57 Best Restaurants in Athens, Greece

In the city's main shopping district, the compact but modern Melilotos offers a large variety of refreshing, quick-bite options based on traditional Greek dishes with influences from other cuisines. The menu offers a large array of dishes at reasonable prices. Grilled meats, wholesome salads, Greek pastas, macrobiotic and vegetarian options, as well as quality coffee and dessert are all on the menu.

Melina is dedicated to its namesake, the dynamic Never on Sunday actress turned Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri. Set on a scenic, village-style Plaka street framed by pink bougainvillea, the tables are always packed. On a hot afternoon try the delectable club sandwich on crisp sourdough bread, creamy egg salad, or seafood salad; at night try the peppered fillet or "Melina chicken." The desserts here are great, too, including a rich chocolate sokolatina (pudding cake) and a syrupy orange portokalopita cake (made from shredded phyllo), with a strong Greek coffee.

Traditional-looking Glikis and its shady, secluded courtyard are perfect for a Greek coffee or ouzo and a mikri pikilia (a small plate of appetizers, including cheese, sausage, olives, and dips).

On a picturesque pedestrianized square, this is one of the oldest tavernas in Plaka (established 1932). Although not as good as it was during its glory years when intellectuals and artists sat here sipping retsina until the early hours, it's still worth a stop. It is a district landmark—set midway between the Tower of the Winds and the Museum of Greek Popular Musical Instruments. Most of the crowds prefer to relax under the courtyard's plane trees (which give the place its name) rather than dine inside the cozy dining room, at least when the weather is pleasant. Locals come here because the food is good Greek home cooking. Don't miss the oven-baked potatoes, lamb or veal casserole with spinach or eggplant, the stuffed squid, and the cheap but delicious barrel retsina. It's also open for lunch.

As you are handed the menu, you'll find it nearly impossible to avert your eyes from the stunning view from the very top of verdant Lycabettus Hill, the highest point in Athens; the Acropolis glitters below, and beyond it, the metropolis unfolds like a map out to the Saronic Gulf. The restaurant centers on gourmet Mediterranean cuisine with bold French elements, but the chef also cooks up playful renditions of classic Greek dishes. The restaurant is reached by cable car or by foot only. Every season Orizontes offers very reasonably priced set menus for two.

Picture this: it's twilight and you're sitting under bitter-orange trees at one of Athens's best fish restaurants, in the heart of Kolonaki, overlooking the Parthenon as you sip a perfectly chilled glass of wine and wait for your order of succulent seafood to arrive. There's muted conversation at the gleaming white-tableclothed tables around you, where opinion makers, theater directors, and loyal customers relax. You may start with a bowl of thick and flavorsome kakavia fish soup that the elegant and attentive waitress pours out of a large silver teapot, and then progress to steamed mussels and chili-fried shrimp with feta, before digging into a beautifully baked fish like white grouper with summer truffles. Indoors, the cool-in-summer and cozy-in-winter interiors have walls covered by giant, colorful paintings and a silver wall sculpture of fish.

The atmosphere is ebullient and the service is very friendly here—expect to be treated "on the house" with a plate of appetizers upon arrival, as well as with dessert and liqueur before you leave. The menu includes fresh fish, feel-good risottos, and seasonal greens in creative renditions. Food and wine are of exceptional quality, and music is played at the right level. It's conveniently near the Benaki Museum.

A favorite with university students and tourists, this open-hearted ouzo taverna offers a tasty daily platter of all the best in home-cooked Greek cuisine. Waiters bring a giant tray of the day's offerings, which include such favorites as taramosalata, Smyrna-style tzatziki, cuttlefish stewed with onions, lahanodolmades (cabbage rolls), eggplant dip, fried calamari, moussaka, and bekri mezedes (wine-marinated pork cutlets). You can choose between one of six menus, based on the number of people dining and the number of dishes desired. Dessert (traditional Greek halva) is on the house.

It's the place where the likes of Rudolph Nureyev, Maria Callas, and Elizabeth Taylor dined after performances at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus nearby, and its walls are lined with images attesting to its glamorous past. Once a humble taverna with a fantastic Acropolis view, its current modernist renovated version and simple traditional Greek menu are still pleasing to tourists and politicians alike. The amazing views come close to stealing the show, although the cuisine comes a very close second. Start with some mezedes, including the smoked eggplant salad or a velvety tzatziki, which perfectly complements the baked zucchini. For the main course, there's roast lamb wrapped in vine leaves and stuffed with cheese, rooster served with Greek pasta, or a variety platter of specially grilled meats.

With the hands-down best kebab (especially the traditional yiaourtlou, i.e., with yogurt sauce) in town, and open since 1950, Thanasis is always crowded with hungry Greeks who crave the specially spiced ground meat, along with a nicely oiled pita bread, yogurt, onions, and tomatoes.

Founded way back in 1898, this is one of the few remaining Plaka tavernas serving reliably good food with excellent Acropolis views. It doesn't draw the same crowd of locals as in the past, and it doesn't just serve fish, as the name suggests; rather, you'll find simple, tasty entrées such as rooster in wine sauce, arnaki pilino (lamb baked in clay pots), and pork chops with ouzo. Can't make up your mind? Try the ouzokatastasi ("ouzo situation"), a plate of tidbits to nibble while you decide.

A Kolonaki institution, this bistro-style traditional restaurant is slightly fancier and more costly than the normal mezedopoleio, with cloth napkins, candles on the tables, and walls decorated with writings by its famous patrons. The menu centers on delicate Greek classics (such as lamb with lemon or roast suckling pig) but also some international fare. The service is warm and professional andhe clientele includes politicians and diplomats on their lunch break. For the freshest dishes, ask the waiter for the day's specials.

Unpretentious and overall unremarkable, this restaurant is justifiably famous for its freshly grilled paidakia (lamb chops), to be eaten with unabashed gusto by hand. It's always busy and always a great escape from an increasingly modernized city, but avoid the hima wine, which almost certainly leads to a headache. Enjoy your lamb with thick-cut fried potatoes that might have come from your yiayia's kitchen and perhaps some tzatziki or fava bean spread. The meat taverna's popularity led to the opening of a second branch farther down the same road and an extension across the pedestrianized Eptahalkou Street into a garden area.

A favorite of tourists and locals alike, Vyzantino is directly on Plaka's main square—good for a reasonably priced, flavorsome, and traditional bite to eat with a front seat to all the action.

In a flower-filled courtyard—fashionably green and framed by wisteria and jasmine—you peruse a menu that, despite some modern influences, reads like an honest culinary journey through the far reaches of Greece. Almost everything is fresh and delicious, as the chef estimates that about 90% of the ingredients he uses are organic (the owners are organic farmers), including the house wine. And there are plenty of healthy, vegetarian choices, too. Although a little pricier than the norm, this neo-taverna and urban oasis, which attracts a high-brow clientele, is located right next to a charming open-air Riviera cinema. The bargain prix-fixe menu offers excellent value for money.