π€ Irene's picks
The food-bars-clubs list (via Alex Neophitou) and the neighbourhoods to wander, from Psyrri to Kolonaki. 27 places.
Vibe: β Alternative Β· β Trendy Β· β Classic Β· β Posh Β· β Must-see Price: β¬ cheap Β· β¬β¬ mid Β· β¬β¬β¬ expensive (Google's per-person range) βΈ = temporarily closed on Google
Psyri & Monastiraki
ποΈ 1Psiri (Psyrri)
A former craftsmen's quarter next to Monastiraki, now packed with tavernas, bars, street art and late-night music. It is fairly alternative and gritty-bohemian (but busy with visitors), with no poshness at all.
ποΈ 2Monastiraki
The busy square, metro hub and flea market below the Acropolis, full of souvenir and vintage stalls and rooftop bars with views. Lively and mainstream-touristy, with a slightly scruffy edge. Not posh.
π½οΈ 3Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani
πΊ beer β¬4.5 Β· π· wine β¬4β6.50 Β· π½οΈ plate β¬6.50β8.50
A deli and charcuterie shop with a busy meze restaurant attached, serving pastirma, soutzouki, cured meats, cheeses and Anatolian-Greek small plates with ouzo, tsipouro and wine. It is built on the cured-meat traditions of the Karamanlides, Anatolian Greek-Orthodox refugees. Fanis Theodoropoulos continues his family's 1920s pastirma trade, and the restaurant has occupied its corner neoclassical building since 2014.
πΈ 6Wine is Fine
π· wine β¬6β9 Β· π½οΈ plate β¬10β13
A French-bistro-style natural-wine bar that works as a small restaurant, with a full seasonal menu of French-Greek small plates and white tablecloths on pedestrian Vissis St. It is walk-in only with a long waitlist. Two Frenchmen, Rafael Wallon-Brownstone and Thomas Brengou, run it with Greek chef Stavros Chrysafidis, in a 70s-chic interior.
πΈ 9Couleur Locale
πΈ cocktail β¬12 Β· πΊ beer β¬6
An all-day rooftop bar and bistro in a Monastiraki arcade by the flea market, with a direct Acropolis view. Coffee and brunch by day, then a cocktail bar with DJs and jazz, soul and rock at night, plus light food. It opened in 2014 on the top floor of a shabby-looking building.
πΈ 10TAF - The Art Foundation
A courtyard cafΓ©-bar in an art complex with galleries and a shop, in 1870s residential buildings around a tree-filled courtyard. Coffee by day, beers and simple cocktails at night, with an arty young crowd and underground music. It has run since about 2014.
πΈ 11RetirΓ© (at Ergon House)
πΈ cocktail β¬13 Β· πΊ beer β¬6
A seasonal (April to October) third-floor rooftop bar on the Ergon House food hall and hotel, with Acropolis views. Cocktails by The Clumsies come from a cocktail truck, with Greek wines, beers and light bites. Casual and walk-in only.
Plaka, Syntagma & historic centre
ποΈ 13Plaka
The oldest quarter, right under the Acropolis: pedestrian lanes, neoclassical houses and the Cycladic-style Anafiotika hamlet. Pretty and very touristy, neither alternative nor posh (tourist-priced tavernas).
π½οΈ 14Dopios
πΈ cocktail β¬13 Β· πΊ beer β¬6 Β· π· wine β¬6 Β· π½οΈ plate β¬14
A modern Greek meze restaurant by chef Christoforos Peskias, a sit-down dinner place with a solid cocktail and wine list. It focuses on small producers from around Greece. It has run since about 2021 under plane trees on Agion Theodoron square, beside the 11th-century church of Agioi Theodoroi.
πͺ© 19Dybbuk
A large electronic dance club with house and techno nights, known for big production nights and winter-only seasons. Its last known home was the Stadiou 7 arcade near Syntagma, its third location. It opened around 2009 in a Kolonaki basement at Patriarchou Ioakeim 37.
Gazi, Kerameikos & Metaxourgeio
π½οΈ 20Seychelles
π½οΈ plate β¬12β18
Seychelles (ΣΡΟΟΞλλΡΟ) is a modern-Greek sharing-plates restaurant with outdoor tables on a lively pedestrian square in Metaxourgeio/Kerameikos. Booking is recommended. An early Athens 'bistronomy' spot, it serves ingredient-driven Greek 'soul food' with rustic-meets-urban cooking and is popular with locals and tourists.
Exarchia, Omonia & north centre
πͺ© 40Skullbar
An underground bar that is an alternative coffee bar by day and a dance club by night. It is best known for weekend after-hours techno and house parties starting around 05:00.
Kolonaki & Lycabettus
ποΈ 44Kolonaki
The upscale district on the lower slopes of Lycabettus, with designer boutiques, galleries, embassies and people-watching cafΓ©s around Kolonaki Square (Plateia Filikis Etaireias). The poshest neighbourhood in central Athens: establishment and chic, the opposite of alternative.
β 48Dexameni (cafΓ©-ouzeri)
A historic open-air kafeneio under the trees of Dexameni Square: coffee in the morning, then ouzo or beer with small meze plates through the evening. It is very local. The square is named after Hadrian's 2nd-century reservoir, was a haunt of writers like Papadiamantis and Varnalis, and has a summer open-air cinema (Cine Dexameni).
πͺ© 51Rock'n'Roll
A bar-restaurant by day and early evening (burgers, pizza, tacos), then a crowded late party bar with DJs, party nights and live acts. A Kolonaki institution since 1987, with a mixed-age crowd from the smart Kolonaki set.
Pangrati, Mets & Ilisia
ποΈ 60Pangrati
A residential district behind the Panathenaic Stadium, centred on Plateia Varnava and Plateia Plastira, with a strong local food and bar scene and few tourists. Middle-class and quietly hip: more neighbourhood-bohemian than either alternative or posh.
π½οΈ 62Akra
A bistronomy restaurant and bakery with an open kitchen, a counter and a wood-fired grill. It runs as a bakery-cafΓ© for breakfast, with dinner as the main event. Chefs Giannis Loukakis and Spiros Pediaditakis opened it in 2023, and it holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand (since the 2024 Athens guide).
π½οΈ 63Mavro Provato
π½οΈ plate β¬9β13
A very popular modern mezedopoleio ('black sheep') in Pangrati serving small plates, grills, home-style dishes and tsipouro at fair prices. Reservations recommended. A neighbourhood favourite, with a second branch in Melissia.
πΈ 65Chelsea Hotel (bar)
πΈ cocktail β¬6β8 Β· πΊ beer from β¬3
Not a hotel: a bohemian corner cafΓ©-bar on Plastira Square in a former grocery. Coffee by day, then a busy, cheap neighbourhood bar with craft beer and simple cocktails at night. A Pangrati favourite with young locals.
Acropolis, Koukaki, Thissio & Petralona
ποΈ 66Thissio
The area around the pedestrian Apostolou Pavlou promenade, with cafΓ©s facing the Acropolis and the Temple of Hephaestus in the Ancient Agora. Relaxed and somewhat touristy but loved by Athenians for evening strolls: mid-range, neither posh nor very alternative.
ποΈ 67Filopappou Hill (Philopappos)
A pine-covered archaeological hill south-west of the Acropolis, topped by the 2nd-century Philopappos Monument and crossed by Pikionis' stone paths. It has the classic Acropolis and sunset view, is free and open, and has a local, unpretentious feel, more green space than scene.
π½οΈ 69Phita (Fita / Ξ¦ΞΞ€Ξ)
A modern Greek gastro-taverna in Neos Kosmos, dinner-focused, with a daily-changing, seafood-heavy sharing-plate menu of seafood, vegetables and pulses from small producers, and a curated wine list. Fotis Foteinoglou and Theodoros Kassavetis opened it in 2019, and it is credited with putting Neos Kosmos on the food map.
πΈ 71Drupes & Drips
A tiny Koukaki spot with specialty coffee and juices in the morning, then an Italian-style spritz and cicchetti bar. Evenings bring Greek and Italian natural wines, prosecco and raki with cured meats and cheese boards.
πΈ 72Epta Martyres (Seven Martyrs)
π½οΈ plate β¬5
A Neos Kosmos/Koukaki wine bar with a Volos-tsipouradiko-style kitchen and 150+ Greek and European low-intervention labels, many of them magnums, with 10+ by the glass. Small seafood and meze plates are sent out as you drink, a Volos custom. It opened in 2024 and quickly became a hangout.
πͺ© 74Alcatraz (strip club)
A strip and 'show club' on Syngrou Avenue, Athens' traditional strip of nightclubs, open 21:00-09:00 with reservations by phone or online. It is repeatedly reported as a tourist trap, with taxi drivers steering customers there and inflated bills.
Beyond the centre
π½οΈ 78Krabo
πΊ beer β¬8 Β· π· wine β¬10 Β· π½οΈ plate β¬17β25
A seasonal beach restaurant and bar in the small Zoska cove at Kavouri, with paid sunbeds and cabanas. Lunch under a pergola is Mediterranean seafood, pasta and meze with Greek wines, followed by sunset cocktails.
πͺ© 79Island (Island Club & Restaurant / Island Athens Riviera)
πΈ cocktail β¬20 Β· π½οΈ plate β¬30β69
An upscale seaside summer restaurant and nightclub on the rocks at Varkiza: sunset dinner, then DJs and partying until early morning, with table and bottle service. It is long-running, with whitewashed Cycladic styling and sea views, a glamorous summer night out on the Riviera.