The Best Tavernas in Athens
Where Athenians actually eat: nine tavernas, mezedopoleia and fish places, from a 1930 magheirio to the old Piraeus waterfront.
9 addresses · Updated October 2026
A good taverna is not a theme — it is a room that has been doing the same thing well for decades. These are the places we send friends who want to eat the way the city eats: stewed dishes, grilled fish, wine from the barrel or the Greek vineyard, and no menu in six languages.
01 · Traditional Taverna · Ano Petralona
Taverna Oikonomou
A 1930 magheirio in Ano Petralona where the same cook has run the kitchen for twenty-five years. Fifteen to twenty stewed dishes a day, no microwave, olive trees over the tables outside.
Troon 41, Ano Petralona 118 51
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02 · Taverna · Kolonos
Taverna ton Filon
A 1958 grill taverna in Kolonos, brought back after a decade dark with the room kept exactly as it was. Seasonal Greek cooking and a wine list devoted entirely to Greek vineyards. Evenings only, Tuesday to Sunday.
Argous 66, Kolonos
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03 · Mezedopoleio · Metaxourgeio
Seychelles
The meze place that made Avdi Square a destination. Order the handmade pappardelle with kavourmas and galotyri.
Keramikou 49, Avdi Square, Athens 104 36
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04 · Mezedopoleio · Exarchia
Ama Lachei
A converted neoclassical building on Kallidromiou in Exarchia: oven-roasted chickpeas, taramosalata, seasonal grills and a local crowd from lunch onwards.
Kallidromiou 69, Exarchia, Athens 106 83
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05 · Streamline Modern · Koukaki
Mani Mani
The cooking of the Mani peninsula — slow-braised meats, loukoumades, fig tart — in a two-floor neoclassical house in Koukaki. Book ahead.
Falirou 10, 117 42 Athens
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06 · Taverna · Monastiraki
Taverna Ermou
Ergon's fish-led taverna on Ermou: classic Athenian seafood from an open kitchen, a stone courtyard, retsina and old Greek songs.
Ermou 98, Athens 105 55
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07 · Seafood Taverna · Piraeus
Dourabeis
On the Piraeus waterfront since 1932, one of the last old Mikrolimano fish restaurants not smoothed into a tourist stop. Daily catch, harbour terrace.
Akti Dilaveri 29, Pireas 185 33
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08 · Taverna · Moschato
Ta Kanaria
A family house with a courtyard in Moschato, cooking shrimp and fried fish from the Saronic since 1950. Four generations, no trends.
Kanari 119, Moschato 183 44
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09 · Souvlaki · Syntagma
Meat the Greek
For souvlaki done properly, two minutes off Monastiraki Square: pork off the spit — gone by early afternoon most days — and the kitchen's own pitopsomo.
Fokionos 2-4, Athens 105 63
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