Kostas on Agia Irini Square in Athens has fired the souvlaki pita with its house tomato sauce since 1946, the EUR3 lunch counter that has fed the city for three generations.
Tip: Open weekdays until 17:00 or until the meat runs out; closed Saturday and Sunday and cash preferred.
Address: Agia Irinis Square 2, Athina 105 60, Athens
Falafellas on Aiolou near Monastiraki in Athens is the central falafel pita counter, fresh-built takeaways under EUR5 with tahini, salad and chilli.
Try: Falafel pita with tahini and salad
Tip: Queue runs longest at lunch; the meatball pita is the regulars' variant.
Lukumades on Aiolou and Agia Irini Square in Athens is the modern loukoumades shop, where filled or topped doughnuts run EUR4 to EUR8 with espresso to go.
Try: Filled and topped loukoumades
Tip: The injected loukoumades with cream are the order; queue runs longest on summer weekends.
O Telis on Evripidou in central Athens has grilled pork chops since the 1970s, the king-of-Evripidou-Street counter where the EUR10 plate comes with chips, salad and bread.
Try: Grilled pork chops with chips, salad, bread
Tip: No menu; the order is pork chops with chips, salad, bread and red wine. Closed Sundays.
Diporto on Sokratous and Theatrou in central Athens has poured Attic retsina from barrels since 1887, a basement koutouki with a EUR10 lunch and no menu.
Try: Greek lunch with retsina from the barrel
Tip: Lunch only from late morning until the pans empty, often by 17:00; no menu, no English spoken.
Ariston on Voulis behind Syntagma in Athens has baked filo pies since 1910, a takeaway counter where the spanakopita is the order and a coffee runs under EUR3.
Try: Spanakopita, cheese pie, meat pie
Tip: Stand-up counter only; closed Sundays. Morning pies fly out before 10:00.
Falafellas on Aiolou near Monastiraki in Athens is the central falafel pita counter, fresh-built takeaways under EUR5 with tahini, salad and chilli.
Try: Falafel pita with tahini and salad
Tip: Queue runs longest at lunch; the meatball pita is the regulars' variant.
Krinos on Aiolou has fried loukoumades since 1923 in Athens, the EUR5 portion of doughnuts with honey at the back-counter seated room.
Try: Loukoumades with honey, Greek coffee
Tip: Closed Sundays; the seated counter at the back is the destination, not the takeaway window.
Lukumades on Aiolou and Agia Irini Square in Athens is the modern loukoumades shop, where filled or topped doughnuts run EUR4 to EUR8 with espresso to go.
Try: Filled and topped loukoumades
Tip: The injected loukoumades with cream are the order; queue runs longest on summer weekends.
