The selected restaurants have been divided into five categories: Gourmet, Business, Trendy, Budget and Personal Recommendations. The restaurants are listed alphabetically within these different categories, which serve as guidelines rather than absolute definitions of the establishments.
Some Athens restaurants are closed for the summer break between mid July and mid September.
Prices in Greek restaurants will usually already include the 10% sales tax. However, all Greek restaurants are required by law to add a 13% service charge to the bill and it is still customary to leave the waiter
an additional 10% tip on top.
The restaurants below have been classed into four different pricing categories:
$$$$ (over €60)
$$$ (€45 to €60)
$$ (€30 to €45)
$ (up to €30)
The prices quoted below are for an average three-course meal for one person and for a bottle of house wine or cheapest equivalent; they include sales tax but do not include service charge or tip.
GourmetVaroulko Relocated to Gazi in 2005, Varoulko boasts a sleek modern wood-and-glass interior, plus a stunning roof terrace with Acropolis views. Considered by many the best seafood eatery in town, it was awarded a Michelin star in 2002. The menu varies daily according to what is available in the fish market.
Pireos 80, Gazi
Tel: 210 522 8400.
Website:
www.varoulko.grPrice: $$$$
TrendyFasoliIn bohemian Exarhia, this funky eatery, decorated with tiny fairy lights, offers creative Mediterranean specialties including a good range of pasta dishes, colorful salads, and tasty main such as peppered steak or chicken with thyme and lemon. The reliable house wine is served by the carafe.
45 Emmanuel Benaki, Exarhia
Tel: 210 330 0010.
Price: $
48 The Restaurant With its polished concrete interior and floodlit water garden, 48 is popular with rich, glitzy Athenians. The menu, featuring new-Greek cuisine, changes with the seasons. It’s possible to take a stool at the bar for cocktails and finger food.
Armatolon Klefton 48, Ambelokipi
Tel: 210 641 1082.
Website:
www.48therestaurant.comPrice: $$$$
Mamacas Another fine restaurant in Gazi, Mamacas is situated at a crossroads and, in summer, this location is quite surreal, with candlelit, whitewashed wooden tables on four street corners and the towering gasworks in the background. The color is supplied by the people and the food - taverna classics with a twist. There is a wine bar annex across the street.
Persefonis 14, Gazi
Tel: 210 346 4984.
Website:
www.mamacas.gr Price: $$
BudgetO Platanos One of Pláka’s oldest tavernas, located near the Tower of the Winds, O Platanos has served up home cooking since 1932. There is a good choice of stews, while the only dessert on offer is syrup-drenched
baklava. The house wine, a barrel retsina, is excellent. Through summer, tables are arranged on a pretty bougainvillea-covered terrace.
Diogenous 4, Pláka
Tel: 210 322 0666.
Price: $$
ScholiarhioLocated in the heart of Pláka, close to the small Byzantine church of Ag Nikolaos, this charming
ouzeri occupies two floors, linked by a head-spinning spiral staircase. The menu is in Greek only but waiters bring a selection of dishes on trays so diners can chose what they like the look of. Open until 0200.
Tripidon 14, Pláka
Tel: 210 324 7605.
Price: $
Thanasis A classic place to stop for
souvlaki kalamaki (shish kebab) served with pitta bread and chips, Thanasis is popular with locals and gets unbelievably busy, especially at weekends. The atmosphere is fast and chaotic but traditional and fun. Tables both indoors and out, just around the corner from the Monastiráki metro station.
Mitropoleos 69, Monastiráki
Tel: 210 324 4705.
Price: $
Personal RecommendationsAchinos This beautifully designed split-level restaurant is built into a cliff-side on the coast, offering fantastic views over the sea. The atmosphere is romantic but relaxed, and the waiters professional but friendly. The kitchen employs authentic regional ingredients to turn out carefully presented dishes, creative salads and delicious stewed meats.
Akti Themistokleous 51, Freatida, Piraeus
Tel: 210 452 6944.
Price: $$
SardellesIn the trendy nightlife district of Gazi, this unpretentious eatery specializes in down-to-earth Greek seafood. Favorites such as charcoal-grilled sardines (after which the restaurant takes its name),
bakaliaros (fried cod) and seasonal salads are served in a minimal-chic dining room, or at outdoor tables on the street through summer.
Persefonis 15, Gazi
Tel: 210 347 8050.
Price: $
To Kouti To Kouti (meaning ’the box’) is located close to the Monastiráki antique market. The interior comprises lofty space with ochre-painted walls, wooden floors and marble-top tables. The menu features colorful salads and creative meat dishes. It is possible to come here just for coffee or a drink and in summer there are tables outside.
Adrianou 23, Monastiráki
Tel: 210 321 3229.
Price: $$
Nightlife:Athens has a lively nightlife scene that takes place in the streets as well as in the hundreds of bars, tavernas and clubs throughout the city. Bars open until around 0400 and nightclubs until 0400 or 0600. The legal drinking age in bars and clubs is 18. Prices vary although punters can expect to pay around €6 for a beer or €8 for a whisky. Admission prices vary dramatically from place to place, often increasing at the weekend. Greeks tend to dress informally but stylishly for a night out.
Winter is the best time to enjoy the full range of after-dark entertainment, as many establishments move to the coast during the summer. For an authentic Athenian evening, find a bar or club offering
bouzouki or
rembétika music. Alternatively, numerous nightclubs and bars cater for international tastes. These are to be found mainly in the Syntagma, Thissio, Psirri, Gazi and Kolonáki areas of central Athens, as well as in the suburbs, such as Kifissia, Glyfada, Vouliagméni, Voula and Varkiza.
Kathimerini (website:
www.ekathimerini), an English-language insert available with the Herald Tribune, provides information on what’s on in Athens.
Bars: The most ’happening’ area of town is now Gazi, thanks to the new Kerameikos metro station, which has made it infinitely more accessible. Venues worth looking in include
Hoxton, Voutadon 42, a former warehouse converted into an industrial-chic lounge-bar, and
Tapas, Triptolemou 44, a cosy, Spanish-themed cocktail bar serving tapas and playing a good mix of eclectic music till late. Closer to the center, Psirri caters for more mainstream tastes, with its once down-at-heel workshops which have been renovated to create popular bars, tavernas and restaurants. Here,
Soul, Evripidou 65, tops the league in terms of atmosphere, with a cocktail bar, lounge and restaurant in a stunning courtyard with deep red walls and lush planting, plus a dance floor upstairs.
To rub shoulders with the Athenian elite, try the upmarket area of Kolonaki. Business visitors favor
Central, Platia Kolonki 14 (see
Restaurants), while those in search of something more colorful should check out
Mommy, Delphon 4, a glamorous bar-restaurant with 1970s décor and a young, rich, trendy clientele.
For a drink under the stars with an Acropolis view, try the open-air cafes lining Apostolou Pavlou in Thissio and Adrianou near Monastiraki.
Clubs: Athens’ top clubs include
Boudoir at Deligianni 50 and Georganta in Kifissia, a smart suburb north of the city center,
Envy at Ag Eleoussis and Kakourgodikiou, and
Mao at Ag Anargiron and Agatharhou 3, both in Psirri close to Monastiráki metro station. During summer, most of the big clubs move out to the beach.
Live Music: For the best jazz in town, visit
Halfnote Jazz Club, Trivonianou 17, Mets. Rock music enthusiasts might prefer the more informal
Gagarin, Liosion 203-205, Atiki (website:
www.gagarin205.gr), staging live concerts. Many of Greece’s top
bouzouki stars play at
Athinon Arena, Pireos 166, Gazi. To hear authentic
rembétika (blues sung by immigrants from Asia Minor who came to Greece in 1920s), try the
Stoa Athanaton,
an atmospheric venue, in the arcade inside the Central Market.
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