Great Restaurant in Athens

[vineguy]

Heading to Athens, Greece in a couple of days. We're staying near the Plaka (sp?). Does anyone have a couple of restaurant suggestions for dinner?

Much appreciated,

Scott

[Waitman]

My experience is that Athens is not a great restaurant town, but it is a fun place to go out to eat.

This has a lot of ideas, but is somewhat dated. If anything looks tasty you might google around and see if the restaurant is still in business.

A couple things to think about:

1) if you're going anywhere more than four blocks away by cab, bring a map with the location marked on it. Also, 90% of all Athenians speak some English, the other 10% are cab drivers.

2) Greeks eat late! Prime time is 9:30-midnight.

3) The house wine can be very hit or miss, but is almost always a better deal than the bottled stuff.

4) Don't expect good food in the Plaka, just scout around its nooks and crannies until you find a great view/location and enjoy it.

5) Service is "leisurely" Greek servers expect you to linger for hours after dinner, so the fact that you can't get a check is nothing to take personally.

6) If you like seafood, you must try a fish taverna for multiple courses of seafood, including the entree whole fish, which you will select yourself from ice in the kitchen. Hit the neighborhoods of Piraeus or Microclimano and get a view of the harbor with your fish

7) If you're there on a Saturday or Sunday, go to "lunch." Greek shops close at 2PM on Saturdays, people go home, change and go to lunch. It lasts three hours and you drink lots.

8) Greeks eat in gangs, this seems to work well.

9) Be very wary of recommendations from guidebooks not named "Michelin."

10) Come hungry. Best line about Greek portion sizes: "The only way Jesus was able to feed so many with just a few loaves and fishes, is that there were no Greeks in the crowd."

A couple of names, if they're still going:

Alexandria -- near the Archeological Museum and the Victoria Square Subway. This was a go-to place.

Cafe Avesinia 7 Kinetou St. at Avisinia Square -- more for the scene than the food, though the food ain't bad. Traditional music but for Greeks, not tourists. Near an antique/junk market on Saturdays.

Papandreou, Kendriki Agora, 010-32-19-470 open 24 hours a day in the heart of the meat market (not dar from Plaka)...a dive/diner best enjoyed after 3AM, while drunk, as the hispters wend their way home and the butchers start showing up

Jimmy and the Fish for a view of the harbor, and fish

Whatever's hip in the neighborhoods ofPsirri and Gazi

Kollias More fish, probably better fish, no view. Definitely bring a map for the cabbie.

[vineguy]

My experience is that Athens is not a great restaurant town, but it is a fun place to go out to eat.

This has a lot of ideas, but is somewhat dated. If anything looks tasty you might google around and see if the restaurant is still in business.

A couple things to think about:

1) if you're going anywhere more than four blocks away by cab, bring a map with the location marked on it. Also, 90% of all Athenians speak some English, the other 10% are cab drivers.

2) Greeks eat late! Prime time is 9:30-midnight.

3) The house wine can be very hit or miss, but is almost always a better deal than the bottled stuff.

4) Don't expect good food in the Plaka, just scout around its nooks and crannies until you find a great view/location and enjoy it.

5) Service is "leisurely" Greek servers expect you to linger for hours after dinner, so the fact that you can't get a check is nothing to take personally.

6) If you like seafood, you must try a fish taverna for multiple courses of seafood, including the entree whole fish, which you will select yourself from ice in the kitchen. Hit the neighborhoods of Piraeus or Microclimano and get a view of the harbor with your fish

7) If you're there on a Saturday or Sunday, go to "lunch." Greek shops close at 2PM on Saturdays, people go home, change and go to lunch. It lasts three hours and you drink lots.

8) Greeks eat in gangs, this seems to work well.

9) Be very wary of recommendations from guidebooks not named "Michelin."

10) Come hungry. Best line about Greek portion sizes: "The only way Jesus was able to feed so many with just a few loaves and fishes, is that there were no Greeks in the crowd."

A couple of names, if they're still going:

Alexandria -- near the Archeological Museum and the Victoria Square Subway. This was a go-to place.

Cafe Avesinia 7 Kinetou St. at Avisinia Square -- more for the scene than the food, though the food ain't bad. Traditional music but for Greeks, not tourists. Near an antique/junk market on Saturdays.

Papandreou, Kendriki Agora, 010-32-19-470 open 24 hours a day in the heart of the meat market (not dar from Plaka)...a dive/diner best enjoyed after 3AM, while drunk, as the hispters wend their way home and the butchers start showing up

Jimmy and the Fish for a view of the harbor, and fish

Whatever's hip in the neighborhoods ofPsirri and Gazi

Kollias More fish, probably better fish, no view. Definitely bring a map for the cabbie.

Efharistó,

Scott