Tomato wedges, cucumber, green pepper, red onion, kalamata olives and a thick slab of feta with oregano and good olive oil, the Greek summer salad of Athens.
Horiatiki is the village salad, designed around the peak-summer Greek tomato. The classic Athens version uses no lettuce, only ripe tomatoes and feta in a thick slab over the top. The dish became the Athens lunch staple in the 1960s and is now a non-negotiable taverna order between June and September. The salad requires good tomato to work; it dies in winter when supermarket tomato is the only option.
3 editor picks for Horiatiki (Greek salad) in Athens, ranked by editorial score. All Athens signature dishes · Horiatiki (Greek salad) across every city.
Karavitis Tavern ★ 4.4
pangrati · Pausaniou 4 Pangrati, Athina 11635, Greece
Karavitis in Pangrati has cooked the Athens taverna canon since 1926, a rustic room with a courtyard, barrels of house wine and the bekri-meze stew.
Taverna Saita ★ 4.3
plaka · Kydathineon 21, Plaka, Athina
Taverna Saita on Kydathineon is the rare Plaka room in Athens cooking for locals. The Zacharopoulou family has fried bakaliaros skordalia here since 1970.
Taverna Platanos ★ 4.2
plaka · Diogenous 4, Plaka
Taverna Platanos under the plane tree on Diogenous has fed Plaka in Athens since 1932, a courtyard room where slow-cooked lamb in lemon sauce is the order.