, to which the patisserie moved in 1932, that has made the venue famous. At the beginning of the 20th century, Kifisia was a holiday destination for rich Athenians, and their stately summer mansions still dot this beautiful yet ever-expanding northern suburb, which is now popular with professionals, families, and expats. Thanks to the pedestrianization of the area, Kifisia is also one of the few parts of Athens where you can comfortably stroll around.
Despite the changes in the surrounding area, Varsos seems to be stuck in a comforting time bubble. With its decorative high ceilings and beautiful mosaic floors framed with pink marble, the interior feels nothing less than grand. The huge main room, which buzzes with activity at all times, is home to a bunch of ancient, industrial-size fridges trademarked with brand names that haven’t been produced for over 50 years. Varsos is best known for three specialties: pure, fresh whipped cream; meringue; and tsoureki, a sweet, eggy, golden-hued bread similar to brioche. We live for the gemisto, a rectangular tsoureki filled with chocolate, walnuts and brown sugar.
Owner Dimitris Katakis grew up in his mom’s shop, helping out and becoming closely acquainted with the flavors and culinary secrets of his family’s homeland of Crete from an early age. His mom chose the products for the first 15 years; after that, she did it with the help of Dimitris, who had become a bona fide expert. “He always knew more than me,” she tells us with pride (you can still find her hanging around the shop).
Sample olive oil, cracked wheat, wine, and cured meats like xidato loukaniko (pork sausage) and apaki (vinegar-cured pork tenderloin). The smoked graviera and dried athotyro (like ricotta salata) are among our favorite cheeses. Taste Crete’s rich, botanical side with culinary herbs and teas like maloitira, “mountain tea.” Ever passionate about Crete, Dimitris is happy to guide you.
Greece is one of the world’s oldest wine-producing countries. To taste the great domestic varieties, we head to the sleek Oinoscent, downtown’s first wine bar. The atmosphere – which, unlike most bars in Athens, is strictly non-smoking – is smart yet casual, with aluminum chairs and warm décor. (Don’t forget to check out the uber sleek wine cellar downstairs.) Oinoscent’s owners, two lovely brothers, are happy to offer informed advice in English about what to choose from the wine list. The snacks are also excellent: in addition to the barley rusks (think big, fat rustic croutons soaking in olive oil) and olives and the truly fantastic cheese platter, there is an excellent mozzarella di bufala with baby tomatoes.
The short, carefully selected wine list at Oinoscent is balanced between domestic and foreign wines, but the real adventure lies on the list’s Greek side. We particularly like the Mikri Kivotos, a blend of agiorgitiko from the Nemea region of the Peloponnese and xinomavro from Amyntaio in Northern Greece. Often characterized as Greece’s merlot, xinomavro is one of the most promising Greek varieties, at once dark (mavro means “black”), dry and rich in flavor. If you are aiming for white, another interesting option is Magiko Vouno (“Magic Mountain”), made by Lazaridi Winery in Drama in Northern Greece. This is a popular sauvignon blanc in Greece and is an elegant, exuberant wine with fruity notes.
Since its name derives from the Turkish word peynir (cheese), it’s no surprise that Athens’ best peinirli (πεϊνιρλί, “with cheese”), a boat-shaped flatbread similar to pide in Turkey and khachapuri in Georgia, is usually found at old, specialized shops or eateries owned by families who originally came from Asia Minor or Pontus, the Greek name for the southern coast of the Black Sea, in the early 20th century. So when Spyros, the owner of Peinirli Ionias in Ambelokipoi, one of the most popular peinirli takeaways in downtown Athens, casually mentions that he originally hails from the Ionian island of Corfu – nowhere near Turkey’s Anatolia region – we are left scratching our heads. Sensing our confusion, he quickly adds that he learned the art of peinirli-making directly from the source, so to speak: his late father- and mother-in-law, who both emigrated to Athens as part of the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey.
Peinirli may just be one of the tastiest Greek culinary traditions from Asia Minor, and no one in Athens does it better than this takeout-only spot. Shaped like a boat, perinirli can be stuffed with kasseri cheese, pastourma and soutzouki (spicy cured meats), and a sunny-side-up egg. The melted butter brushed on the hot dough makes the pastry boats a surefire hit. And the dough is what makes Peinirli Ionias so beloved. Spryos says it’s because the dough is hand-kneaded instead of rolled out in a “soulless machine.”
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