Address: Vissis 6, Monastiraki
Website: wineisfine.gr
Au RevoirVagelis Poulis
Au Revoir
Established by two brothers in 1958, Au Revoir is the oldest bar in Athens. Generations of actors and directors from the area’s many theatres have knocked back a few whiskies here after curtain call. Legend would have it that Frank Sinatra has too. And who knows how many clandestine couples have kissed up on the smoky mezzanine? Sotiris Papatheodorou, the son of one of the founders, brings the same surgical precision to the long drinks, catering to a younger crowd that has moved into the Kypseli neighbourhood. This is a bar for long winter nights: there are just a handful of stools on Patission Avenue, where traffic trundles by day and night. Au Revoir closes for July and August.
Address: Patission 136, Kypseli, Athens
Website: instagram.com
Taratsa by Lokali
In the summer, tourists hit up the rooftop bars in Monastiraki and Koukaki, but locals stuck in Athens slink up to this secret terrace in Psirri. Down a cul-de-sac and above To Lokali – a leafy courtyard bar famous for its twisted G&Ts – Taratsa (which means rooftop) is a lush little surprise. With a bamboo bar, rainbow-weave stools, and coloured lights strung between the banana plants and bougainvillaea, it’s an inner-city oasis. The agave-based cocktails and rum punches will get you in a holiday mood, too: try the Sun Burnt Daiquiri (pineapple, lime, tonka, chartreuse, and Angostura rum) or It’s a Sin (fig, lime, agave, firewater, and Tequila Plata).
Address: Sarri 44, Athina 105 53
Website: instagram.com
Kedros
A recent addition to Kypseli, Kedros is a neighbourhood wine bar that has taken over a former shoemaker’s shop on the corner of Kefallinias and Drosopoulou. It features cosy indoor seating and a handful of tables (heated in winter) that spill out onto the sidewalk. The bar serves wines from across Greece, accompanied by a menu of flavourful small plates that make it easy to linger late into the night. Menu highlights include dates with Gruyère, prosciutto, balsamic, and salted peanuts; Melichloro saganaki from Lemnos with sweet cherry tomatoes, ginger, and walnuts; and cheese boards sourced from small Greek producers. Kedros also hosts frequent wine-tasting events, inviting vineyards from different regions. Recent sessions have featured Winery Monsieur Nicolas, which produces wines in the village of Messenikolas in Central Greece, and Troupis Winery, located on the Mantineia plateau in the Peloponnese at an altitude of 700 metres. Its sister bar, Rastoni, on the island of Koufonissi, is also worth a visit if you’re headed that way. Arta Ghanbari
Address: Kefallinias, Ioánnou Drosopoúlou &, Athina 112 57
Website: @kedros.ath
