If you dismiss Athens as nothing more than a stopover en route to the turquoise beaches of Santorini, you’re selling yourself and the Greek capital short. The 3.1 million people who live in the ancient metropolis cultivate cutting-edge art, dining and nightlife scenes. Yes, first-timers should absolutely visit the Parthenon and other rightfully world-famous historical attractions, but there’s more to Athens than white-columned architecture. The city boasts modern amenities that are worthy of exploration, such as intimate wine bars pouring rare and cult bottles, zero-waste cafes and raucous open-air bars whose patrons spill out onto centuries-old cobblestoned streets.
Athens’s food and drink scenes are forever evolving, too. Over the past three years, starting during the heady lockdowns of the early pandemic, nearly 300 restaurants and hundreds more bars and cafes opened their doors, according to local tourism officials.
“Athens has always been a city that loves the night,” says Thanos Prunarus, founder and manager of Baba au Rum, a cocktail destination with a 400-bottle-deep rum collection in the city’s historic Syntagma neighborhood. It’s one of several dynamic places that merge distinctly Athenian approaches to ingredients and hospitality with cutting-edge drinks and design.
Here’s how to drink exceptionally well in Athens, Greece.
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Some Athenians consider this rum-centric bar the elder statesmen of the city’s now-thriving cocktail scene. Opened in 2009 by Prunarus, a rum expert whose ebullient approach to hospitality makes every night feel like a house party, Baba au Rum has inspired generations of bartenders and made multiple appearances on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. The freewheeling drinks menu features everything from Calvados to rhum agricole to the Greek spirit mastiha, and bartenders are just as likely to be inspired by classic cocktails as they are international writers or artists.
Case in point, the gimlet riff Glass Tears. Made with Italicus liqueur and a distillation made from Athenian bitter orange leaves, it’s dedicated to the Dadaist photographer Man Ray. (Ordering a second drink? Opt for Basquiat’s Daisy, a vibrant combination of Ford’s gin, housemade fermented raspberry wine, Lillet Rouge, and jasmine and citrus aromatics.)
The bar also serves an array of local and international beers, Greek wines from Nemea and Crete, and snacks like an elegantly plated tartare made with local beef. For sweeter fare, or if you’re in the neighborhood prior to Baba au Rhum’s nightly opening hour at 7 p.m., head across the street to In Love Again, Prunarus’s cafe that serves coffee and cocktail-inspired pastries.
In the Syntagma neighborhood, less than a 10-minute walk from Baba au Rum, lies this airy wine bar with a 1,000-bottle cellar. Opened in 2008, it claims to be Athens’s first wine bar, and relocated to larger digs in 2012. Servers hardly rest on their laurels, happily pouring crisp Assyrtikos from Santorini, indigenous Cretan varieties like Vidiano or Liatiko, Slovakian Riesling and biodynamic South African Syrah. We especially recommend going for one of the menu’s varietal bottlings from grapes and producers rarely seen outside of Greece. Particularly lovely is the Gentilini Winery’s Robola from the limestone soils of Cephalonia island.
The globetrotting food menu is equally impressive and includes nori-crusted tuna, dukkah-dusted grilled eggplants with lemon-tahini sauce and not-to-be-missed housemade bread with Cretan salt-cured olives.
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Greek natural wines headline the list at this chic bar that opened in 2022 in Kypseli, an off-the-tourist-track neighborhood north of the sprawling Pedion Aeros Park. There are also expertly made classic cocktails and house creations like a pét-nat spritz with bitters and soda, the perfect antidote to hot evenings in a city where temperatures surpass 80°F from spring well into the fall months.
Alongside your drink, order at least one (but preferably multiple) dish from the inventive kitchen, where the seasonal menu might include housemade sourdough slices topped with roasted squash, myzithra cheese and pumpkin-seed gremolata; irresistibly salty Parmesan cookies; or chocolate tarts festooned with local sour cherries. Grab a seat at the open-air side bar overlooking the sidewalk to people-watch and listen to a rotating cast of weeknight D.J.s. Design fiends will be forgiven if they pocket a napkin or matchbook with shadow-puppet illustrations by Athens-based graphic designer Pelagia Metzaki on their way out.
Despite its proximity to the tourist crowds at the Acropolis, you’ll hear more people chatting in Greek than any other language at this wine bar’s twinkling outdoor garden. Owned by Athenian wine journalist and author Eleni Kefalopoulou, it serves cheese boards and mezze alongside an extensive list of Greek wines that changes regularly and often nightly. Kefalopoulou herself can often be found circulating among the tables, filling glasses, chatting amiably and sharing her unassuming expertise.
While you can and should let Kefalopoulou or your server know if there are particular styles or bottles you’re eager to try, our recommendation is to let them take the wheel. You could wind up with a cult pour from a local Attica producer, Cretan bubbles, Macedonean Xinomavro or rosé from Greece’s prized Mouhtaro grape. The list changes so frequently and often features rare bottles, which infuses each visit with a measure of excitement. You’ll leave happy no matter what.
In the mood for a boozy brunch? Head to the Clumsies. Want to sip a cerebral cocktail in a billiards room? Try the Clumsies. Ready to party until the wee hours? The Clumsies has you covered. The rare all-day bar that’s equally engaging at every hour, the Clumsies has been open since 2015, when Vasilis Kyritsis and Nikos Bakoulis transformed a townhouse into an experimental cocktail destination. Because the city’s cocktail scene is relatively young, this place is unabashedly experimental without feeling pretentious.
Their free-spirited approach has resulted in a drinks menu inspired by the theory of relativity, including its most famous cocktail, the Mediterranean Gimlet. The libation combines Star of Bombay gin with what it calls a “Greek salad cordial” made from tomato water, olives, cucumbers, red bell peppers and oregano. Akin to an epically dirty dirty martini, it’s salty, savory and curiously craveable.
If you leave the Clumsies and are somehow still thirsty, consider stopping by the Line, the bar—which currently ranks twelfth on the list of The World’s 50 Best—Kyritsis and Bakoulis opened with Dimitris Dafopoulos, of craft mixers brand Three Cents, in 2022.
Published: January 8, 2024
