Monastiraki
Barro Negro.
Athens’ first mezcal and tequila bar, ranked 13th in Europe’s 50 Best Bars.
Athens’ first bar dedicated to agave spirits — tequila, mezcal, and beyond — opened in 2019 by George Kavaklis and Stelios Papadopoulos. Ranked 13th on Europe’s 50 Best Bars in 2026 and a regular on the World’s 50 Best. Sits on Paparrigopoulou Street in Monastiraki, a few blocks from the Acropolis.
Barro Negro opened in 2019 as Athens’ first bar built entirely around agave spirits. George Kavaklis and Stelios Papadopoulos started it with a clear purpose: to change how people in Greece thought about tequila and mezcal, spirits that had until then been largely relegated to shots and mixers. The bar now carries one of the deepest agave selections in southern Europe, spanning Highland and Lowland tequilas, artisanal mezcals, and rarer expressions like bacanora and raicilla.
The cocktail programme is the main event — drinks that make a case for agave spirits through technique and restraint. The bar placed 13th on Europe’s 50 Best Bars in 2026 and has consistently appeared on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. The team regularly hosts masterclasses and collaborations with agave producers and distillers from Mexico.
If you think you don’t like mezcal, this is where that changes.
The space is intimate and dark, with a long bar at the centre and a back wall dedicated to agave bottles. It is in Monastiraki, close enough to the Acropolis to feel central but far enough from the tourist drag to draw a local crowd. Evenings lean toward quiet concentration and conversation — exactly the atmosphere Kavaklis and Papadopoulos were after.
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