Taste the most Delicious Street Food in Athens

Where to eat in Athens

Being a city defined by a vibrant youth culture and looking forward to being innovative and novel in its culinary fare, Athens has a lively street food scene. Delicious food can be quickly prepared and taken away to be eaten at one of the many benches or sit spots under the trees around the city. Known locally as ‘paketo’ (packet) or ‘sto heri’ (in hand), whenever you are hungry and the urge hits, you don’t need to wait for dinner time to grab a great snack. Or if you just fancy a lunch you can take about with you, there’s a great variety. 

Falafellas

One of the tastiest street food places in the city, beloved by locals as the often long queues and crowds waiting to be served outside suggest, is Falafellas. As the name goes, the main attraction is the fresh, homemade falafel in a wrap with salad, yoghurt sauce and spice to your own liking. You can take this at either pocket size or giant. Located on Aiolou street, it’s a real gem for vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike. It’s also possible here to order Greek meatballs in a wrap, or a nice cold beer to wash it down on a sunny afternoon. The service is great, the queue goes down quickly and the guys are really swift to get you your food.

Etnico Street Food

Here you’ll find world inspired street food that can be eaten in on the simple tables and benches or taken away whilst you walk the streets. Located on Kolokotroni, a very central street for the food and bar scene, you can find food influenced from all over the world. As the name suggests, this is ethnic cuisine, so you can get something like a tasty, full burrito, or a chimichanga. The place is open until the early hours of the morning, so there’s no rush during the day and is an excellent place to chill with the vibrant world music and friendly, engaging staff. You’ll also find plenty of vegetarian or vegan options too.

Lukumades

Home of the famous Greek loukoumades, here’s a full and bustling place to go to get a good snack. Seating is available both inside in the American diner style interior, and a large bench outside for customers on the street. Loukoumades are deep fried dough-balls, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, they really just melt in your mouth. You can have them savoury with extras like Cretan cheese and meat or veggies, or you can have them sweet with chocolate or honey. A great combination which is popular within locals is to have both cheese and honey, a blend of sweet and savoury. They also do vegan loukoumades as well, with a vegan dough and dark chocolate or fruit on top, a far lighter but equally delicious option. Find Lukumades also on Aiolou street opposite Saint Irene’s church.

Back to Kolokotroni street and a bit further along from Etnico is Jacket Potato. The main dish served up here is take away hot jacket potatoes, topped up with a huge range of toppings to suit every taste. You can go for classic butter and cheese toppings twisted with some herbs or spices, some shaved meat toppings or if you prefer cooked veggies, your potato is your choice. You can take something veggie and vegan from here as well, and the staff are very friendly, so don’t hesitate to ask about the ingredients and your options. Also, open until 03:00 am, it’s a perfect evening snack, particularly in the months of the colder nights when a hot potato is just what will warm you up!

Mirch

When you head down Ermou street and beyond the fancy shops, you continue past Monastiraki square and keep going until you reach Mirch, an Indian take away restaurant that has firmly taken up its place in the Athens street food scene. Bustling with people giving their order and often the seating is quite full, even with people at the bar, Mirch offers great traditional Indian flavours at very reasonable prices. With food suitable for vegetarians/vegans as well as meat-based dishes there’s really something for everyone. And the secret of Mirch is its tandoori twist on the classic souvlaki. Choose a meat-based tandoori souvlaki, or go for a vegetarian onion bhaji souvlaki, and load it with spice to your preference.

Hoocut

It would be a crime to visit Athens without trying the famous Greek souvlaki, as popular today amongst tourists and locals as it has always been. At Hoocut, they go beyond the typical fast-food greasy affair that’s commonly found at souvlaki restaurants, and provide their customers with fresh, quality ingredients wrapped in fresh pitas made in-house, drizzled with homemade tzatziki. The place is located just off Saint Irene’s square (plateia Agia Irinis), and has a small seating area, with friendly staff and a very clean and appealing interior decor, where you can see the chefs working away in the open kitchen.