Many come to Athens for its remarkable sense of history and ancient culture, but its streets are also filled with delicious surprises for foodies in the city. A great place to discover both Athenian and Greek traditions, Athens is also unafraid to experiment with its traditions with everything from some of the world’s best bars to traditional tavernas and street food. Here’s what you should look out for in Athens.
Eat
One of our favourite restaurants in Athens, Karamanlidika is a traditional eatery with a particular focus on charcuterie, meze and cheeses at great prices. With award-winning produce from all over Greece, this is a fantastic place to get acquainted with the food traditions of the country like dolmades and sudjuk, followed by baklava or kunefe and a little ouzo. This is a great place to unwind, but be aware there are two restaurants, one that focuses on meze (this one) and one that focuses on food artistry.
Karamanalidika
No visit to Athens is complete without sitting out on a night, people watching as you get personally acquainted with souvlaki and giros with fresh pita bread and a cold beer. There are many good souvlaki eateries in Athens, but Ermina’s is a favourite of ours.
Virtually next door to Ermina’s you’ll find Lukumades, a restaurant dedicated to Athen’s favourite donuts: lukumádes. These come in sweet and savoury varieties and are among the most delicious things to eat in the city. Try the feta lukumades to start, followed by the pistachio-filled lukumades and maybe a little mastiha, a liqueur from Chios made from the sap of a mastic tree. There’s not really a taste quite like it.
Mastiha and lukumades
Another very central eatery, Zisis is a cosy place famous for its fried seafood served in cones. The calamari, prawns and whitebait are particularly good. Great prices and great quality seafood street food, they also have an off-street restaurant where you can enjoy the finest Greek fish.
Many visiting Athens visit for the Parthenon, its elegant columns standing guard above the city. For a great meal with an even better view of the Acropolis, Strofi is a must visit, serving traditional Greek food on its rooftop dining room.
For another great view, head up Mt Lycabettus where you’ll find not only the best views of the city, but a couple of restaurants to have a little something as you take in the scenery.
This is traditional as they come in Athens. A stone’s throw from the city’s central market, Diporto began over a century ago as a restaurant for the market workers, using high-quality ingredients to provide them with a meal. Essentially unchanged since then, Diporto is an unusual place you’ll find in a room underground, with barrels of retsina wine beside you. There’s no menu here and you get what they give you, which is a great insight into Athens.
The nearby market is an interesting area to explore for a sense of what makes the city tick, while we also recommend heading into Karatzas and Miran for cheese and meats.
This Athenian institution in Syntagma is over a hundred years old and is a fantastic place for breakfast, brunch or lunch. They are particularly famous for their sweets, especially their rice puddings flavoured with the aforementioned mastiha and made using buffalo milk. Unusual but worth it. Their baklava are also great, especially with a Greek coffee.
Greek coffee and loukoumi at Chatzis
Writing about this place doesn’t really do it justice and while the food is good, it’s not really the main event. This café has a good selection of sweets and more, but its true appeal is its insane decorations that change with the seasons. When we visited in January, it was entirely decorated for Christmas with the most incredible and over-the-top Christmas destinations. Well worth a visit, you won’t forget this in a hurry.
Drink
Rated among the top 10 bars in the world, The Clumsies is a welcoming cocktail bar that is also a great environment in which to relax with a wine or coffee. Its cocktails, however, are simply fantastic, probably the most interesting we’ve had. Try their baklava cocktail or if you’re feeling adventurous, their Greek salad cocktail. It sounds strange but it oddly works.
Baklava wine (left) and Greek salad cocktail (right)
The oldest distillery and bar in Athens, Brettos in Plaka is famous for its on-site produced ouzo and if you’re unfamiliar with the anise-flavoured spirit, typically made with grapes, then there’s nowhere better to learn about it in the city. The bar is also renowned for its cocktails and liqueurs, with the liqueurs following recipes dating back to the 19th century. They also offer wine tastings and an extensive wine list.
The oldest distillery in the city
Speaking of wines, one of our favourite wine bars in the world is Heteroclito, a cosy bar in the middle of Athens with knowledgeable staff and a friendly atmosphere. The world of Greek wine has a lot to explore and with unfamiliar terms and grapes, it can be a little daunting for outsiders. However, if you speak with the staff here, they’ll give you great recommendations. We had a particularly enjoyable orange wine here.
This is another great wine bar with friendly staff and an extensive wine list. This is a good place to while away the hours with a charcuterie board and a little local cheese along with a glass of Greek wine.
A big part of Athens is also is traditional tavernas and while there are many good ones in the city, we particularly recommend Skalakia (Steps). It’s a little out of the way but it has great prices, traditional Greek food and wines and a very unpretentious feel to it. We also recommend exploring the city’s bakeries, particularly for baklava and loukoumi. If you head to a supermarket, look out for skordalia, which is a delicious garlic and potato dip not found much outside of Greece.
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