Vegan Athens: A Local's Guide to Vegan Cafes & Restaurants in Athens
As plant-based diets are on the rise around the world, Athens is becoming increasingly vegan friendly with more and more plant-based cafes and restaurants popping up around the city.
Greece is the country of sun, diverse and beautiful nature, welcoming people as well as great food. There's a slight misconception about the Greek cuisine though, as many consider it to be meat-centric. In reality however, most tradition Greek dishes found in Tavernas - low-cost restaurants - are, if not completely vegan, at least vegetarian with the option to be made vegan.
Athens, being the capital and biggest city of Greece has been following along the world wide trend of hip, alternative and plant-based cafes and restaurants, offering a variety of plant-based dishes both traditional Greek as well as international.
In most cafes in Athens nowadays, plant-based mylks are usually available even if only soy or almond and pretty much every taverna or restaurant has a few vegan options.
If you want to head straight to the best Vegan cafes and restaurants though, then you've come to the right place!
UPDATE: Half way through writing this article, a new lockdown was introduced in Athens. However, luckily enough, most of the cafes mentioned offer take away and delivery, so you can enjoy their delicious goodies even at home.
Plant-Based Drinks & Bites
Some of these, unfortunately, are not 100% vegan as they might still offer cow's milk or snacks with butter or cheese, so it's always best to double check.
Anana Coffee|Food
Praxitelous 33, Athina, 105 60 (Map)
In the heart of Athens this hip and well designed cafe, offers great coffee with all the plant-based mylks, vegan desserts and enough space to spend a day working on your laptop or reading a book. Lovely atmosphere and friendly staff make it extra cozy.
Must Try: Their cold brew coffee and the Chocolate Tart
To Bazaki
Aristotelous 33, Chalandri 152 34 (Map)
If you find yourself wandering around Chalandri, then a stop at this health focused, mostly plant-based juice bar/cafe/restaurant is highly recommended. They also have a hidden garden at the back which is nice to sit and enjoy your lunch.
Must try: Charcoal protein smoothie
Joshua Tree
Anapafseos 13, Athina 116 36 (Map)
This upcoming diner-style cafe and snack bar is worth visiting. Open day to night 7 days a week, it's a great spot for meetings, hanging out or doing work.
Must try: Their cold turmeric drink and sweet potato fries.
Plant-Based Eats
Fully vegetarian and mostly vegan restaurants and snack bars to satisfy even the most picky eaters!
Avit
Maragkou 19, Glifada 166 75 (Map)
This fully vegan restaurant has taken vegan burgers to another level while also paying a lot of attention to sustainability. Their dishes are pretty big and one better than the other. They're also one of the very few cafes out there offering Matcha Latte.
Must try: Their Butter Bean burger is FTW!
Veganaki
Athanasiou Diakou 38, Athina 117 43 (Map)
Although central, its location might not be the best as it sits in between two of the busiest roads of Athens so it's always quite loud. It is however a favourite of ours for 1 simple reason. Their Plant-Based Omelette! It's more like a Spanish Tortilla but OMG is it good!
Must try: Vegan Omelete & Moussaka
The Vegan Vandal
Aminta 15, Athina 116 35 (Map)
Plant-based street food done right! They have a small sitting area inside and a couple of seats outside so you can enjoy their yummy burgers fresh. What I loved most about this place was their small menu. We ended up getting every item on it and I can comfortably say it was all super tasty!
Must try: Vandal Burger and Ladenia Kimolou
Cookoomela
Themistokleous 43-45, Athina 106 83 (Map)
One of the many gems of Exarchia. This is a fast food snack bar that serves vegan versions of the traditional Pita Gyros and some other goodies worth trying. We love this spot for how quick and easy their food is, the guy who owns it is quite funny and we're Greek, so we just love Pita Gyros.
Must try: Yellow is our favourite
Peas
Falirou 40, Athina 117 42 (Map)
We only recently discovered this spot and it's become a favourite of ours. They make around 90% of the products in-house which makes everything so much better and more sustainable. Their attitude towards food is awesome and their dishes are healthy and delicious.
Must try: RAW WITH NUTTY BASE
Yi
Grigoriou Lampraki 69, Glifada 166 75 (Map)
I was really indecisive about whether I should mention Yi or not but I believe they have great potential so here it is. Yi is a mostly raw, fully vegan restaurant in Glyfada. Their food is good, I won't say excellent as our stomachs found it a bit heavy the next day, but they have some really great flavours on their plates. The atmosphere however, is the reason why I wasn't sure about recommending this place. We felt it was cold and uninviting with loud, out-of-place music and bad service. I'll let you decide though :)
Must try: Cashew cream and sun-dried tomato tart
Our 2 Favourites - NOT Plant-Based but with enough options
Keenkies
Themistokleous 56, Athina 106 81 (Map)
Right opposite Cookoomela sits our favourite dessert spot in Athens. They make Loukoumades which are basically dough balls/doughnuts, but they make them as good as you'll ever find and this comes from someone who was raised on the island where Loukoumades where born. Trust me on this, their vegan options, both savoury and sweet are simply some of the tastiest meals I've had in Athens! We love this place and the owner, very much.
Must try: Vegan Argentina (Sweet) & Carbonara Vegan (Savoury)
Feyrouz
Agathonos 2, Athina 105 51 (Map)
Another hidden gem in the centre of Athens. The love and attention that goes into their food will make you want to go back for sure. They offer enough vegetarian and vegan options to satisfy all and they also have a dedicated sweet shop right opposite to complete the experience. We love these guys for their warmth and gentleness.
Must try: Their soup and Lachmanikon wrap.
There are a few other spots in Athens but these are our favourites and the ones we think you'll find best value for money while trying something traditional and different from the standard vegan options.
--Did you go to any of these? Let us know which one you loved the most!--
-- Do you have another place you think should be on the list? Let us know --
Love & Joy,
Anasa
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