Athens eats on a long clock, and this list is built around that fact. The 12 addresses here run from Greek kitchens to sushi, Indian and burgers, and the hours matter more than the decor. One closes at 22:00; another serves until 04:00. Some shut on Sunday, and some open at 08:00 every day of the week. We have kept to what can be verified: where each place is, what it cooks, when the doors open and how to reach it. That is less romantic than a paragraph about grandmothers and olive oil, and far more useful at the moment you are hungry and holding a phone. The list is for visitors who plan a day around meals: the early lunch, the late dinner, the plate after midnight. Skip the laminated photo menus waved at you on the pedestrian streets; the locals know that the right table depends on the hour, and so should you. Read the times before you read anything else, then ring ahead where a number is given.
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1 Mama Tierra
84 Ακαδημίας, Αθήνα, 10678A Greek kitchen on a short clock, Monday to Saturday, 13:00 to 22:00
Mama Tierra is at 84 Ακαδημίας in the 10678, under a name that tells you little about the plate. The cooking is Greek, and the hours are tighter than most on this list: Monday to Saturday, 13:00 to 22:00. That closing time decides how you use it. Come for lunch or an early dinner, and do not turn up at the hour Athenians usually sit down. Skip the late-night tavernas that trade on the view and treat this as the midday anchor of your day. The number to ring is +302114114420, and the house keeps its own site at mamatierra.gr; check it before you cross town for a table.
- greek
Hours: Mo-Sa 13:00-22:00
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2 Karamanlidika (Τα Καραμανλίδικα του Φάνη)
1 Σωκράτους, Αθήνα, 10554Greek cooking served straight through from 12:00 to 23:00, Monday to Saturday
Karamanlidika sits at Number 1 on Σωκράτους in the 10554, and the first thing to know is the day it closes: Sunday. Monday to Saturday the doors are open 12:00 to 23:00, an eleven-hour run that covers the mid-afternoon gap when plenty of kitchens go dark. The cooking is Greek. Locals eat late and long, so an early table is far easier to win than a 21:00 one. Skip the tourist grills that will seat you any day of the week, plan around the Sunday closure, and go here instead. Phone ahead on +30 210 3254 184, or look at karamanlidika.gr first.
- greek
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3 To Navagio ton Aggelon (Το Ναυάγιο των Αγγέλων)
41 Στουρνάρη, Αθήνα, 10682, GRRegional cooking on a dinner-only schedule, 18:00 to 02:00, Monday to Saturday
To Navagio ton Aggelon doesn't open until 18:00 and runs through to 02:00, Monday to Saturday. There is no lunch. That puts it in the second half of an evening, not a sightseeing break. The address is 41 Στουρνάρη in the 10682, and the kitchen is filed under regional cooking, a label that promises something narrower than the catch-all Greek menu. Skip the early-dinner spots that have cleared their tables by ten; a kitchen that keeps going for eight hours a night is built for people who are in no hurry. Ring 2103807061 or check navagioaggelon.gr before you go.
- regional
Hours: Mo-Sa 18:00-02:00
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4 Exberg Burger
56 Θεμιστοκλέους, 10681Burgers until 03:30 on Friday and Saturday nights
At Exberg Burger, the Friday and Saturday schedule runs 13:00 to 03:30, which is what earns it a place here. The rest of the week is different. Monday to Thursday the grill doesn't start until 18:00 and stops at 01:15; Sunday opens at 13:00 and also ends at 01:15, so a weekday lunch is off the table but a weekend one is not. The address is 56 Θεμιστοκλέους in the 10681, and the menu is burgers. Better than the kebab-wrapper regret most visitors settle for after a night out: this is a kitchen that plans to be open when you need it. The number is +30 21 0381 5278.
- burger
Hours: Mo-Th 18:00-01:15; Fr-Sa 13:00-03:30; Su 13:00-01:15
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5 F* Smashing District
11 Μιλτιάδου, Αθήνα, 10560A burger kitchen that takes online reservations, open from 13:00 daily
Reservations for F* Smashing District go through an online booking page, which is more ceremony than a burger kitchen usually asks for, and that tells you something. Take the hint and book. The menu is burgers, served at 11 Μιλτιάδου in the 10560, with hours that suit both lunch and a late supper: Sunday to Thursday 13:00 to 23:30, Friday and Saturday 13:00 to 00:30. Unlike some of its rivals in the category, it opens for lunch every day of the week. Skip the international burger counters you could find at any airport; if you are going to eat a burger in Athens, eat one at a place that expects you to reserve. The phone is +30 2103250090.
- burger
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6 Misafir
93 Ερμού, Αθήνα, 10555Oriental cooking with the longest hours on this list, 11:00 to 04:00
Service at Misafir spills far past midnight, with the doors open from 11:00 to 04:00. No other address on this list keeps a kitchen going that long, and the listing gives no day off. The cooking is filed as oriental, and the address is 93 Ερμού in the 10555. That is seventeen hours of service, so it works as a late lunch, a normal dinner, or the plate you want when everything else has pulled its shutters. We'd say the best use of a place like this is the last one: come after the bars, not before. Not worth the midday visit when the street is at its most crowded. Call +30 210 32 11 160 or see misafir-restaurant.gr.
- oriental
Hours: 11:00-04:00
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7 Nakama
5 Μασσαλίας, Αθήνα, 10680Sushi from 12:30 to midnight, with a later Sunday start
From 12:30 Monday to Saturday, and from 14:00 on Sunday, the counter at Nakama stays open through to 24:00. It is the one sushi kitchen on this list, sitting at 5 Μασσαλίας in the 10680. A week of grilled meat and fried cheese is a fine thing until the fourth day, and this is the correction. The Sunday start is the detail to remember: arrive at lunchtime on a Sunday and you will be waiting on the pavement. Skip the sushi platters that turn up as an afterthought on all-day cafe menus; go to a kitchen that does nothing else. The site is nakama.gr, and the phone is +30 21 0361 6053.
- sushi
Hours: Mo-Sa 12:30-24:00; Su 14:00-24:00
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8 Mirch
115 Ερμού, Αθήνα, 10555Indian food on a 15-hour day, 11:00 to 02:00
At Ερμού 115 in the 10555, Mirch runs an Indian kitchen from 11:00 to 02:00 with no closing day listed, so one shift covers a late-morning crowd and an after-midnight one alike. Indian food is not what most visitors come to Athens for, and that is the argument for it: by the second week of a Greek trip, spice is a relief, better than the identical gyros stands that line the shopping streets and blur into one another by the third lunch. Go late. A hot plate at 01:00 earns its place in a way that the same plate at noon does not. The website is mirch.com.gr; the phone is +30 21 0321 3280.
- indian
Hours: 11:00-02:00
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9 Thanasis (Ο Θανάσης)
69 Μητροπόλεως, Αθήνα, 10555A Greek kitchen that names souvlaki in its own web address, open 10:00 to 02:00 daily
The name Thanasis chose for its own website, souvlaki-othanasis.gr, puts the dish before the restaurant, which is a clear enough instruction about what to order. The cooking is Greek, the address is 69 Μητροπόλεως in the 10555, and the hours run Monday to Sunday, 10:00 to 02:00, meaning one kitchen will feed you at ten in the morning and again sixteen hours later. Skip the sit-down platters built for coach parties, with their chips and their garnish; the locals eat this food quickly and without fuss. Come at an odd hour, when the wait is shortest. The phone is +30 21 0324 4705.
- greek
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-02:00
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10 Hard Rock Cafe
52 Αδριανού, Αθήνα, 10558An American kitchen open from 09:30 to midnight, every day
The doors at Hard Rock Cafe, 52 Αδριανού in the 10558, open at 09:30, hours before most of the kitchens on this list have lit a burner. That is its honest case. The menu is American, service runs 09:30 to 24:00 with no day off listed, and the Athens branch has its own page on the brand's site. Nobody should fly to Greece for this, and we will not pretend otherwise. A travelling party with a homesick teenager, or a morning when nothing else is serving, is a real problem, and this address solves it. Skip it at dinner, when the city's own cooking is at its best. The phone is +302103245170.
- american
Hours: 09:30-24:00
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11 Kitro (Κιτρο)
35 Καπνικαρέας, ΑθήναRegional cooking from 08:00 to midnight, seven days a week
Regional cooking is the label Kitro works under, and that is a narrower promise than the word Greek on a menu board. You will find it at 35 Καπνικαρέας, open Monday to Sunday from 08:00 to 24:00. Those hours matter: a regional kitchen that starts at 08:00 can serve you breakfast, which few of its kind attempt, and it is still seating at 23:00. Avoid the all-day cafes whose food is an afterthought to the coffee; if you want to eat properly before the sites open, this is the better bet. Sixteen hours of service means you can come back the same day without feeling foolish. The house site is kitro.gr, and the phone is +30 210 3215015.
- regional
Hours: Mo-Su 08:00-24:00
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12 Nice n Easy
60 ΟμήρουA bistro on an 08:00 to midnight day, all week
The web address for Nice n Easy ends in a page marked for Athens, niceneasy.gr/athina, and we'd read that page rather than a general one before you go. The address is 60 Ομήρου, the kitchen is listed as a bistro, and the hours are Monday to Sunday, 08:00 to 24:00. Those hours give you flexibility: a seat at 08:00 before a long day on foot, or a late plate at 23:00 when you have misjudged dinner. A bistro is the right format for the in-between meal, the one that is neither a full taverna spread nor a pastry eaten standing. Skip the hotel breakfast buffet and its lukewarm eggs; walk here instead. The phone is +302103617201.
- bistro
Hours: Mo-Su 08:00-24:00
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