Athens is a city that lives and breathes through its food. Walk through any neighborhood after 9 pm, and you’ll find tavernas spilling onto pavements, the smell of charcoal and oregano drifting through narrow streets, and locals settling in for meals that stretch well past midnight.
But here’s the problem: most visitors never experience this. They end up in Plaka, paying €18 for a mediocre moussaka while watching other tourists do the same thing.
This guide takes a different approach. Instead of ranking the “top 10 best restaurants in Athens, Greece” based on TripAdvisor scores, we’re walking you through the neighborhoods where Athenians actually eat—street by street, dish by dish.
You’ll learn which places are worth the wait, which ones locals avoid despite the crowds, and exactly what to order when you sit down. Whether you’re looking for the best restaurants in Athens near the Acropolis or hidden gem restaurants Athens locals have kept to themselves, this guide is your honest blueprint.
Where do locals eat in Athens? The neighbourhood guide
The first thing to understand about dining in Athens is that neighborhood matters more than restaurant ratings. Athenians don’t search for “best restaurants in “Athens”—they have their spots, usually within walking distance of home, and they return week after week. The food culture here is intensely local.
Three neighborhoods stand out for authentic eating experiences, each with its character and specialties.
Psyrri is still the center of Athenian nightlife and food culture. Once a working-class industrial area, it’s now a maze of graffiti-covered streets, rooftop bars, and tavernas that range from excellent to purely decorative. The key is knowing which is which. This is where you’ll find some of the best Greek cuisine in the city center, alongside trendy cocktail bars and live music venues.
Syntagma and the surrounding streets might seem like tourist central—and parts of it are—but locals know the side streets hide some of Athens’ most exciting dining. From Japanese ramen to rooftop cocktails with Acropolis views, this area rewards those who venture beyond the obvious choices. The best restaurants Athens has to offer often sit quietly on streets most visitors never explore.
Kolonaki and Exarchia represent two sides of Athens’ personality. Kolonaki is polished, expensive, and home to the city’s best fine dining. Exarchia is anarchist, artistic, and full of cheap, excellent food. Together, they offer everything from €8 pasta to €80 tasting menus.
Getting between these neighborhoods is part of the Athens experience. The streets are walkable but hilly, the summer heat can be brutal, and taxis aren’t always straightforward to flag down. This scenario is where an Athens airport transfer becomes genuinely useful not just for airport arrivals but also for navigating between dinner in Psyrri and drinks in Kolonaki without the usual Athens transport frustrations. Your driver can even offer neighborhood recommendations based on what you’re craving.
Best restaurants in Psyrri: Where Athenians eat after dark
Psyrri sits just north of Monastiraki, a five-minute walk from the Ancient Agora. During the day, it’s quiet—vintage shops, a few cafés, street art tours. After 8 PM, it transforms entirely. This is where to eat in Athens if you want to experience the city’s social dining culture at its most authentic.
LS aka Linou Soumpasis & Co: A simple, tasty greek restaurant
One of my personal favorites, LS is everything a neighborhood restaurant should be and a bit more. Its name, derived from the creators’ names, reflects the place’s desire to return to and propose a new primary approach to taste, offering a fresh and creative interpretation of traditional Greek cuisine.
Housed in a former candle shop, the restaurant features minimalist design, a warm atmosphere, and a strong focus on seasonal, organic ingredients. Its ever-evolving menu celebrates local produce and authentic flavors through simple yet refined dishes that showcase the essence of modern Greek gastronomy. Recognized by the Michelin Guide as a “new-age taverna,” Linou Soumpasis & Co. delivers an experience that is both relaxed and sophisticated, making it one of Athens’ most distinctive dining destinations.
What to order: Always ask for the special dishes of the day.
Price range: €50-70 per person with wine.
Local tip: Always book a table; the place is usually packed.
Stoa Psyri: The hidden food hall
Located in one of Athens’ most historic neighborhoods, Stoa Psyrri is a lively food hall that showcases some of the city’s most exciting culinary concepts. Combining contemporary design with the vibrant energy of Psyrri, it offers visitors the opportunity to explore a variety of flavors, from traditional Greek street food to modern international cuisine, all within a dynamic and welcoming setting.
Volvi souvlaki: Late-night perfection
Volvi Souvlakia has earned a loyal following for its commitment to simplicity, quality ingredients, and authentic Greek flavors. Known for perfectly grilled meats, fresh pita bread, and carefully selected toppings, it elevates the classic Greek souvlaki experience while staying true to its traditional roots.
What to order: Pita souvlaki with pork meat or soutzoukakia and, of course, the spicy paprika sauce. Remember one is never enough.
Price range: €2.60 per wrap.
Atlantikos: When you want fish
Atlantikos specializes in seafood: grilled fish by weight, fried calamari, and excellent taramosalata. The setting is unpretentious, the fish is fresh daily, and the prices are significantly lower than tourist-focused seafood restaurants in Plaka. Its menu showcases the flavors of the Greek sea with straightforward preparations that highlight the quality of the ingredients.
What to order: Ask what’s fresh, then order it grilled whole with lemon and olive oil.
Price range: €20-30 per person, depending on fish selection.
Via Maris: Vermuteria with a seafood twist
For a more refined fish experience, Via Maris offers contemporary Greek seafood in a minimalist setting. This Mediterranean vermuteria in Psyrri, Athens, blends Greek and Middle Eastern flavors with seafood and small plates made for sharing. This venue is where young Athenian professionals take dates when they want to impress without being obvious about it.
What to order: Oysters, always oysters
Price range: €35-50 per person.
Po’Boys: The Unexpected American Detour
Athens doesn’t need another souvlaki shop, and the people behind Po’Boys understood that. This New Orleans-inspired sandwich spot serves some of the best burgers, loaded fries, and American-style comfort food. It shouldn’t work in the middle of Athens, but it absolutely does.
What to order: A double smashed cheeseburger with loaded fries.
Price range: €10-15 per person.
Okupa listening bar: Where food meets Vinyl
Okupa is technically a bar, but the food deserves mention. The concept is a Japanese listening bar meets Greek wine selection—vinyl records, excellent acoustics, and small plates designed for sharing. Come for cocktails, stay for the atmosphere, and eat because the food is genuinely good.
What to order: The menu changes regularly. Trust whatever’s recommended.
Price range: €30-50 per person, including drinks.
Planning to explore Psyrri’s nightlife properly? The streets here get confusing after midnight, and taxis can be scarce. An Athens airport taxi driver can drop you at the neighborhood entrance and pick you up when you’re done—useful if you’ve had enough raki to forget where you parked.
Best restaurants in Syntagma: Beyond the parliament square tourists
Syntagma Square itself is not a dining destination—it’s a transport hub surrounded by chain restaurants and overpriced hotel cafés. But the streets radiating from it, particularly towards Kolonaki and down to Plaka, contain some of the most exciting restaurants in Athens, Greece. The key is knowing exactly where to look.
Tan Po’Po: The best ramen in Athens
Hidden down a quiet street near the cathedral, Tan Po’Po introduces diners to the comforting and nuanced world of Japanese cuisine, with a particular focus on expertly crafted ramen and traditional dishes. Combining authentic flavors, meticulous preparation, and a warm atmosphere, it offers a genuine taste of Japan in Athens.
What to order: The torikotsu ramen is my go-to choice.
Price range: €15-35 per person.
Note: Small space, often queues. Reserve a spot or be prepared to wait to be seated.
Hafu: Japanese-Greek fusion done right
Hafu explores the intersection of Japanese culinary traditions and contemporary creativity. The menu balances authenticity with innovation, delivering refined dishes that showcase premium ingredients, precise techniques, and elegant presentation.
What to order: The rice paper with red shrimp, the flying squid with fennel, and the cabbage shoots with dried figs are some of the must-haves. Don’t leave without tasting the exceptional potato bread.
Price range: €40-60 per person.
Burger disco: The guilty pleasure
Not everything needs to be traditional. Burger Disco serves proper smash burgers with melted cheese, special sauce, and soft potato buns. The interior looks like a 70s disco, and it actually is. Eat your burger and dance it out.
What to order: The hangover burger with cheddar cheese, maple bacon, fried egg, bacon, mayo, iceberg lettuce, and an onion ring in a potato bun. Yum!
Price range: €15-25 per person.
Kostas: The souvlaki legend
Kostas has been serving souvlaki since 1950. There’s no seating; you order, you stand on the pavement, you eat. This is the souvlaki experience that defines Athens for many locals.
What to order: Pork in pita. Don’t ask for chicken. Don’t ask for fries. Just eat it.
Price range: €3.70 per wrap.
Important: Closed Sundays. Cash only. The queue moves fast.
Ergon House: The Modern deli experience
Ergon House is part restaurant, part grocery, part hotel. The ground floor sells the best Greek products—olive oils, cheeses, and cured meats—while the restaurant upstairs serves them in composed dishes. It’s touristy in the best way: designed for visitors but genuinely excellent.
What to order: The breakfast is outstanding.
Price range: €25-35 per person.
Local tip: Don’t miss the rooftop bar.
Ekiben: Japanese fast-casual
Ekiben borrows the concept of bento boxes from Japanese train stations—quick, balanced meals in neat compartments combined with excellent music and great cocktails. It’s perfect for lunch when you don’t want to spend two hours eating. Grab a bite and leave or book a table if you want to spend some time in this beautiful restaurant.
What to order: The Ekiben Smash, always.
Price range: €15-35 per person.
Sushimou: When you need proper sushi
Widely regarded as one of Greece’s finest sushi destinations, Sushimou is known for its intimate setting and careful attention to detail. Chef-driven and ingredient-focused, it offers an authentic omakase-style experience that reflects the precision and artistry of Japanese cuisine.
What to order: Omakase of course
Price range: €50+ per person depending on what you order.
Granello: Wood-fired pizza
Athens has embraced Neapolitan pizza culture, and Granello executes it perfectly in a wood-fired oven. The dough ferments properly, the mozzarella is imported, and the crust hits the right char.
What to order: Margherita first—it tells you everything. Then, order whatever seasonal topping appeals.
Price range: €12-18 per person.
Le Greche: Gelato as it should be
For dessert, Le Greche serves proper Italian gelato made with Greek ingredients—Chios mastic, Aegina pistachio, and Greek honey. The texture is dense and creamy, not fluffy and sweet.
What to order: Pistachio is the signature. Fior di latte is the test of quality. Get both.
Price range: €4-6 per serving.
Spitjack: Rotisserie excellence
Spitjack does one thing: rotisserie meat. Chicken, pork, and lamb are slowly turned over charcoal until the skin crisps and the meat falls from the bone. Simple, executed perfectly.
What to order: Go for the roasted duck and the beef tartare.
Price range: €20-45 per person.
Best restaurants in Kolonaki and exarchia: From fine dining to anarchist tavernas
These two neighborhoods sit next to each other but couldn’t be more different. Kolonaki is Athens’ upscale district—with designer boutiques, expensive cocktail bars, and well-dressed locals who lunch. Exarchia is the anarchist quarter—graffiti, squats, university students, and some of the cheapest, best food in the city. Together, they represent where locals eat in Athens across the entire economic spectrum.
Getting between them requires navigating some of Athens’ steepest streets. After a long lunch in Kolonaki, the walk to Exarchia can feel ambitious. An Athens airport taxi between neighborhoods keeps your evening energy intact for the important work of eating and drinking.
L’Abrevoir: French fine dining, Athens-style
L’Abrevoir has served French cuisine to Kolonaki’s elite since the 1970s. The dining room feels like a Parisian bistro that got lost on its way to the 8th arrondissement. White tablecloths, formal service, and dishes that execute classical techniques without apology define the experience.
What to order: The duck confit is legendary. The wine list is deep and French-dominated.
Price range: €60-90 per person.
Spyros Vassilis: The neighbourhood institution
A long-standing institution in Athens, Spyros & Vasilis has introduced generations of diners to classic French cuisine. Renowned for its elegance, impeccable service, and timeless recipes, it remains one of the city’s most respected fine-dining destinations without the pretentious ambiance and service.
What to order: The beef tartare is delicious and comes with infinite fries.
Price range: €50+ per person.
Papadakis: Seafood in Kolonaki
Created by celebrated chef Argiro Barbarigou, Papadakis showcases the richness of Greek island cuisine through sophisticated techniques and premium ingredients. The restaurant combines tradition and refinement to deliver an authentic yet elevated dining experience.
What to order: Ask about the fresh catch of the day. The raw preparations are particularly strong.
Price range: €50+ per person.
Il Postino: Italian Comfort
Il Postino serves the kind of Italian food that makes you wonder why you ever eat anywhere else. Handmade pasta, proper ragù, and tiramisu that tastes like someone’s grandmother made it. The restaurant celebrates the simplicity and elegance that define traditional Italian cooking.
What to order: Get the handmade focaccia and their creamy dreamy carbonara with smoked pancetta.
Price range: €20-30 per person.
Brunello: Wine-focused Italian
Brunello pairs excellent Italian wines with food designed to accompany them. The atmosphere is warm, the staff know their list, and the food never tries to outshine the bottles.
What to order: The creamiest cacio e pepe of your life along with a delicious red wine, and you’re all set to go.
Price range: €35-50 per person.
Simul: Modern bistro
Simul brings contemporary European cooking to Kolonaki without pretension. The menu changes with the seasons, the wine list favors natural producers, and the vibe is relaxed despite the postcode.
What to order: The tasting menu if you’re celebrating. Otherwise, go for whatever vegetable dishes are in season.
Price range: €90 per person (no wine included)
Nosh: Where elegance meets street style
Nosh proves that street food can be elegant and well presented. This bar in Kolonaki serves lobster rolls—brioche buns filled with lobster meat and served with a variety of sauces.
What to order: The pulled beef brioche is their best seller for a reason.
Price range: €20-35 per person.
Brutus: Neighbourhood wine bar
Brutus Tavern reinterprets the classic neighborhood taverna through a modern lens. Focusing on premium ingredients, bold flavors, and a lively social atmosphere, it offers a fresh perspective on Greek dining traditions.
What to order: Cheese and charcuterie boards, whatever vegetable preparation they’re featuring.
Price range: €25-35 per person.
Don’t miss: Hidden gem restaurants Athens locals love
Some restaurants don’t fit neatly into neighborhood categories; they’re destination spots that Athenians cross the city to reach. These are the hidden gem restaurants Athens visitors rarely discover.
Ex Machina: The new Athens cooking
A modern fusion bistro showcasing Greek produce combined with Asian influences and the chef’s Egyptian roots. The end result is sort of magical: a delicious blend of Greek raw ingredients, Middle Eastern flavors, and Asian accents. The open kitchen, the zero-waste philosophy, the music, the wine list, and the kind staff—every detail adds to this culinary masterpiece.
What to order: Anything—just make your choices; you will love it.
Price range: €70-100 per person.
Rouan Thai: Authentic southeast Asian
Rouan Thai serves the most authentic Thai food in Athens (located in Piraeus close to the port), curries with proper heat, noodle dishes with correct balance, and flavors that would satisfy Bangkok expats.
What to order: Their Pad Thai is to die for.
Price range: €18-25 per person.
Zarkadoulias: The Crab Specialist
Zarkadoulias specializes in crabs and shellfish. This is where Athenians go when they want to crack shells, make a mess, and eat seafood without pretension. You will have to reach Nikaia, though. Book your table and transfer, and bon appétit!
What to order: The crab, ordered whole and cracked at the table, by weight.
Price range: €40-60 per person.
Makarounes: Fresh pasta, Greek spirit
Makarounes takes its name from the traditional Greek pasta and builds a menu around fresh, handmade pastas with Greek ingredients in Peristeri. It creates recipes in a unique way that keeps the taste memory alert by following seasonality while having a great wine list for every taste.
What to order: The fine-cut liver in olive oil—if it’s available.
Price range: €20-45 per person.
How to spot a tourist trap restaurant in Athens
Athens has more tourist trap restaurants per square meter than almost any European city. The worst offenders cluster in Plaka, along the pedestrian streets of Monastiraki, and anywhere with Acropolis views. Here’s how to avoid wasting money on mediocre food.
The photo menu red flag
If the menu has photographs of every dish, is laminated, and is displayed on a stand outside, you should walk away. These restaurants target visitors who won’t return and have no incentive to cook well. The photos often show dishes that the restaurant hasn’t served in years.
The aggressive host
Anyone standing outside actively soliciting customers is not running a restaurant worth eating at. Good restaurants in Athens don’t need to flag down tourists. They’re full because locals come back.
The multilingual menu spiral
A menu in Greek, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Chinese is not a sign of hospitality—it’s a sign that the kitchen is producing generic food designed to offend nobody and satisfy nobody. The best restaurants Athens has to offer keep their menus simple.
The Acropolis view premium
A stunning view of the Acropolis at dinner sounds romantic until you taste the €25 moussaka. Restaurants charging premium prices for views are selling atmosphere, not food. The exception is rooftop bars focused on drinks, but if you’re going for dinner, move away from the viewpoint.
The “Traditional Greek” trap
Any restaurant describing itself as “Traditional Greek Cuisine Since…” while sitting on a main tourist drag is lying about at least one of those claims. Traditional Greek cooking exists in Athens, but it’s in neighborhood tavernas, not the places with English-speaking waiters and printed TripAdvisor certificates in the window.
What to look for instead
Good signs: a menu in Greek (even if there’s also an English version), locals eating at surrounding tables, no photos of food displayed, no one soliciting you to enter, and prices that seem reasonable rather than inflated. The best restaurants in Athens, Greece, don’t advertise—they fill up because they’re good.
What to eat in Athens: Must-try Greek dishes
Knowing what to eat in Athens matters as much as knowing where. Greek cuisine is deceptively simple—olive oil, lemon, herbs, fresh ingredients—but poor execution is easy to spot and common in tourist areas.
Souvlaki and gyros
Souvlaki is small pieces of meat (traditionally pork) grilled on a skewer. Gyros are meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie and shaved. Both are served in pita with tomatoes, onions, tzatziki, and sometimes chips. Souvlaki tends to be higher quality; gyros vary wildly.
Where to eat it: Kostas near Syntagma and Volvi in Psyrri.
Moussaka
Layers of aubergine, minced meat, and béchamel sauce are baked until golden brown. When done well, it’s comforting and rich. When done poorly—usually reheated after sitting in a bain-marie—it’s greasy and sad.
Where to eat it: Any taverna you see is made fresh.
Greek salad (horiatiki)
Tomatoes, cucumber, onion, peppers, olives, and a slab of feta, dressed with olive oil and oregano. No lettuce. The quality depends entirely on the ingredients—summer tomatoes make this dish; winter tomatoes ruin it.
Where to eat it: Literally any decent taverna. The secret is summer.
Grilled fish
Fresh fish, grilled whole over charcoal, served with lemon and olive oil. This is what the Greek islands are famous for, but Athens does it well when you find the right places.
Where to eat it: Atlantikos in Psyrri, Papadakis in Kolonaki.
Mezedes (small plates)
The Greek approach to dining often involves ordering many small plates to share: tzatziki, melitzanosalata, taramosalata, fried zucchini, grilled octopus, saganaki cheese, and dolmades. The variety is the point.
Where to eat it: Any taverna or restaurant offers mezedes as starters.
Pastitsio
Greece’s answer to lasagna: tubular pasta layered with spiced meat sauce and béchamel. Less famous than moussaka but equally satisfying when made with care.
Where to eat it: Ask at traditional tavernas if they have it; it’s not always on printed menus.
Lamb and goat
Slow-roasted lamb (arnaki) and goat (katsiki) are Greek specialties, typically cooked with potatoes and lemon. Spring lamb, especially around Easter, is exceptional.
Where to eat it: Traditional tavernas
Loukoumades
Small fried dough balls, drizzled with honey and sprinkled with cinnamon and walnuts. The Greek answer to doughnuts, best eaten hot and fresh.
Where to eat it: Look for specialist shops.
Planning your Athens food Journey
The best restaurants in Athens, Greece, aren’t concentrated in one neighborhood—they’re scattered across the city, from the hidden gem restaurants Athens keeps to itself in Exarchia to the refined dining rooms of Kolonaki. Eating well here requires movement.
The most common mistake visitors make is staying too close to the Acropolis, eating in Plaka because it’s convenient, and leaving without understanding why Athenians love their food culture so much. The second most common mistake is exhausting themselves walking Athens’ hills in summer heat, arriving at dinner too tired to enjoy it.
A Welcome Pickups driver familiar with the city can move you between neighborhoods efficiently—from fish in Psyrri to cocktails in Syntagma to late-night souvlaki near Monastiraki—without the frustration of hunting for taxis or deciphering Greek bus routes. More importantly, they can steer you away from tourist traps and towards the best areas to eat in Athens based on what you’re actually craving.
Athens rewards the curious eater. Skip the obvious choices, trust the neighborhood spots, and eat where locals eat. The city’s best meals aren’t marked on any tourist map—but now you know where to find them.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best restaurants in Athens, Greece? 
The best restaurants span multiple neighborhoods and cuisines. For modern Greek, LS (Linou, Soumpasis & Co.) in Psyrri holds Michelin recognition. When it comes to seafood, Atlantikos and Papadakis consistently deliver. Ex Machina offers cutting-edge fusion combining Greek ingredients with Asian and Middle Eastern influences. Sushimou is considered one of Greece’s finest sushi destinations. The “best” depends on what you’re craving—Athens does everything from €2.60 souvlaki at Volvi to €100 tasting menus at Ex Machina.
Where do locals eat in Athens?
Locals eat in their neighborhoods—Psyrri for nightlife-adjacent dining, Koukaki for post-Acropolis meals without Plaka prices, and Exarchia for cheap, excellent food with an artistic atmosphere. They almost never eat on Plaka’s main tourist streets or anywhere with photo menus displayed outside. The key is finding spots where Greeks fill the surrounding tables.
What is the best neighborhood to eat in Athens?
Psyrri offers the most variety and atmosphere for visitors—modern Greek cuisine at LS, late-night souvlaki at Volvi, seafood at Atlantikos and Via Maris, and everything in between. Kolonaki suits fine dining and upscale casual. Exarchia delivers cheap, excellent food in an artistic setting. There’s no single best; each neighborhood has its personality.
What are the best restaurants in Koukaki, Athens?
Koukaki, just south of the Acropolis, offers authentic dining without Plaka prices. The neighborhood rewards wandering; many excellent tavernas, which don’t have a significant online presence, fill with locals every night. Search for spots on Zacynthus and Georgaki Olympiou streets.
What are the best restaurants in Pangrati Athens?
Pangrati is a residential neighbourhood with some of Athens’ best-value tavernas. Prices run 20-30% lower than central areas for comparable quality. The area around Plateia Proskopon has several excellent traditional restaurants – this is where Athenians eat when they’re not entertaining tourists. Do not miss Ex Machina, Akra and pizza from Tre Sorelle.
What are the best restaurants in Exarchia Athens?
Exarchia offers cheap, excellent food in an artistic atmosphere. Look for small tavernas around the central square, particularly those serving students and artists. The neighbourhood also has excellent ethnic food options at remarkably low prices. It’s anarchist, authentic, and full of character. Try Alouatou, Guerilla Burgers, Ama lachei and Lontza tis geitonias.
Are there good restaurants near the Acropolis in Athens?
Yes, but avoid Plaka’s main tourist streets – they’re overpriced and mediocre. Koukaki, a five-minute walk south, has excellent tavernas without tourist markups. Psyrri is also nearby with options ranging from LS for refined Greek to Volvi for late-night souvlaki. The best restaurants near the Acropolis require walking just slightly off the beaten path.
How do I avoid tourist trap restaurants in Athens?
Avoid places with: photo menus displayed outside, hosts actively soliciting customers on the street, menus in six or more languages, prominent “Traditional Greek Cuisine Since…” signs on main tourist drags. Look for: Greek-language menus (English version available on request is fine), locals eating at other tables, no one trying to convince you to enter, and reasonable prices.
What should I eat in Athens?
Start with souvlaki from Kostas (since 1950) or Volvi – the essential Athens experience. Try mezedes at a traditional taverna. Eat grilled fish at Atlantikos or Papadakis. Order moussaka only where it’s made fresh. Greek salad in summer only – winter tomatoes disappoint. For dessert, get pistachio gelato from Le Greche or hunt down fresh loukoumades.
How much does it cost to eat out in Athens?
Athens remains affordable. Souvlaki at Kostas: €3.70. Volvi wraps: €2.60. Taverna meals at Atlantikos: €20-30 per person. Mid-range dining at Il Postino or Brunello: €25-50. Fine dining at LS, Simul, or Ex Machina: €50-100 per person. Casual spots like Granello pizza: €12-18. Gelato at Le Greche: €4-6.
What are the best hidden gem restaurants in Athens?
Ex Machina for modern fusion combining Greek, Asian, and Middle Eastern influences. Zarkadoulias in Nikaia for crab and shellfish worth crossing the city for. Rouan Thai in Piraeus for authentic Southeast Asian. Makarounes in Peristeri for handmade pasta with Greek ingredients. These places thrive on local reputation rather than tourist traffic.
Is it better to eat in Plaka or Koukaki in Athens?
Koukaki, almost always. Plaka’s main streets are tourist-focused with high prices and mediocre quality. Koukaki is a genuine neighbourhood where locals eat, with better food at lower prices. The exception: Plaka’s hidden side streets have some authentic spots if you know exactly where to go but why risk it when Koukaki is a five-minute walk away?
What time do locals eat dinner in Athens?
Athenians eat late – dinner rarely starts before 9 PM, often closer to 10 PM, and 11 PM on weekends isn’t unusual. Restaurants are empty at 7 PM (except for tourists) and packed by 10 PM. LS recommends booking ahead because it’s “usually packed”—locals plan their evenings accordingly.
Does Welcome Pickups offer transfers to restaurants in Athens?
Yes. Welcome Pickups provides private transfers throughout Athens, including drop-offs and pickups at restaurants and neighborhoods. This is particularly useful for reaching hidden gems like Zarkadoulias in Nikaia or Rouan Thai in Piraeus or navigating between dining areas after dark when Psyrri’s streets get confusing and taxis become scarce.
Can Welcome Pickups take me from Athens Airport to a restaurant or neighborhood?
Absolutely. Welcome Pickups can take you directly from Athens Airport to any neighbourhood or restaurant in the city. If you’re arriving hungry and want to head straight to Psyrri or Syntagma rather than your hotel, your driver can drop you at the entrance to the neighborhood. They can also offer recommendations based on what you’re craving and help you avoid tourist traps based on local knowledge.
