At least once or twice a week, I get a message or email from a friend asking for my top restaurants in Athens, a city that I now call a second home.
So instead of sending pieced together messages and instagram profiles, I decided to create a list that I call my “Athens Must Eats.” None of these places have paid me to be included in this list.
I’ve tried to make this list as accessible and easy to use as possible. If you click on the name of the restaurant, it will take you to its Instagram profile, or website. I’ve also hyperlinked the address with Google maps to help you understand where each restaurant is located.
Kali Orexi and I’d love to hear your feedback if you take my advice and eat at any of these places.
PS… If I had to pick a favorite amongst this list, it would be Papadakis. I know many shy away from “celebrity chef” restaurants but this place stands out and is unique, and worth the cost.
Papadakis Restaurant
Fokilidou 15 Kolonaki
Seafood dishes, traditional meals. A bit pricey but one of the best quality restaurants in the city, repeatedly raved about in NY Times, Bon Apetit and other global publications. Well-known celebrity chef Argiro Barbarigou has brought many of her recipes and local products from her native Paros. She also sources ingredients from other parts of Greece to give her dishes a traditional village taste. The lobster pasta is a top dish. My favorite, however, is the crawfish pasta. Because I hate making a mess and de-shelling the crawfish or shrimp, the kitchen staff is always nice enough to clean it for me.
Oxo Nou
Em. Benaki 63-65 Exarcheia
A traditional Cretan taverna with all of the unique dishes of the island, in the heart of the grittiest, city-center neighborhood in Athens. I love this place because the tastes take me back to the island of my childhood summers without having to leave the city. If you’re going to eat at a Cretan taverna, make sure you eat the Cretan delicacies like the snails, the wedding rice pilaf and the cured pork Apaki (photo below).
Taverna Rozalia
Valtetsiou 59 Exarcheia
My go-to traditional Greek taverna when someone asks for that. No frills, no fusion cuisines. No ceviches and funky flavors. Just good, old fashioned moussaka, pastitsio, grilled meats with Greek seasonings and a menu of traditional daily specials that taste like a Greek grandmother’s meals.
Trattoria Capanna
Ploutarchou 38 Kolonaki
Yes, Athens has amazing pizza and pasta, prepared the Italian way. Capanna makes their own pasta, as well as dough for their breads and pizzas. This is a go-to restaurant for fashionable locals who live in Kolonaki and not on the tourist trail. As a result, you almost always need reservations.
Cherchez La Femme
Mitropoleos 46 Syntagma
Grab your friends and start ordering small plates for the table. Don’t let the French name confuse you. This place is as Greek as Greek can get. This is a shareable menu restaurant with a wide variety of plates to satisfy anyone. Eating here is a communal experience, something the proprietors intended from the beginning with their small tables and eclectic menu, as well as the way the food is served. Below, traditional pastitsio served in the clay pot it was baked in.
I first ate at the Mykonos branch of Nice & Easy and fell in love. As its name suggests, the menu is simple and wholesome, based almost entirely on locally-produced, farm-to-table organic ingredients. I love the menu references and decor dedicated to old Hollywood but even more, I love the diverse menu options. Great pasta dishes and a wide variety of meats make it hard to choose.
