Carefulle selected addresses for modern Greek cooking, laid-back vibes and honest prices
We’re not always in the mood for a “big night out.” Some days we just want a table that fits us as we are: good company, a long conversation, a few delicious plates to share, a proper glass of wine and prices that don’t feel like a punishment. Luckily, in Athens, the “gourmet but affordable” combo is becoming more and more real.
The city’s new wave of gastro-tavernas keeps the spirit of the classic taverna intact, warmth, simplicity, generosity, and updates it with great produce, seasonality and a more creative take on Greek comfort food. These are democratic places in the best sense: where you can eat well and genuinely enjoy yourself, without the fuss.
So we gathered eight Athenian gastro-tavernas and meze spots we return to again and again — for the food, the atmosphere and their true value-for-money philosophy.
Taverna ton Filon
One of those rare Athenian “value” finds that makes you glad you took a taxi out to Kolonos. Giannis Mousios (with a cooking past in the Seychelles) and Giorgos Kontorizos (a sommelier who trained at Spondi) revived a historic taverna dating back to 1958 without stripping away its character: the bright old sign stayed, barrels became décor, white tablecloths were laid, the team is genuinely warm — and the neighborhood feel is part of the magic.
On the plate, it’s contemporary Greek cooking with plenty of clever touches: saganaki with pumpkin jam, quince-glazed potatoes, charcoal-grilled meatballs with sheep’s yogurt and caper paste, baked giant beans, lemony goat, or melt-in-your-mouth goat stew in tomato sauce. Add a well-priced, excellent wine list with many by-the-glass options. Bonus: the courtyard, with gravel underfoot and fairy lights overhead, turns truly magical at night.
Info: Argous 66, Kolonos | Tel. +30 210 512 7506
Seychelles
A cornerstone of the Athenian “gastro-kafeneio” scene and still a steady favourite in Metaxourgeio, even after passing into the hands of Kleomenis Zournatzis, Fotis Foteinoglou and Giannis Markadakis. The philosophy hasn’t changed — but the ingredients have stepped up, and many preparationsനി are now made in-house. A standout is their house-made kavourmas (cured meat), which anchors the signature pappardelle with galomyzithra.
The menu follows the seasons and shifts through the year: you might start with taramasalata or spicy tyrokafteri, move on to chickpeas with fennel root or a greens pie with yioufka, and finish with grilled liver with pickled cucumber — or potato gnocchi with shiitake and creamy myzithra. The wine cellar is thoughtfully curated, with great-value bottles from small Greek producers and plenty served by the glass. You’ll always find something worth drinking.
Info: 49 Kerameikou St, Avdi Square, Metaxourgeio | Tel. +30 211 183 4789
Kapani
It all started when Kostis Christakis, originally from Prespes, tasted tsipouro with pickles and ajvar — the Florina “pepper caviar” — in the old kafeneio that once stood here, and decided the idea deserved a new life. With the same sign still hanging outside, Dimitris Balakas in the kitchen, natural wines on the shelves and a kind of hospitality that feels like a cross between a cookshop, a deli and a kafeneio, the place is both rooted and very much of the moment.
Minimal, bright, with large windows, linen tablecloths and a starring glass-front fridge packed with carefully chosen cheeses from all over Greece. Vinyl plays softly in the background. On the menu, Florina and Northern Greece show up with Balkan hints and clean, confident flavours: marinated beets with a roasted depth, mushrooms with a smoky pea-fava purée, kavourmas in a sizzling pan with a sunny-side-up egg, buffalo burger, and handmade pasta baked with slow-cooked beef in the wood oven. Don’t miss the bean soup with Prespes beans and smoked Aridaia pepper. For dessert: walnut cake with stretchy kaïmaki, or saragli with pistachio ice cream.
Kapani pours only natural wines, perfectly suited to this rustic-yet-polished cooking. Every Wednesday, with the open-air market right outside, the chef improvises a “laiki menu” based on the freshest finds of the day.
Info: Chiou 29, Metaxourgeio | Tel. +30 215 560 0234
FITA
FITA in Neos Kosmos built its own early “school” of accessible, modern Greek cuisine: a hangout a few steps from the tram stop, with a courtyard facing small garden patches and a pared-back, almost industrial interior featuring an open kitchen. The menu never stays the same — it’s written around the market and the seasons, balancing fish, meats and increasingly frequent “pot dishes.”
With Dimitris Dimitriadis in the kitchen, the cooking feels deeper and more assured, with special care given to bread/dough and dishes that lean on tradition without copying it. Think octopus sougania, rooster with wild herbs, meatballs in tomato sauce like a modern spetsofai, and seasonal plates with bite, like marinated amberjack with anchovy, sour cucumber and purslane, or grilled sardines with pepper sauce and wild vinegar. Dessert goes “retro, updated” — almond sponge, a kok pastry with peanut cream, cherry and lime. Wine is taken seriously, with bottles and pairings that avoid the obvious.
Info: Ntourm 1, Neos Kosmos, Athens | Tel. +30 211 414 8624
Treli Rodia
White Irises
Ogawa Kazumasa
Cherry Blossom
Ogawa Kazumasa
A small, discreet taverna in Ano Petralona, just a couple of steps from Oikonomou. Behind its modest façade is one of the warmest “new Athenian” stories: homey vibes, old polished mosaics, checkered tablecloths, lace curtains and walls full of framed faces — from Katrakis and Castoriadis to Dylan and the Stones.
Owner Giannis Roumanos runs the charcoal grill, while the slow-cooked dishes are handled by his childhood friend Sotiris Vasilopoulos, recently back from Boston kitchens. Add mom Anastasia’s comforting specialties — soutzoukakia, cabbage rolls, papoutsakia — and you get a kitchen that looks toward the Peloponnese but hunts for great local products everywhere: rooster from Kalavryta, handmade pasta from Agrinio, cheeses from Vytina, figs and quinces straight from the fields.
Don’t miss the trout, the wine-braised rooster with pappardelle, the orzo with beef cheeks, fries with grated myzithra, and peppery sheep-meat keftedakia. Finish with a generous slice of walnut cake and you’ll remember what “honest food” at old-school prices really means.
Info: Kydantidon 39, Ano Petralona | Tel. +30 211 008 2307
Mavro Provato
One of Pangrati’s most reliable value-for-money spots: always busy, no secrets — just generous portions, clean flavours and fair prices. The vibe is urban and lively, with tables nearly touching the pavement, constant movement, and two dark-toned dining rooms kept simple and practical. Even so, service stays fast and on-point.
The menu moves between meze and “proper” dishes, built on Greek ingredients and a light creative twist without any frills. Start with airy, nicely lemony fava, black-eyed peas with red pepper and spring onion, or sarikopita with xinomyzithra. For tsipouro, the grilled “karamanlidiko” beef sausage is hard to beat; the ouzo-and-mint meatballs taste like a fragrant old Athens. Signature dish? Hünkar beğendi: braised beef over velvety smoked eggplant purée — the kind of plate that feels like real craft in a saucepan. The wine list includes bottles and solid-quality house wine.
Info: Arrianou 33, Pangrati | Tel. +30 210 722 3466
Dopios
Christoforos Peskias’ Dopios feels both familiar and modern: a meze spot with Greek soul, technical precision and clean ingredients, leaving room for a discreet, playful fusion touch. It’s built around sharing — tables fill with small plates, glasses clink, conversation gets louder as the night goes on.
Flavours are rooted but updated: smoked eggplant dip with Florina pepper dressing, taramasalata with rice crackers, stamnagathi with yuzu and white xinotyri for a bright hit of acidity, and cheese croquettes with tomato chutney — crisp outside, generous within. Seafood highlights include “married” sardines, bourdeto-style calamari and popcorn shrimp with black garlic. For meat: pork-neck gyro, lamb patties with mint chutney, and milk-fed kid goat in the oven keep the meze spirit proudly “meraklidiko.” Dessert leans nostalgic, from galatopita to kataifi rolls with Aegina pistachio cream. The drinks list focuses on Greek labels and spirits, with a special soft spot for single-varietal and aged tsipouro.
Info: Agion Theodoron Square, Athens & Laodikis 31, Glyfada | Tel. +30 210 898 1747 | dopiosrestaurant.gr
Rini
In the heart of Athens, next to the National Archaeological Museum, Rini is one of those bistros that wins you over effortlessly: modern Greek bistronomy with roots in tradition and a clear, personal point of view. Owner-chef Marina Chrona (Rini is her nickname) is passionate about small Greek producers and builds her menu around the seasons.
The atmosphere has an understated elegance, making it perfect before or after the theatre, for a quiet dinner, or for an after-office glass from a curated list that highlights Greek vineyards and low-intervention wines. The kitchen keeps its Greek identity front and centre: pork with leeks and celery in a celery-root avgolemono with hazelnut; hilopites in browned butter with egg and aged myzithra; or goat with couscous and arseniko “Bambouni.” Daily specials might include rooster ragù with shell pasta and Syros graviera, or oven-baked lasagna with eggplant, tomato, basil and stracciatella. Brunch has a loyal following: shakshuka eggs, trahanas with tahini and granola, oven-baked Greek omelette with sausages, and a standout “peinirli” kagianas with cured Kalamata meat.
Info: Rethymnou 8, Athens | Tel. +30 210 883 6781 | toriniathens.gr
