Top Late-Night in Greece

Purovoku Project ★ 4.8

The 50 Best Discovery bar in Ladadika keeps its doors open until 4am on weekends. At Karipi 3. Booking recommended. A neighbourhood favourite.

The Clumsies ★ 4.7

The Clumsies on Praxitelous in central Athens runs until 02:00 weeknights and 04:00 weekends, the World's 50 Best Bars regular for the after-dinner cocktail.

OrderThe bartender's signature pick with one of the bar snacks from the kitchen.

TipLate-night Friday and Saturday is queue-only; the back room takes bookings six weeks ahead.

Bougatsa Giannis ★ 4.6

Bougatsa Giannis opens at 8pm and closes at 3pm the next afternoon. Reservations advised. Cash and card accepted. A neighbourhood favourite.

Le Cercle De Salonique ★ 4.6

The neoclassical mansion bar on Vasileos Irakleiou is one of the late-night heavyweights of the city, running its Mediterranean cocktail programme until 4am.

Bougatsa Bantis Dawn ★ 4.6

Bantis opens at 05:30 in Dikastirion to catch the dawn crowd: bakers, market workers, and the people just leaving the bars. At Panagias Faneromenis 33.

Atlantikos ★ 4.4

Atlantikos in Psyrri Athens is the late-night seafood pick on Avliton 7, the small dining room and annex where the daily catch goes on grill until 01:00.

OrderThe grilled octopus, sea bream carpaccio and a chilled assyrtiko by the glass.

TipThe annex across the lane opens at 18:00 weekdays; book the original room.

O Telis ★ 4.4

O Telis on Evripidou in central Athens grills pork chops over coals until 23:00, the king-of-Evripidou-Street counter with chips, salad, bread and the house.

OrderThe pork chops with chips, salad, bread and the carafe of the house red wine.

TipNo menu; the order is pork chops with chips, salad, bread and red wine. Closed Sundays.

Falafellas ★ 4.4

Falafellas on Aiolou near Monastiraki in Athens runs the falafel pita counter until 23:30, the takeaway window built fresh with tahini, salad and chilli.

OrderThe classic falafel pita with extra tahini and a side of pickled chilli.

TipQueue runs longest at lunch; late-night orders move fast through the open kitchen.

Xalavro ★ 4.4

Xalavro keeps its open kitchen going with the bar on Milatou in Heraklion, Crete, so a late drink in the courtyard can still come with real food.

OrderA late plate from the open kitchen with a spritzer

TipIn season the kitchen runs alongside the bar, which is rare in the old town once the tavernas have stopped serving.

Ladadika Bar Strip ★ 4.4

The Doxis and Katouni Street bar strip in Ladadika operates at full capacity from midnight to 5am on weekends. At Doxis Street. Booking recommended.

Casablanca Social Club ★ 4.4

Casablanca Social Club on the Vasilissis Olgas waterfront stays open until 3am with live music on Thursdays and Fridays. At Leoforos Vasilissis Olgas 18.

Klimataria ★ 4.3

Klimataria on Theatre Square in Athens runs until past midnight every night, the Psyrri institution since 1927 where rebetiko plays live and the wine comes.

OrderGigandes plaki, slow-cooked lamb and a half-kilo of the house red from the barrel.

TipLive music runs most evenings from around 22:00; book a fortnight ahead for the weekend seatings.

Lukumades Aiolou ★ 4.3

Lukumades on Aiolou and Agia Irini Square in Athens runs the loukoumades counter until 23:00, the post-dinner doughnut destination with cream fillings.

OrderThe injected loukoumades with cream and a double espresso to go.

TipQueue runs longest on summer Friday and Saturday evenings; doughnuts are made to order.

Diagonios 1977 ★ 4.3

Diagonios keeps the Egnatia corner open until 3am on Friday and Saturday with the same pork souvlaki it has served since 1977. At Egnatia 159.

Valaoritou Street Bars ★ 4.3

Valaoritou Street and the surrounding creative district run later than Ladadika, with bars and music venues operating until dawn on Friday and Saturday.

Dish Bar ★ 4.1

Dish Bar keeps its Agios Titos square room going until four in the morning in Heraklion, with Mediterranean plates running alongside the cocktail list.

OrderBeef carpaccio with truffle mayonnaise, late

TipThe kitchen and the bar share one room on Agios Titos square, so a late plate is still possible after the tavernas close.

Krasas ★ 4.0

Krasas grills gyros and skewers on Leoforos Ikarou in Heraklion until three in the morning, which makes it the default stop on the way home.

OrderA pita gyros on the way home from Ikarou

TipOpen until three in the morning, and there is a second branch out towards the airport.

La Brasserie ★ 4.0

La Brasserie runs a terrace, a bar and a club on Korai Street in Heraklion, with a kitchen still sending food out while the dance floor fills up.

OrderA late plate on La Terrasse before the club starts

TipClosed Sundays and Mondays. The club floor opens at 22:00 and the kitchen keeps going alongside it.

Giotis Gyradiko ★ 4.0

Giotis on Vasileos Irakliou serves the city centre's most consistent gyros until 3am on weekends. The counter is standing only and the turnaround is fast.

Bairaktaris ★ 3.9

Bairaktaris on Monastiraki Square in Athens runs until 02:00 every night, the long-running souvlaki counter that has fed the after-bar crowd since the late.

OrderA pork souvlaki pita with extra tzatziki and a glass of the house retsina.

TipThe pita window faces the square; the sit-down room behind is a separate bill and longer wait.

Mavrokostas ★ 3.9

Mavrokostas keeps cooking homemade Greek food on 62 Martiron in Heraklion until six in the morning, and until eight in the morning at weekends.

OrderWhichever tray of homemade food is still hot

TipThe last kitchen standing in Heraklion. Weekend service runs until eight in the morning, which is not a typo.

Nea Diagonios ★ 3.9

Directly across from the original Diagonios, Nea Diagonios operates the same late-night kalamaki and gyros format until 3am on weekends. At Egnatia 162.