There are an abundance of delicious vegan Greek restaurants in Athens (and plenty of vegan friendly ones too). You can easily spend a week just eating your way through the city. I’ll share with you some vegan Greek restaurants in Athens (along with a few international ones). I found myself here as I was in transit on the way to the first vegan hotel in Santorini, and decided to make the most of this visit!
I’VE HEARD IT’S DIFFICULT BEING VEGAN IN GREECE, IS THAT TRUE? 😨
It depends, but my general answer is “no”. A typical taverna will have minimally vegan foods by default, and I’ve found Greek vegan eats in Greece when stranded right outside of Athens (long story). Things however will start to become complicated if you venture out to certain hotels where they start straying away from traditional cuisine (especially hotels that cater to a more expensive clientele or are all inclusive resorts). And it becomes even more complicated if you’re placed in a remote area, or are in an area where the traditional restaurants aren’t in your vicinity. I once got stuck at an upscale hotel in Greece because of a snowstorm and they only had pasta and olives to eat at the buffet (and there was hair in it, extra vitamins and protein anyone?!). There was a nearby stand on the street with delicious stuffed potato pies though!
SO WILL I REALLY BE OKAY IN ATHENS?
Yes! You can easily choose between a taverna or vegan Greek restaurants in Athens from the growing vegan scene. There are also other fun themed cafes you can dine in when exploring different neighborhoods that will have vegan options. HappyCow (a travel app that lists vegan food options near you or in cities you search) lists 22 vegan restaurants in Athens and 163 vegan friendly restaurants. Not all restaurants are listed, and I tend to find that traditional restaurants aren’t listed most of the time if they aren’t a purely vegan restaurant.
Also, Athens has a vegan-friendly hotel called Niki Athens Hotel. They offer the choice between a non-veg or vegan breakfast (I’ve heard it’s wonderful from multiple trusted sources), and have a fully vegan restaurant next door called Winners which is open until midnight. I had reserved a booking with the hotel, but unfortunately, they decided to close temporarily during the dates of my stay, and Winners was closed when I swung by to visit. I was notified in advanced and received my refund so no hard feelings. That hotel stay (and review) will have to be for another time.
WHAT VEGAN AND VEGAN-FRIENDLY GREEK RESTAURANTS ARE THERE IN ATHENS? 👀
*note that some of the dishes below may have originated from nearby countries, however these items are popular in Greek cuisine.
COOKOOMELA GRILL
Cookoomela Grill is one of the all vegan Greek restaurants in Athens serving vegan souvlaki (meaning meat grilled on a skewer, but sometimes placed in pita instead). This particular vegan souvlaki was filled with tomatoes, potatoes, homemade mustard, and homemade vegan mayo spread. As opposed to meat, the base of the plant based souvlaki was mushrooms. The pita bread also had corn in it.
The mushrooms were tender and easy to bite into, and it wasn’t chewy like how some mushroom dishes can be, and it surprisingly has a very meaty taste to it. That souvlaki was bursting with flavor. The corn pita bread also is among one of my favorite pitas I’ve ever had with its unique flavor profile. This dish was one of my favorites I had throughout Athens.
VEGAN BEAT
Vegan Beat is one of the vegan Greek restaurants in Athens, serving a small but mighty food menu.
I first ordered a lahmajoun (flatbread topped with minced meat, veggies, and herbs). It was folded, grilled, and came with soy meat, mayo, hummus, tzatziki sauce, veggies, and a mildly sweet barbecue sauce, and grilling the lahmajoun gave it a lovely texture. And the taste was scrumptious!
I then was served this fried spiraled potato, which was served hot and fresh! Texture wise, the outside was crispy while the insides were still semi-soft and it was delicious.
I also ordered the mushroom gyros which came with veggies, mayo, tzatziki sauce, and came in a turmeric pita bread. It was delicious, easy to chew, and the mushroom surprisingly had a meaty taste to it.
For dessert, I ended up getting a banana cream cake, which was also tasty, and it actually reminded me of a pie with the crust.
This ended up being my favorite restaurant on this trip!
LUKUMAAEE
You’ll definitely need to save some room for some vegan-friendly Greek restaurants in Athens that serve dessert! This is a donut shop serving up traditional Greek fried dough balls called lukumades. The dough balls at this restaurant are vegan by default, so you basically just build your own dessert with the fillings and toppings. These include nuts, syrups, peanut butter filling, and chocolate praline filling. The restaurant even has vegan chocolate ice cream you can add to the side!
I ended up going with one already on the menu called the “vegano”, which had chocolate praline stuffed on the inside, peanut drizzle on top and with crushed peanuts, and chocolate ice cream on the side.
Overall while I did find the lukumades to be delicious, I had trouble eating it all just because the chocolate and the peanut butter was both so strong to the point that it was difficult to stomach it all down (I’d eat it again, but I’d ask for less). The chocolate ice cream also had a rich flavor, however it wasn’t to the intensity of the chocolate praline.
VEGANAKI
Veganaki (“aki” meaning “cute”) is another option from the vegan Greek restaurants in Athens where you can find a HUGE menu of traditional Greek cuisine that’s been veganized. I seized the opportunity to try multiple dishes.
The first dish I tried was a traditional Greek pasta dish called pastitsio, which is a baked pasta dish filled with meat in a milk based sauce. The filling of the pastitsio had a hint of sweetness to it. And the meat and the pasta was savory. The taste combination pair went well with each other. Now as for the textures, I did find the texture of the sauce to be mushy, however I did find the texture of the meat and the pasta to be firm, and I thought the texture of the sauce, and the meat, and the pasta went well together.
I then ordered some falafel which I found to overall just be okay. I personally found it to be very dry and to the point where I really couldn’t enjoy the flavor of the falafel. However this may just be a “me” problem as I tend to find falafel dry in general (but I felt obligated to try it as I was in Greece). However the dish did come with some hummus, quinoa salad, and vegetables which all were very delicious.
I then ordered a Mediterranean pizza which was made with a sweet potato crust, and chunks of homemade feta which was used for the cheese topping. Other toppings included bell peppers, onions, olives, corn, mushrooms, and fresh herbs. I found the sweet potato crust to taste similar to a normal crust, and I also found the feta to have a delicious, cheesy taste. And I found all of the toppings to complement each other well.
And then lastly, I had some hazelnut mousse. I did find it to be a little grainy, which I’m just assuming is from the hazelnuts being blended together, but I did find the flavor to be delicious, and it had a rich chocolate taste, and reminded me of a pudding.
PEAS
Peas is another choice of vegan Greek restaurants in Athens to choose from that’s known for serving skepasti (meat sandwiched in a pita, some refer to it as a Greek quesadilla or a hamburger), along with other Greek dishes such as souvlakis, gyros, and kebabs.
I ended up ordering a skepasti that had seitan gyros and smoked tofu. It also came with cashew parmesan and mayo. Now while I did enjoy the flavor of my skepasti, and also did enjoy the flavor of the seitan gyros, I found the seitan gyros to be too dense to truly enjoy eating it. Now while I would order it again, I would just order it with a different protein.
MAGIC KITCHEN
Magic Kitchen is an all vegan Turkish restaurant that’s literally next door to the all vegan Cookoomela Grill restaurant serving up the souvlakis. The restaurant primarily serves gozlemes, which are Turkish stuffed turnovers.
And with gozlemes, you can literally stuff them with, well almost anything, and this restaurant has several veggie, potato, and cheese flavors to choose from. I decided to go with a cheese and herb based gozleme. The gozleme was served to me folded, and therefore I did find some of the bites to have quite a bit of dough compared to cheese. However, once I got to the bites that had the cheese, oh my goodness! The cheese was gooey and delicious, and I really could taste the herbs!
SNOB
Snob is a beautiful cafe with colorful paint on the outside and quaint seating, or you can dine in the indoor glassdome, or stick to traditional indoor dining where’s there’s also a bar. The restaurant also closes at 3AM and opens at 7AM, so you’ll always have something to eat.
This is a non vegan restaurant, however there are some vegan items on the menu clearly labeled (in my opinion, very limited, but this restaurant was a life saver on a day when most were closed) such as acai bowls, avocado toast, cauliflower steak, moussaka, fried cauliflower, and salads.
I first started with some Greek coffee, which I enjoyed.
I then decided to go with the moussaka. Texture wise I found it to be unusually mushy. Now I’ve only have had a few moussakas in my life, but I’ve never have had one this mushy before, not that it necessarily was a bad thing, I just found it a little on the unusual side. However there were some fried onions on the top which did help with the texture. To be honest, I was expecting the texture to be firmer, however, flavor wise I did enjoy the dish nevertheless.
I also ordered the fried cauliflower dish which had a combination of purple and white cauliflower, and it also came with fried capers and fried raisins. I actually found the combinations to surprisingly go well together. Also the purple cauliflower tasted as if it was coated in lemon juice which definitely added to the dish.
FULL SPOON
If you’ve been wandering the streets of Athens for at least 20 minutes, one thing you’re going to notice a lot regardless of sun or snow is ice cream. This is where Full Spoon comes into the picture.
Although not a vegan ice cream shop, there were seven flavors to choose from during the time of my visit including mango, bitter chocolate, strawberry, berry, fig, ginger, and lime, and these were either sorbet or coconut milk based.
I decided to get some sorbets and went with mango, bitter chocolate, and berry. I found the sweetness to be well balanced, and found all of the flavors to be delicious.
TREIS LALOUN
Treis Laloun is a unique vegan restaurant due to its unique vintage touches and it’s gigantic, mini novel menu with a plethora of both Greek and international cuisines. From falafel and kebabs, to sweet crepes and burgers, there’s a variety to satisfy your appetite.
I ended up ordering a plant-based chicken dish that came with eggplant puree and wild rice. Overall it wasn’t bad, but I just found the flavor to be on the mild side.
I then ended up ordering these fries that came with sunflower mince, and oh my goodness… these were so delicious! They even had somewhat of a chili flavor to it… oh my goodness…
WHAT ABOUT OTHER VEGAN AND VEGAN-FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS? 👀
MOTHER VEGAN CAFE
Mother Vegan Cafe is a cafe that mainly serves drinks and desserts, although there are a few (non-Greek) meals available.
I ended up ordering this bean steak which flavor-wise it wasn’t bad in its own, however, I did find it to be a little on the dense side. However the restaurant home makes its own mayo, and also house makes its own mustard, and it was delicious with those toppings.
I also decided to get dessert, and got this brownie topped with vanilla ice cream. The brownie was also served warm, it was sweet, but not too sweet, it had a nice chocolate flavor, it was chewy and it was delicious. The ice cream was also delicious and was from the Planet Brand.
MIMI’S CAFE VEGAN
This is a small fully vegan cafe primarily serving coffee, and small sweet and savory treats.
I decided to try multiple savory treats while I was there and ended up trying a hummus and sautéed bell pepper sandwich, a pesto roll, and a wrap with lentil kebabs and baba ganoush.
As for dessert I ended up going with pumpkin cake and had the opportunity to choose between chocolate and buttercream frosting, and well, I went with both! And I also got a chocolate peanut butter bar.
In my opinion, the savory treats were just okay, however the desserts were delicious
HAPPY BLENDER
Happy Blender is a vegetarian restaurant with a fully vegan (non-Greek) food menu with items such as Beyond Burgers, bowls, and salads. However just keep in mind that not all the drinks and desserts are vegan, so proceed with caution.
I ended up going to the restaurant as I had an ice cream craving, but unfortunately when I got there, I found out that the only vegan ice cream they had was pistachio, so obviously I went with that one.
Now if you’re trying to be sugar conscious then on the bright side, it’s made with stevia (along with all of their vegan desserts). Unfortunately, I found the ice cream to be really icy and overall just lacking flavor.
Now of course (as usual), you shouldn’t let my opinion deter you from going. If you really want to go then of course go, and it’s unfair for me to ding a restaurant after only trying a single dish.
TREAT YOSELF AT NES NAILS 💅🏿🙌🏿
I came across a gem, a vegan nail salon right in Athens called Nes Nails. All of the products at the salon are both vegan and free of animal testing.
I’m not sure if this is just a Greek hospitality thing, but one thing I noticed that unlike at most nail salons, their service didn’t feel rushed at this salon, and the stylist took her time with my nails. There were a plethora of colors to choose from and I was overwhelmed. I also loved the variety of textures and bright pinks and blues implemented into the design of the interior of the salon. They also provide lashes and eyebrow services.
