Vegan Athens

The Greek Orthodox calendar has around 180 fasting days a year, when observant Greeks skip meat, dairy and eggs, so Athens was cooking plant-based food long before it had vegan restaurants. Bakeries label their nistisima (Lenten fasting food), and every taverna knows its way around beans, wild greens and a lot of olive oil.

The dedicated vegan places sit in three walkable pockets: Syntagma, the square in front of parliament; Koukaki, the residential streets just south of the Acropolis; and Exarcheia, the student quarter north of the centre. Below are nine of the best, from mushroom gyros to Greek home cooking. For more cities, browse all the vegan travel destinations.

Vegan Athens at a Glance

• Best souvlaki: Cookoomela Grill
• Best veganised Greek classics: Veganaki
• Best home cooking: Mother Vegan Café Bistro
• Best bakery: Holy Llama
• Best açaí bowls: Happy Blender
• Best sit-down dinner: Winners Vegan
• Best cheap sandwich: Handwich
• Best halva and nut butters: Wild Souls
• Best takeaway near the Acropolis Museum: Peas

Best Vegan Restaurants in Athens

1. Cookoomela Grill: Mushroom Gyros in Exarcheia Vegan

Order the mushroom gyros (gyros is usually meat shaved off a vertical spit; here it is grilled mushrooms in pita). Wraps are colour-coded by sauce, and the yellow one, with mustard mayo and herby grilled mushrooms, gets the most love. Portions are generous, service is fast, and the giant chips arrive looking like a dare.

After that, try the truffle souvlaki (a grilled skewer wrapped in pita) or the kebab special, which one diner ordered across five visits in three days. Cookoomela was the first vegan souvlaki shop in Greece, and it still runs like a proper Athens grill, with outdoor tables made for watching Exarcheia go by.

💡 Tip: It opens at 1PM every day and closes at 11PM, 12AM on Fridays and Saturdays and 10PM on Sundays, so it works for a late dinner.

📍 Themistokleous 43, 106 83 Athens | Exarcheia | ☎️ +30 21 1182 2343 | 🌐 cookoomela.gr | 📸 @cookoomelagrill

2. Veganaki: Vegan Moussaka Near Syngrou-Fix Vegan

Come for the moussaka, the layered aubergine bake under a thick béchamel, which diners call the best vegan dish they have eaten in years. The grill platter suits a group, because it lets you taste their whole take on Greek food. Pastitsio (baked pasta with a creamy top) and soutzoukakia (spiced “meatballs” in tomato sauce) are on too.

Add a Greek salad and a souvlaki on the side. The whole menu is certified gluten free and cooked in air fryers only, so coeliac friends can order anything. It sits a ten-minute walk from the Panathenaic Stadium, the marble venue of the 1896 Olympics, and opens daily from 8AM to 11:15PM.

💡 Tip: Take the red metro line to Syngrou-Fix station, and it is a short walk from the exit.

📍 Athanasiou Diakou 38, 117 43 Athens | Neos Kosmos | ☎️ +30 21 0924 4322 | 🌐 veganaki.gr | 📸 @veganakigr

3. Wild Souls: Halva and Nut Butters Near Syntagma Vegetarian

Start with a coffee made with their own nut milk; one diner called the coconut milk latte the best they had ever had. Then get halva, the dense sesame sweet, which reviewers describe as incredibly fresh, including a version with no added sugar. The Mexican bowl, with grains, guacamole and beans under a nut-butter dressing, is the savoury pick.

Wild Souls makes its own tahini, halva and nut butters, and the shelves make it as much a shop as a café. Almost everything is plant-based, but a few of the sweets contain honey, so ask which ones before you order. The Voulis Street café opens 8AM to 9PM, and from 10AM on Sundays.

💡 Tip: There is a second café in Kolonaki, the smart shopping district below Lycabettus Hill, on the corner of Irodotou 14 and Karneadou.

📍 Voulis 36, 105 57 Athens | Syntagma | ☎️ +30 21 0323 1438 | 🌐 wildsouls.gr | 📸 @wildsoulsgr

4. Holy Llama: Plant-Based Pastry on Nikis Street Vegan

Order the crookie, a croissant baked with cookie dough, which regulars tell every newcomer to try. The pastry counter is the reason people keep coming back, and one diner called these the best vegan pastries they had ever eaten. For something savoury, the mushroom steak open sandwich is the favourite, ideally with a matcha latte.

Holy Llama is a fully plant-based bakery that also does breakfast, brunch and light lunch, and the staff will happily talk you through the coffee menu until you find your order. It sits on Nikis Street, a short walk from Syntagma. Hours are 8:30AM to 7PM on weekdays and 9AM to 7PM on weekends.

💡 Tip: Winners Vegan is a few doors up at Nikis 27, so pastries here in the morning and dinner there in the evening makes an easy day.

📍 Nikis 23, 105 57 Athens | Syntagma | ☎️ +30 21 0331 8913 | 🌐 holyllama.gr | 📸 @holyllamacreativebaking

5. Happy Blender: Açaí Bowls in Monastiraki Vegan

Order an açaí bowl (frozen Amazonian berry purée topped with fruit and granola). Happy Blender has been making them since 2017 and imports its own açaí from Brazil. The mango-pineapple bowl and the zucchini noodle bowl both get raves, and the house energy drink is a good shot of fruit after a morning of walking.

It sits on Ifestou, the flea-market street of Monastiraki, the old bazaar quarter below the Acropolis, so the door takes a moment to spot among the shops. Order at the counter, then grab one of the small tables at the front. It opens at 9:30AM (10AM on Saturdays) and closes at 7PM, or 7:30PM on weekends.

💡 Tip: Come for breakfast and you will beat the flea-market crowds on Ifestou.

📍 Ifestou 39, 105 55 Athens | Monastiraki | ☎️ +30 21 0363 8484 | 🌐 happyblender.gr | 📸 @happyblender

6. Winners Vegan: Organic Dinner and Cocktails on Nikis Street Vegan

Order the LA salad, which arrives huge and full of flavour, and ask the staff about the smoked tofu. The soup of the day follows the season, with pumpkin and coconut in winter, and the lemon pavlova is the dessert people remember. Diners describe every plate as an art form, and the cocktail and mocktail list deserves a second round.

Winners is fully vegan, organic and seasonal, with a menu that moves with what is good that month, and it sits inside the Niki Athens Hotel. I would book this first for a proper sit-down dinner near Syntagma. Hours run 11:30AM to 11:30PM Tuesday to Thursday, and until 12AM on Fridays and Saturdays.

💡 Tip: It is closed on Sundays and Mondays, so plan your dinner here for midweek or Friday.

📍 Nikis 27, 105 57 Athens | Syntagma | ☎️ +30 21 0322 0916 | 📸 @winners_vgn

7. Handwich: Cheap Vegan Sandwiches in Exarcheia Vegan

Order the Korean tofu sandwich, or the house standard with fries, and expect fantastic bread doing a lot of the work. Diners call these the best sandwiches they have ever had, and a sandwich plus a drink comes to about €8 to €9 per person. The owner loves a chat and will tell you where else to eat.

Handwich is a small street-food counter on Tzortz, a short street on the edge of Exarcheia, with a second branch on Egnatia in Thessaloniki. It opens 1:30PM to 10:30PM from Wednesday to Sunday, which makes it a good late lunch after the National Archaeological Museum, a short walk away.

💡 Tip: It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Pair it with Cookoomela Grill, about ten minutes on foot, for a two-stop Exarcheia lunch.

📍 Tzortz 3, 106 82 Athens | Exarcheia | ☎️ +30 21 0380 6193 | 📸 @handwich_gr

8. Peas: Seitan Wraps Near the Acropolis Museum Vegan

Order the Pita Pita, a seitan gyros wrap, or Two Peas in a Pod, their take on skepasti (a toasted, closed pita sandwich) with homemade seitan and smoked tofu. The Mush In wrap does the same trick with mushrooms. Save room for the Avocado Bloom chocolate tart, and take cookies for later, since they are not too sweet.

Peas is a walk-up window with a few tables at the back, on Falirou in Koukaki, a short walk from the Acropolis Museum. The cooks take real pride in fresh ingredients and fair prices, and diners call it one of their best meals in Athens. Opening hours change through the year, so message them on Instagram before you go.

💡 Tip: Order to go and eat on Filopappou Hill, the pine-covered hill facing the Acropolis, about ten minutes away on foot.

📍 Falirou 40, 117 42 Athens | Koukaki | ☎️ +30 21 0924 0261 | 📸 @peas_vegan

9. Mother Vegan Café Bistro: Greek Home Cooking in Koukaki Vegan

Order the spanakopita (spinach pie), which one diner said tastes like it was made with love, then the moussaka and the pastitsio, which another called mouth-wateringly good. The quiche and the burger have fans too, and the sweets are fresh and unusual. One couple tried fourteen vegan restaurants in six days and named this their favourite.

The owners run it like a friend’s kitchen, serving homemade Greek food alongside specialty coffee and organic and biodynamic spirits. The handcrafted interior was designed by Amalgama Architects, and the slow pace suits a long afternoon over coffee and cake. It opens 11AM to 9PM from Tuesday to Sunday and closes on Mondays.

💡 Tip: Combine it with Peas, about ten minutes away on Falirou, for a Koukaki afternoon.

📍 Dimitrakopoulou 95, 117 41 Athens | Koukaki | ☎️ +30 21 6809 0622 | 📸 @mothervegancafebistro

Athens Eats Late

Athenians eat dinner late, usually from 9PM to 11PM, and in summer the streets of Koukaki and Exarcheia are still full of diners near midnight. Lunch is a long affair too, often starting around 2PM, which leaves the mornings for sightseeing before the heat sets in.

Plan your days the same way. See the Acropolis when it opens at 8AM, rest through the hottest hours, then head out for dinner once the city cools. Several places on this list stay open until 11PM or later, so a 10PM souvlaki in Exarcheia is entirely normal.

Vegan Athens: What to Know Before You Go

• Look for νηστίσιμα (nistisima, Lenten fasting food) on bakery signs and menus. It has no meat, dairy or eggs, but can include octopus, shellfish or honey, so check the ingredients.
• Taverna dishes that are usually vegan: fasolada (white bean soup), gigantes (giant beans baked in tomato), horta (boiled wild greens with lemon) and fava (yellow split pea purée).
• Ask before ordering gemista (stuffed tomatoes and peppers) or dolmades (stuffed vine leaves), since some versions contain minced meat. Regular spanakopita (spinach pie) contains feta.
• Useful phrases: “Είμαι βίγκαν” (EE-meh vegan, “I am vegan”) and “χωρίς τυρί” (ho-REES tee-REE, “without cheese”).
• Metro line 2 (red) connects Syntagma and Syngrou-Fix, and line 3 (blue) runs to the airport.
• Tap water in Athens is safe to drink, so refill a bottle and skip buying plastic in the heat.

When to Visit Athens

April to June and September to October are the best months, warm enough for long evenings outside without the July and August heat, when temperatures often pass 35°C. Some smaller restaurants close for a few days around 15 August, the Dormition holiday, when much of Athens heads for the islands.

For vegan food, Orthodox Lent, the seven weeks before Orthodox Easter, is a treat. Bakeries fill their counters with nistisima pies and sweets, and tavernas push their bean and vegetable dishes to the front of the menu.

Vegan Athens FAQ