At the table, Athens: Our favorite spots inspired by Greece

Given the tourist overflow in the city of Socrates, it’s hard to imagine an exciting food scene. And yet, the reality is quite the opposite. The challenge is that the worst sits right alongside the best, and finding the very good spots can feel like an odyssey.
Here are 5 addresses to help you reach safe harbor.

MANARI TAVERNA

Here’s a brilliant way to dive into Athens’ food scene: Manari, with its well-orchestrated takedown of Greek grilling classics.
Long dresses, suit jackets... Greeks love to dress up for dinner. And elegance isn’t reserved for guidebook-approved restaurants. Here, the only stars are the ones above your head, thousands of them scattered across the sky above the vast, welcoming terrace. Beneath a fig tree doubling as a natural parasol, you settle in with ease.

White tablecloths, waiters in white t-shirts, relaxed but attentive, a sommelier who’s all ears... In Greece, warmth isn’t just about the weather, and certainly not a symptom of climate change. It’s a culture, a form of care.

At Manari, there’s no plate poetry, just a focus on perfection. Precise cooking, quality ingredients, a well-paced rhythm — just enough to keep your taste buds on alert. Then the dance begins: tzatziki, fried eggplant, lamb tartare, kebab, lamb chops... all served at a pace that lets you enjoy each dish without ever breaking the flow. Honestly, Manari is the kind of place where you stay longer than planned, elbow on the tablecloth, gazing at the sky and rethinking the world with friends.

📍 Pl. Agion Theodoron 3, Athina 105 61, Greece
✔️ Open daily from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and from 6:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.
💶 Expect to pay between €30 and €40 for a full meal 

OUZERIE LESBOS

In the Greek capital, tavernas are everywhere, lining every street corner by the thousands. Some are tiny, others leave you smelling like fryer oil for the rest of the day, and some exist only to trap unsuspecting tourists who forgot they came to eat. A quick tip for spotting the truly good spots: check if there are women in the kitchen, because let’s be honest, Greek cooking is women’s business!

At Ouzerie Lesbos, the rule holds true. This gem, tucked away in a quiet, untouristy corner with a terrace shaded by arcades and filled with birdsong (from cages, oops!), is absolutely packed with locals (another good sign!) and a few well-informed tourists.

As for the menu, it’s Greece in postcard-perfect food form. Get ready for the parade: ultra-fresh Greek salad, perfectly crispy fried octopus, irresistible zucchini fritters, sardines and herring with just the right amount of kick, and tzatziki you’ll want to slather on everything until you’re full. The service here is top-notch, and the XXL portions are nearly spilling off the plate.
And since Ouzerie Lesbos specializes in ouzo, skipping this local anise-flavored spirit is not an option — but beware the heatwave, the bottle reads 40°, in the shade or in the sun.

The only real problem? Deciding what to order! The ultimate tip: come with a group, grab a big table, and order as many dishes as possible to try everything (and have no regrets).

📍 Emmanouil Benaki 38, Athina 106 78, Greece
✔️ Open daily from 12:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., except Sundays from 12:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
💶 Expect to pay between €20 and €30 for a full meal

AKRA BAKERY 

Here’s a spot from the land of the rising sun, serving truly exceptional breakfasts. No surprise there, the place was born from the partnership between a promising young chef and a pastry chef. So naturally, the kitchen is buzzing.

Eggs served on thick slices of house-made sourdough, next-level falafel with melting Greek cheese, fried eggs with honey and paprika oil… Clearly, this isn’t the place for nibbling on seeds while sipping an oat latte over a bed of berries. No. Here, the dishes are hearty, and even the most devoted sugar skeptics fall under the spell of the Bun with cinnamon, a kind of giant kouign-amann, half brioche, half compressed butter (Brittany and Greece exchanging glances), deeply nostalgic, intensely satisfying. You close your eyes. You forget the calories. You’re flying (proof that you don’t need to be light or have wings to take off).

After that, lunch might not even be necessary. But that’s perfect timing, walking all day through Athens is the best remedy for digesting and burning it off.
In fact, we didn’t hesitate, we went back the next morning, this time on foot!

📍 Aminta 12, Athina 116 35, Greece
✔️ Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
💶 Expect to pay between €20 and €30 for a full meal

KAPSA

The kebab vs. Greek sandwich squabble still fires up debates among street food purists. But here, the discussion has long been settled: in Greece, there’s no debate, you eat gyros, period (kebabs are Turkish)!

And in Athens, gyros means Kapsa. A corner shop you can’t miss, a terrace that serves as the dining room, and a line of loyal regulars who know exactly what they’re here for. The pork is magical, slowly grilled and tucked into out-of-this-world pitas, served with extra crispy yet fluffy fries. It’s dangerously good.

No reservations, of course, but the good news is it’s open until 2 a.m. The ultimate recommendation? Wait for that late-night craving (the one that hits after a cocktail or two) and head over to fill the gap like the locals do, before diving into the night — whether that means a club or the covers, that’s up to you.

If the Parthenon doesn’t make it onto your itinerary, no worries... you’ve still got Athens’ other landmark for the ultimate gyros: Kapsa.

📍 Skouleniou 4, Athina 105 61, Greece
✔️ Open Tuesday to Sunday from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
💶 Expect to pay between €10 and €20

TAVERNA OIKONOMOU 1930

In Rome, it’s trattorias. In Athens, tavernas. They’re on every street corner. The hardest part is telling the good ones from the mediocre. Look no further, Taverna Oikonomou 1930 ticks all the boxes. A true institution for nearly a century, with a kitchen crew that’s — as is often the case in Greece — entirely female.

Here, no fuss, no reinvention, just honest, generous traditional Greek cooking that warms the heart as much as the belly: meatballs, a whole slab of feta perched on a hill of tomatoes, melt-in-your-mouth veal, eggplant prepared every which way...

What a place to be. The kind of spot where you settle in for a long Sunday lunch, linger around the table with friends to put the world to rights, pick at a few more bites, then order “just one last plate”... until night falls.
The crowd is almost entirely local. People speak Greek, eat Greek, drink Greek. You leave with a smile and an irresistible urge to dance the sirtaki. Zorba, here we come.

📍 Kidantidon 32, Athina 118 51, Greece
✔️ Open daily from 1:00 p.m. to midnight
💶 Expect to pay between €30 and €40 for a full meal