Great Places to Eat in Plaka & Nearby, Athens-Updated 2025

If you’re searching for awesome places to eat in the Plaka area of Athens, we know a few! They’re all walking distance to our hotel at Electra Palace. We’ve been to Athens in the fall of 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024, and also 2025. We have enjoyed plenty of tasty spots. We prefer traditional Greek places with familiar dishes. Very seldom will you find us at an upscale fancy restaurant when in Athens, as a matter of fact, we have only ate upscale once or twice in Athens during our first couple of years visiting here. So here ere are our top picks, some of them may be touristy but nonetheless, we enjoyed each place and we totally recommend them all if you’re craving some delicious Greek food!

With this update, I took out a couple of spots that we have not ate at in the last few years as I don’t feel t give a true review after not having been to these places in awhile. In 2025 we mostly ate at a couple of our tried and true places but we did add one more spot, and it is a good one! A traditional Greek sidewalk style cafe. Absolutely loved the food and the vibe.

I’ve included a map of the locations at the end of this post! A few of these gems were recommended to us, while the rest we stumbled upon just by following our noses!! Honestly, Plaka in Athens has so many awesome places to eat, it’s tough to pick just one!

Evgenia

We found this cozy little spot just down the road and around the corner of our hotel in 2025. I can’t believe we haven’t noticed it before. This family business serves very good traditional Greek home cooked meals with outdoor, sidewalk seating. This is definitely our kind of place. The portions were very generous and the food spectacular. It was a great chance to enjoy a meal and do a bit of people watching. We will definitely return to Evengia again.

O’Thanasis

This was a must return to in 2025, actually, it was our first stop after arriving at our hotel. This spot came recommended to me as the best gyros in the area and I agree! As a matter of fact, just writing about O’Thanasis gyros is making me crave one! This is in the Monastiraki area of Athens but it is walkable, combine it with a bit of shopping and it makes for a perfect time in Athens. I had the chicken and Steve had the pork and honestly I can’t pick a favorite. I am sure we will return here in 2026 and again make it our first stop!

Geros Tou Moria

You can find this spot on the famous Athens steps. You will know you are in the right area when you see tables and chairs sitting on the steps running up the hill with restaurants along each side. This almost 100-year-old spot is named after the Greek General Theodoros Kolokotonis, who was nicknamed “The Old Man of Moira.” The restaurant stretches along both sides of a walkway and up some stairs. If you’re into traditional Greek food, you can’t miss their Moussaka and Souvlaki—they’re super tasty! It’s a chill place to kick back under the trees and do some people-watching.

Stou Mamma

Stumbling upon this cozy little spot while wandering through an alley was such a cool surprise! We were kind of lost while looking for a specific place to eat, but the mouthwatering smell of Greek food pulled us in. So glad we decided to eat here! The food was delicious, the service was awesome, and the vibe was just right. It’s definitely going on our list for a return visit!

Karamanlidika tou Fani

I found this awesome spot thanks to a friend on Instagram back in 2021. It’s just outside the Plaka area at 1 Sokratous Street. So it is a bit of a walk, but it was totally worth it! Their dishes here based on recipes from the people in Karamania, Asia Minor. The food here is super unique, so authentic, and honestly just amazing. Can’t wait to go back! Make sure to check out their story on their website.

The Old Tavern of Psara

We found this awesome restaurant on our 2018 trip. In fact, it was the very first place we dined at in Greece! We loved it so much that we ate here again twice in 2019 and also in 2022. This gem has been around since 1898 and sits at the first big landing on the Steps of Plaka, with tables and chairs perched on the stairs. It’s actually made up of two buildings with a cozy terrace in between. The first time we visited, it was raining, so we ate inside, but we enjoyed the outdoors the other times. No matter where we sat, the service was top-notch, and the food was amazing. We got our first taste of traditional Greek dishes and totally fell head over heels for Greek cuisine. Check out their website by clicking here.

Old Tavern of Stamatopoulus

This is a spot we have eaten at several times, most recently in 2025. We were in line at the old Santorini Airport, chatting with some folks from New Jersey who totally gave us this restaurant recommendation back in 2019. So glad they did because we enjoyed eating here!

The Old Tavern of Stamatopoulos started as a grocery store selling wine in 1882! We sat on the terrace that had a view of the gardens, complete with live music. The Moussaka was wonderful and the Saganaki was great too, served with a sauce we’d never tried before. We also enjoyed stuffed grape leaves for the first time — wow, they were incredible! Amazingly, we have ordered the same delicious choices each time. Our servers have been awesome and even shared information about cooking with Greek spices. We liked it so much that we returned in 2021, twice in 2024 and again in 2025. You can check out their website by clicking here.

Daphne’s

This fine dining experience we found in 2019, again while wandering around the streets at night. Daphne’s serves Greek food with a bit of a flair. The ambiance was great and we really enjoyed chatting with the hostess. We ordered a cheese tray which was exceptional, very good cheese! The Moussaka had a very original twist to it and was very delicious. Steve ordered chicken souvlaki which was also excellent. You can read more about Daphne’s on their website by clicking here.

Tapfield

Although not a restaurant, this dive bar has a fun and funky vibe. While there we had Greek Sausage in a bun with the owners homemade Chile lime sauce. Totally amazing. So while during a 2024 boat tour on Karpathos Island, we met the owner of this bar and told him we would look his place up while in Athens. And we did! This is in the Psyrri area of Athens so a bit of a walk from our hotel, but lots of fun shops and places to see on the way. We did not make it bake here in 2025 but will certainly try to visit here in 2026.

DaVinci Gelato

Not a restaurant and not in Plaka, but it is a great place to eat in Athens and I just had to include this since we have been here so many times over the years including once again in 2025. Nestled in the Monastiraki neighborhood, it’s totally walkable. We absolutely loved this gelato so much we’ve probably been back a dozen times! There were so many options and everything was just delicious! Definitely worth the walk!

Locations

Here are the locations in Athens of my list of Great Places to Eat in Plaka and Nearby

Where We Stay in Athens

We have been staying at the Electra Palace Hotel in the Plaka area of Athens since 2018. We are never disappointed. It is in walking distance to everything we want to see. As a matter of fact, all of the above places to eat we have walked to from the hotel. I highly recommend Electra Palace not just for the great views, pool, breakfast and rooms, but also the attentive staff. In addition the location is prime. You can click here to read more about Electra Palace and also to book a room.

Conclusion

There are so many great places to eat in Plaka and the surrounding areas of Athens, Greece. These are our favorites. We can not wait to return to some of these and also find some new favorites!

Planning

Last year when we were in Athens we used the Rick Steves Pocket Athens guidebook and found a lot of useful information in it. There is also a pocket map.

This year we added Top 10 Athens (DK Eyewitness Travel Guide) to help us plan and found it extremely helpful and organized. It includes top 10 places for restaurants, things to see, shopping, etc. It also divides into top 10 of each area. This is my favorite guide book. It does come with a pocket map.

We also bought an Athens Street Map which was more in-depth and very useful as we explored more areas on this trip.

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You can check out my other Athens posts by following these links!

Self Guided Tour to Acropolis Sept 2025

Tower of the Wind, Athens Sept 2025

The Roman Forum in Athens, Sept 2025

National Archaeology Museum Athens, Sept 2025

Acropolis Museum Sept 1024

The Panathenaic Stadium, September 2022

Tour the Temple of Poseidon, September 2021

Anafiotika, Athens, Greece, September 2019

Temple of Hephaestus and Ancient Agora, September 2019

Temple of Zeus, October 2019

Sunrise from Lycabettus Hill, October 2019

Sunrise From Philopappos Hill, September 2019

Arriving in Athens on our Anniversary, September 2019

The Acropolis and Parthenon, October 2018

A Rainy Day in Athens, September 2018

You can click on these Links to our 2018, 2019,2021 and also 2022 Trip Itineraries

2 Weeks in Greece-Delphi, Meteora, Corfu, Santorini – Sept 2021

14 Days in Greece, Naxos, Crete, Santorini, Athens-Sept 2021

10 Days in Greece Athens, Crete, Santorini 2019

8 Days in Greece, Athens, Milos, Santorini 2018

Diary of a Gen-X recommendations for hotels, restaurants, & tours are based on our own experiences unless otherwise noted. The only hotels & restaurants we recommend are places we stay which are clean, comfortable, and also provide exceptional hospitality. We are not sponsored by any business and we fund our own trips. We are affiliates of Amazon, Viator, and others, so if you purchase from one of our links we do get a small commission at no cost to you.