Where to Eat in Athens and Piraeus
Athens
If you're wondering where to eat in Athens and Piraeus we have a few suggestions including some favorites around the Acropolis, Omonia Square, and Syntagma.
We've also included some highly-acclaimed places, ranging from Michelin-starred restaurants that we aspire to eat in one day, to cheap tavernas that we love and which simply ooze atmosphere.
Price Guide
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Expensive
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Moderate
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Inexpensive
Around the Acropolis
Spondi €€€ This neo-classical mansion has contemporary art works on the walls and has been voted the best restaurant not just in Athens but in the whole of Greece several years in a row. Pyrronos 5, Varnava Square, tel: 210 752 4021, spondi.gr.
To Kouti €€ One of the few reliable places on this busy Plaka street, most of the others catering for the fast tourist trade. Here the service is more leisurely, the menu's unusual and the setting with its Acropolis views will give you a romantic night to remember. Adrianou 23, tel: 210 321 3229, no website.
O Platanos € It sometimes seems like 'The Plane Tree' (like the plane tree it's named after) has been here forever, so well-established is it in its leafy square. Visitors love it as it is so typically Greek, but locals hang out here too, and though the food is nothing fancy, it is wonderfully cooked. Great atmosphere too, whether outside on warm summer evenings or dining cosily inside in winter. Diogenous 4, tel: 210 322 0666, O Platanos website.
Around Omonia Square
Athinaikon € Wonderful venerable old place with its wooden interior still intact, and some of the waiters seemingly dating from the same era. They have one of the best meze menus in town, dozens of dishes made fresh every day so it's a chance to try lots of different things like grilled octopus, meatballs with mint, or deep-fried whitebait. Themistokleous 2, tel: 210 383 8485, athinaikon.gr.
Diporto € If you want a real Athens eating experience then head for this old place in a basement beneath the Central Market, where the market traders go for good, honest, fresh, hearty food, though you'll find local business people there too. If you're on a budget, it's ideal. It's at the corner of Theatrou and Sokratous, There's no phone or website so you just have to turn up and chance your luck, and you can read more about it here: culinarybackstreets.com.
Our Pick of the Athens Guides
Around Syntagma Square
Aegli Café and Restaurant €€€ Fabulous setting in the National Gardens by the Zappeion, but don't assume it's just another café as the bistro-style menu is very inventive, as is the more extensive (and expensive) French-influenced evening menu. They make nice cocktails too. Zappeion, tel: 210 336 9363, aeglizappiou.gr.
Balthazar €€€ This has long been one of the most stylish places to eat in Athens, housed in a wonderful 19th-century mansion on the north-east edge of Kolonaki. They do vegan and vegetarian dishes as well, have a separate sushi menu, and if you're on a budget and want to sample their amazing food without breaking the bank they have a Finger Food menu as well. Vournazou/Tsocha 27, tel: 210 644 1215, balthazar.gr.
Ratka €€-€€€ International menu ranges from sushi to pasta in this chic place which has been a fashionable meeting and eating spot in Kolonaki for decades. Haritos 32, tel: 210 729 0746, no website but you can read its glowing reviews on TripAdvisor here.
Ouzadiko €€ This contemporary take on a traditional Greek ouzerie shows off the new Greek-style cooking at its best with a long list of meze, the Greek version of tapas, to choose from, and the chance to find out that not all ouzos taste the same. Karneadou 25-29 (in the shopping mall), tel: 210 729 5484, no website.
Benaki Museum Café € Great place for a spot of lunch on this attractive second-floor terrace, with a very popular buffet on their Thursday late-night opening, for which you would be advised to book. Koumbari 1/Vasilissis Sofias, tel: 210 367 1000, benaki.gr.
Dexameni € Well-loved and long-established café-restaurant, with mainly light meals but a great people-watching place in a lovely little Kolonaki square. Platia Dexameni, tel: 210 723 2834, no website but you can read more here: culinarybackstreets.com.
Piraeus
Jimmy's Fish €€-€€€ Ask an Athenian to recommend one Piraeus fish restaurant and chances are it would be this one, not just for the fresh fish and its speciality seafood pasta dishes but also its lovely setting on the harbour at Mikrolimano. Don't turn up late on a sunny Sunday lunchtime and expect to find an empty seat. Akti Koumoundourou 46, tel: 210 412 4417, jimmysfish.gr.
Dourabeis €€ If a seafood restaurant has been in business for over sixty years then it must be doing something right, and the secret here is: keep it simple. The freshest of fish, the lightest of grillings and dinner is perfect. Not cheap but then fish never is. Akti Dilaveri 27-29, tel: 210 412 2092, Dourabeis Facebook page.
Other Athens pages
My Athens: a Portrait by Travel Writer Mike Gerrard
In My Athens on Greece Travel Secrets travel writer Mike Gerrard describes what he loves about Athens including the Acropolis and eating!
Athens in the Rain
Athens in the rain isn’t something you’re likely to experience but here are suggestions for things to do in the rain in Athens including museums and shopping
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For a Crete olive oil tour Greece Travel Secrets visits Biolea, one of the few olive oil factories on Crete that you can visit.
Corfu Food and Drink
Information for travelers on Corfu Food and Drink including restaurants and tavernas, Corfiot specialties, desserts, wine and other Greek drinks like ouzo.
Dolmades
Greece Travel Secrets explains the long history of the Greek dish of dolmades, or stuffed vine leaves, which goes back to ancient Greece, and provides a recipe.
Ten Best Dishes in Greece
Greece Travel Secrets lists the ten best dishes to try in Greece, especially if it’s your first visit, and also discover the best places to find them.
Zakynthos Winemaker
Antonis Maroudas is a Zakynthos winemaker who lives on the 'wine road' and is one of the people who make Zakynthos.
Goules Taverna Crete
The Goules Taverna in Goulediana, south of Rethymnon, has been called one of the best tavernas on Crete and Greece Travel Secrets recently visited them.
Athens Eaters Guide
Athens, an Eater's Guide to the City, is published by Culinary Backstreets, who do walking food tours in Athens and the book recommends the best places to eat.
The Best Things to Do in Athens
The best things to do in Athens, Greece, include top archaeological sites like the Acropolis and must-see attractions such as the National Archaeological Museum
Piraeus
Piraeus is the port of Athens from where many ferries to the Greek islands depart, and it also has an Archaeological Museum and the Hellenic Maritime Museum.
The Best Hotels in Athens
Greece Travel Secrets gives its choice of the best hotels in Athens from budget and moderate options through to 5-star luxury choices.
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The Greece Travel Secrets guide to tipping in Greece from two Greece travel experts, including when to tip, what to tip and when not to tip.
A Walk around Kolonáki
This walk around the Kolonaki neighbourhood of Athens starts and ends in Syntagma Square and takes you to several museums, Kolonaki Square and Mount Lykabettos.
Corfu Olives
Corfu olives are an important part of this Greek island's economy, with an estimated 3-4 million trees producing olive oil of exceptional quality.
The Pnyx
The Pnyx hill near the Acropolis is one of Athens' true hidden gems, a place to wander freely away from the crowds and discover ancient places and mysteries.
What Is Metaxa?
What is Metaxa? Metaxa is an amber Greek spirit combining brandy made by distilling wine, sweet wine from Samos and a secret recipe of Mediterranean botanicals.
Santorini Wineries
Visiting Santorini wineries is a popular activity on this Greek island in the Cyclades, whose volcanic soil provides a distinctive terroir.
Athens Culinary Tours
Athens culinary tours are among the food walking tours offered by an unusual company, Culinary Backstreets.
How to Make Petimezi
How to make Petimezi, the sweet Cretan syrup made from wine must, is explained to Greece Travel Secrets.
Monastiraki and Around
Around Monastiraki is the flea market, Athens cathedral, Kerameikos Cemetery, the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art and the Psirri and Gazi nightlife districts.
Zacharioudakis Winery
Greece Travel Secrets visits the Zacharioudakis Winery near Ancient Gortina in southern Crete, and does a vineyard tour arranged by our guide from Go Crete.
Greek Alcoholic Drinks
Greek alcoholic drinks include distinctly Greek drinks such as ouzo, Metaxa, retsina, raki, tsikoudia and tsipouro, but also Greek wines and Greek beers.
Best Cocktail Bars in Athens
Two of the best cocktail bars in Athens, MoMix Kerameikos and The Clumsies, are making creative cocktails using that most Greek of Greek spirits, Metaxa.
Athens Acropolis
The Athens Acropolis has the city's most iconic building, the Parthenon, along with other historic buildings and is where the Elgin Marbles were taken from.
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