The 23 places to be this Summer

Beautiful gardens, blossomed courtyards and our favourite restaurants. No one stays at home in Athens, during summer. Everyone is out, nibbling on Greek food or ethnic alternatives as long as there is good company.

Vasilainas
Modern Greek cuisine at its best and also coolest

This restaurant with a tradition of more than 100 years has found its place at the Athens centre. With a fine yet simple architectural design and a view to the Athens Hilton brings back the feeling of another glorious era. It has repeatedly received awards for their fine traditional dishes (number one at the Athens Voice choice awards) and is now the perfect summer spot.

Tables are out under the bright sky, amidst basil, rosemary, myrtles and olives. In the back, in the secret citrus garden, the huge common table awaits. Apart from all our favourite dishes this summer they offer fresh salads made with traditional ingredients brought in from Creta and Naxos.

Freshly made bread, and wonderful fish and meat dishes. A 3-course menu is available for lunch every day at €23 or €27, an a la carte menu and an excellent wine list from which their sommelier Maria Delitsikou will most certainly choose the perfect wine for you.

13, Vrasida str., behind the Athens Hilton, 2107210501, www.vassilenas.gr

La pasteria
This summer discover true Italian food

Summer would be the ideal time to stroll around Venice, eat hot pasta in Rome and pizza in Napoli. Too far? There is nothing to worry about. You can have all that at the nearest La Pasteria.

Fresh mussels Taormina, pizza Di Modena with prosciutto and figs. Marinara Siciliana with shrimp, fresh shellfish and calamari and Salmone with fresh salmon and a wonderfully light cream sauce are there to become your summer specials.

If meat is your thing try the scaloppine piccata with a caper and lemon sauce. And to top it all off the city’s best tiramisu.

Live your #LaVitaPasteria this summer in town!

www.lapasteria.gr, facebook: lapasteria, Instagram: lapasteria

Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani

This store has a 100 years tradition coming from Cappadocia where the ancient Greek tribes spread the use of cured meats to Romans, Persians, Byzantines and Ottomans. Many, many years later, friends and passer-bys stop at Fani's for his pastourma and soutzouki.

And since everyone was wishing there was a table to sit and enjoy all this on the spot, four years ago right next to the original store there is now a restaurant. The building is renovated, beautiful and air-conditioned with an outdoor smoking area.

Among their products cured veal, sheep and camel meats. Sausages and special cheeses from all over Greece. Aged tsipouro, more than 10 Greek beers and more than 20 Greek wine labels because in this place everything is Greek. This store is by far one of the locals favourites not only for their products quality but also for their excellent service.

1, Sokratous & Evripidou str., 2103254184, www.karamanlidika.gr, fb: Karamanlidika

Geppetto The Bar
The best pizza… bar!

It opened a year ago at Pagrati and was an instant hit thanks to their funky music, their excellent summer cocktails and their wooden layout (the name Geppetto is not given by accident!). Everybody was having a great time there and on a sunny Sunday afternoon I couldn’t help but notice the crispy thin pizza on many of their outside tables.

It didn’t take me long to find out about their foodies surprise menu. They offer bruschette, salads, pasta dishes and a heavenly mushroom risotto.

But the highlight remains the pizza. This pizza is a true masterpiece for so many reasons, the main one being the special oven it is made in. The man responsible for all this is chef Kostas Georgakis. Their brunch has already its own fan group. Try it and you will become one of them.

2, Stilponos str., Pagrati, 210 7525665, Fb: @geppettothebar

Efimerida ATH
Reporting from the kitchen

News travel fast so this after getaway is by now famous for their heavenly music sounds, their value for money food and their hip crowd. They start preparing their breakfast at 7 every morning serving cereal, multiple layered sandwiches and all kinds of eggs.

Their trendy way of serving you with vegetables in jars and your order on colourful trays can only be matched by their generous portions. Their 200 gr burger comes with crispy bacon, gouda cheese, homemade tomato sauce and all the trimmings on freshly made buns together with honey sauce country potatoes. And there is a chicken version!

For a lighter meal there are fresh salads and for the cheese lovers superbly prepared quesadillas. Their desserts include homemade brownies and waffles. Their absolute plus is that their kitchen is open until really late…

9, Vissarionos & 6, Sina str., 6944880475, fb: ΕΦΗΜΕΡΙΔΑ ΑΤΗ

Kyveli
Tasty breaks at the city’s most enchanting piazza

Kyveli has two things going for them. Their food and their location. They are situated on one of the most beautiful and colourful city squares, Agiou Georgiou square at Kypseli, or as the locals call it, little village.

They serve excellent Greek dishes and dreamy finger food. Their signature dishes include “chicken harakiri”, froutalia from Andros and so much more. They always have good tsipouro, good wine and a variety of local and international beers to choose from. Their cheeses come from select Greek suppliers from mount Olympus and Ipiros and their desserts include halva, cheesecake and sweets with yoghurt.

They are open from 12.00 p.m until 1.00 a.m. and also have delivery. 

15, Eptanisou str., Kypseli (Plateia Agiou Georgiou) 2108219406, Fb: Κυβέλη

By the glass
Wine is joy and we are living it every day

It is excellent to enter this wonderful universe where everything gives a relaxing sense and music, laughter and small talk are beautifully tangled together. This is the meeting point of all local wine lovers with the true wine connoisseur and owner of the place Fotini Pantzia.

By the glass is located on a beautiful and relatively unknown square. It is here right in front of the impressive Russian you get to travel to vineyards around the world. Their wine list includes at least 400 labels, special fine wines and magnum bottles. Many are also available by the glass be it 75 or 150 ml thanks to the groundbreaking Coravin device which preserves the wine aromas even after the wine bottle has been opened.

Another innovation featured is the unique in the country 24 bottle dispenser. All this can be enjoyed together with light finger food or a full menu including a truffle mushroom risotto, shrimps and their famous burgers an all-time favourite. Thursdays are oyster nights with live music and bubbly wines. One of the city's finest moments.

3, Souri & Fillelinon str., Syntagma, 210 3232560, www.bytheglass.gr, Fb: By the glass  

Kostarelos Dairy
This Greek cheese heaven has the best sandwiches in town

For three generations the Kostarelos family has been making the best cheeses and the best yogurts strictly from fresh Greek milk using the traditional ways of old times. In their Kolonaki store there is a wide selection of quality cheeses from all around Greece. Their real crowd pleaser, though, are their incredible sandwiches which will make you return again and again. Try their soft feta cheese club sandwiches and their whole wheat baguette with feta spread, mustard, tarragon, kasseri cheese and smoked pork and don’t forget their spectacular brioche. There is so much more waiting for you to discover at the company’s seven stores. Locations available on www.kostarelos.gr

30-32, Patriarhou Ioakeim str., Kolonaki, 210 7259000, www.kostarelos.gr, Instagram: kostarelosgr, Facebook: kostarelosgr

Dos Hermanos
The city’s best kept Mexican secrets at Frida Kahlo’s garden

Dos Hermanos has been for 25 years the Mexican heart of Athens. In their colourful garden you can have their "Mexican pineapple" pork fillet with chili peppers marinated in fresh pineapple juice together with a frozen lime Margarita.

Their fajitas with Mexican rice, sour cream and hot tortillas are not to be missed. They go perfectly with a Paloma, the traditional Mexican cocktail.

Don't forget their enchiladas made the traditional Mexican way and best enjoyed with a passion Margarita. Every Friday and Saturday live latin parties!

Kyriazi 24, Kifissia, 210 8087906, www.doshermanos.gr, Fb: @doshermanos.gr

Pink elephant
One, two, three, pink!

This Halandri favourite was quickly named the best Indian in town, hence the opening of the second Pink Elephant on the pedestrian Dervenion street.

This place is set to lift your spirits! Indian spices work miracles. Hot peppers help boost your metabolism, curcumin prevents weight gain, coriander is full of vitamins and minerals while ginger is a proven aphrodisiac… Try their spicy vindaloo, their exotic madrasi hot pot or a lighter jalfrezi and for a full experience add a mango or pineapple lassi. 

Extra tip: all these can be enjoyed in the pleasure of your home or balcony just by making a phone call.

4A, Dervenion str., 2103632780, www.pink-elephant.gr, Fb: @pinkelephantdowntown

Zurbaran
Cosmopolitan hot spot at Kolonaki

Just one year after opening day, Zurbaran has become a reference point for its style, ambience and definitely its kitchen.

The architects Maria Kokkinou and Andreas Kourkoulas have combined  industrial and old school elements making this place a true masterpiece and the meeting point for all  people in this area. Businessmen, artists and all passers-by.Their best selling dishes include all-time classics like schnitzels, chateaubriand, sole Meunier, saltimbocca fillets.

There are 80 wine labels to go with these as well as wonderful, original cocktails.

38, Patriarhou Ioakeim str., Kolonaki 2107238334, www.zurbaranathens.gr

Solo Gelato
You can never have enough of an Italian ice cream

As the door opens you enter into a world of aromas and colours. This is Solo Gelato at Halandri where Italian tradition is executed by a Greek ice, cream maker.

The ice cream here is low fat made with unique Greek and Italian ingredients including buffalo milk, mastiha from Chios, Sicilian pistachios, hazelnuts from Piemonte, gianduja chocolate and so much more.

Nikos Christogeorgos, the owner, has been awarded 1st Place at the European Ice Cream Championships, in Berlin in 2012. So there!

44, A. Papandreou str., Halandri, 2106813662, www.sologelato.gr

C Restaurant@ Chocolat Royal
Excellent Mediterranean kitchen with a view of the Acropolis

The C Restaurant is on the second floor and on the roof garden of the Chocolat Royal neoclassical building. Spiros Mallios is their experienced and inspired chef who has created a menu based on the seasons.

Their dishes include octopus carpaccio with lime, caramelized tomatoes, valerian, capers and olives. Slow cooked lamb shank with sage and fresh potato gnocchi, pistachio pesto linguini with beetroot threads, grilled meagre fish with beluga lentils in fish soup sauce and so much more. The experience is heightened by the presence of sommelier Dimitris Spyropoulos. All this with the added bonus of a marvelous view of everything between the Acropolis and mount Lycabettus. 

At the ground floor as always there is the Wine Station for easy listening, cocktails and 140 Greek wine labels to accompany any dish from the C Restaurant menu. Open daily 18.00 – 02.30

27, Apostolou Pavlou str., Thisseion, 2103469077, www.chocolatroyal.gr, Fb: chocolatroyalthisio, Insta: Chocolat Royal

Arcadia
Quality Greek cuisine below the Acropolis

This legendary restaurant has been in the Acropolis neighbourhood for 35 years (just 20 metres from the metro station by the same name), serving delicious Greek dishes all along.

Their dairy products come from Arcadia as well as many of their traditional dishes. An archaic moussaka, a slow cooked lamb in an eggplant, coq au vin with traditional pasta and cheese, lamb skewers with spicy lentils in thyme sauce as well as fish dishes and fresh salads. They have beautifully renovated their interior but you can also enjoy all this outside right underneath the Acropolis. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday they have live Greek music starting at 7 until 11 at night.

27, Makrygianni str., Acropoli 2109238124, www.greektaverna.gr, fb: Arcadia Restaurant

Butcher’s Burger
Quality burgers and steaks with a family history

This family has been grilling the juiciest burgers and special steaks since 1960. All meats come from their own family farm. Their also family owned butcher shop makes their 100% beef burgers daily and ages the tomahawk, ribeye and t-bone steaks in special 30 to 60 days dry resting refrigerators.

By now they own three Butcher's burger at Kefalari, Halandri and Peristeri. They serve burgers ranging from 100gr to 2kg! You read that right! They serve a two kg burger, the largest in Greece. Their buns are also homemade as they serve 15 different sauces. All this can be ordered to go. Stores are open until 2 at night while Fridays and Saturdays until 5 in the morning!

37, Kolokotroni str., Pl. Kefalariou, Kefalari, 2108089000 / 17, Agias Paraskevis str., Halandri, 2106890500 / 41, Aimiliou Veaki str., Peristeri, 2105766662 / www.butchersburger-steak.gr

Prosopa
The famous Roof restaurant is out and about

This exceptional artistic restaurant with the industrial design is now out on the square. They serve quality Mediterranean dishes in their unique impeccable style.

Dishes like mushroom ravioli, celery seabass, sesame crust tuna and Spanish pork steaks are hard to choose from. Their one of a kind appetizers include Hawaiian salmon poke and their salads are refreshing and freshly made.

Their well informed wine list compliments every dish and they also serve creative cocktails. Open daily from 18.00 p.m.

52, Vasileiou tou Megalou str., Roof 2103413433, www.prosopa.gr, fb: Prosopa restaurant

Black Sheep by Press Cafe (To Mavro Provato)
A success story coming of age

Those who know it have come to trust it eyes closed and keep coming back for more. Those who don't, the moment they discover their Greek nouvelle cuisine at its best are also passionate about coming back. They all agree that there is no other place with so many quality dishes at these prices.

They keep adding wonderful new dishes to their best sellers like this season's fresh salad with tangerine, pasteli and aged cheese from Naxos, their grilled vegetable dish in a wine, garlic and tomato sauce as well as slow-cooked mature sheep's meat in dill sauce. It is very nice to enjoy all these wonderful dishes in such a lively place, together with some exquisite Greek wine all at more than affordable prices and always with a smile. This is the spirit of the Black Sheep, ready to become your favourite habit.

31, Arrianou str., Pagrati, 2107223466-69 / Sokratous & 2, Zaimi str., Melissia, 2108102466, www.tomauroprovato.gr, fb: Ôï ìáýñï ðñüâáôï ôïõ Press Café

Po'Boys BBQ
Original slow-smoked barbeque

After many street food festivals and many pulled pork tastings, we finally have the first original American south BBQ in town where we can enjoy our Brisket burger. The meat here tastes incredible. It is slow smoked in a special smokehouse, the only one in Greece. But their brunches will have you coming back again and again. On the weekends from 12.00 – 18.00 their brunch holds many surprises like the fried chicken waffles. If you are already a regular you will be pleased to find out that the chef Vassilis Sporos is bringing new additions to the menu starting with his incredible croquettes who had everyone talking at the Athens Street Food Festival.

They also have a huge selection of Greek beers, fresh cocktails and powerful live events.

12, Agatharhou & Lepeniotou str., Psirri, 210 3234672, www.poboysbbq.gr, Fb: @PoBoysBarbeque

Buba Bistrot Exotique
The place for Thai-Vietnamese food in the north

This resto-bar which resembles an open-air market at Hanoi or Hong Kong is housed in a historic neoclassical building at Kifissia. This special place is all the work of Konstantinos Zouganelis of the legendary Guru bar. It is exotic, perfectly designed to feel like an Asian street food market and also features a secret garden. Their off the menu dishes, different each day, include a papaya salad, steamed ducks buns in hoisin sauce, fish cakes with spicy mayo and much more. In order to enjoy these sweet & sour, salt or spicy food have your pick from their classic and signature cocktails while listening to wonderful music from a much-beloved past.

This is the place where a simple night out becomes a special night to remember.

4, Papadiamanti str., Kifissia, 2106231151,www.bubabistrotexotique.com, fb:bubakifisia

Chαπter
Mediterranean kitchen at its best in the heart of Kifissia

Chαπter owner and also a chef Apostolos Syros is crazy about the things he has in his kitchen. He goes by himself to the fishing boats at Rafina to get the fish, he goes every day to the central market and for a while in the winter, he had a man especially picking greens for him.

These special products are prepared by the other chef in the restaurant, Nikos Vlahakis. He makes pork dumplings in a special lemon sauce and lamb shank with homemade puree which you can enjoy together with an excellent Greek wine from their wine list and you will feel like you are in the middle of the country in this beautiful green garden

17,  Agiou Dimitriou str., Kifissia, 2108016208, Fb: @Chapter Restaurant

Epi Kerameiko
A trip into the past

A new friend is here at the much beloved Avdi square. Epi Kerameiko resembles an old train station, is open all day and is a very special place. Their cocktails, soon to be served at an outside bar, are made from Greek spirits and liquors. The music is Greek jazz, swing and rumba and their dishes are state of the art Greek style finger food. Herring salad, spetzofai, marinated sardines and homemade kavourmas are all very very special. You are sure to enjoy this place so much so don't miss a chance to pay them a visit. 

 51, Kerameikou str., Metaxourgeio, 2105225945

Farma Ipeiros
Four generations keeping the fine meat tradition

This butcher shop – a family business originally from Ioannina, keeps the tradition for four generations. With their focus on Greek meat, the people at Farma Ipeiros have been working with local producers and bring fresh beef, pork and lamb meat for you and your family. They are polite always with a smile and extremely knowledgeable about their products. Their store is right next to the Egaleo metro station.

2, Dimarheiou str., Pl. Estavromenou, Egaleo, 2114114446

Chicken Way
Fresh chicken at its best

Chicken lovers have found their spot. The menu is based on 100% fresh Greek chicken with such dishes as chicken burgers, chicken tortillas, chicken pasta, fried chicken and chicken fillets. You get the idea. All are available for taking away and they also do delivery. Open daily except Sundays noon to midnight.

28, Mylopotamou & Tsotakou str., Panormou, 2106924960

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