Where to sit, sip and slow down in Athens.
Coffee shops, bakeries with seats and the places Athens lingers in over a cortado.
Taf Coffee on Emmanouil Benaki in Exarchia is the founding Athens third-wave coffee bar from 2009, an in-house roastery with the Rosebud blend as the daily espresso.
Signature drink: Single-origin espresso, Rosebud house blend
Tip: The roastery on the bar is also a small retail shop; ask for the morning's single-origin filter.
The Underdog on Iraklidon in Thissio Athens is the third-wave coffee bar and micro-roastery from 2011, in a restored neoclassical building with a brunch carte at weekends.
Signature drink: Cold brew and weekend brunch in a neoclassical building
Tip: The cold brew is the order; the brunch at weekends pulls a queue from 10:30.
Mind the Cup on Aimiliou Veaki in Peristeri Athens is a specialty coffee roastery and bar on a pedestrian street, a third-wave Athens destination outside the centre.
Signature drink: Single-origin espresso and filter from in-house roastery
Tip: The pedestrian street outside is the spillover terrace; closed Sundays from October.
Little Tree on Kavalloti in Koukaki is the small bookshop café near the Acropolis Museum in Athens, a quiet room with filter coffee, handmade sweets and Greek titles.
Signature drink: Filter coffee and handmade sweets
Tip: The pavement bench faces the Acropolis Museum; closed Sundays in winter.
Kostarelos in Kolonaki Athens is the dine-in dairy of three generations of cheesemakers, where morning espresso comes with a cheese sandwich and a Kolonaki view.
Signature drink: Espresso with the morning cheese-sandwich counter
Tip: The morning rush ends by 10:30; the lunch sandwich service runs through to 15:00.
Krinos on Aiolou in central Athens has fried loukoumades on the same recipe and decor since 1923, a sit-down counter for the doughnut with honey and a Greek coffee.
Signature drink: Loukoumades with honey, Greek coffee
Tip: Closed Sundays; the queue moves fast and the seated counter at the back is the destination.
Lukumades on Aiolou and Agia Irini Square in Athens is the modern loukoumades shop with filled and topped doughnuts in a hipster-leaning counter near Monastiraki.
Signature drink: Filled and topped loukoumades with espresso
Tip: The injected loukoumades with cream are the order; queue runs longest on summer weekends.
Drupes and Drips in Makrygianni near the Acropolis Museum in Athens flips between third-wave coffee in the morning and a spritzeria in the evening, a tiny corner room.
Signature drink: Third-wave coffee by day, wine by evening
Tip: Coffee runs through the morning; the bar flips to spritz and Italian wines from 13:00 onwards.
Ariston on Voulis behind Syntagma in Athens is the 1910 takeaway-pie bakery where the morning Greek coffee comes alongside the spanakopita on the counter.
Signature drink: Spanakopita with a Greek coffee at the counter
Tip: Stand-up counter only; closed Sundays. The morning pies fly out before 10:00.
Peak food season in Athens is year-round.
Local dining hours: lunch around 12:30, dinner from 19:30.
service is typically included; small extra is welcome but not expected.
Ask the next local you meet what they would order. Athens rewards trust.