Best Restaurants for Brunch in Athens (2026)
Brunch · Athens · 6 tables ranked · Updated June 2026
Athens adopted brunch the way it adopts most imported pleasures — late, and then with conviction — and the best rooms now run from Kolonaki's smart cafés to the marble steps of Plaka. The six below are ranked for the weekend table, weighing the kitchen, the setting and how a busy Saturday or Sunday service holds up. At the top sits the Kolonaki farm-to-table room that set the city's standard, then a Plaka café on the Mnisikleous steps, a Kolonaki all-day bar, a Psyrri specialty-coffee room, a Koukaki garage-turned-brunch hall and a Kolonaki bakery known for the city's best croissant. The ranking weights kitchen quality, the room, weekend value and service at peak. Athens brunches late and lingers, so the rooms fill from late morning; book the smart Kolonaki tables and arrive early at the cafés.
The ranking
1. Nice N Easy — Farm-to-table brunch · Kolonaki
Omirou 60 & Skoufa, Kolonaki · Plates around €12–22 · Organic farm-to-table brunch with live jazz; the city's benchmark room
The Kolonaki farm-to-table room that set Athens's brunch standard; the benchmark pick. Book a weekend table ahead.
Nice N Easy on the corner of Omirou and Skoufa in Kolonaki is the room that set the Athens brunch standard, and it earns number one as the city's benchmark. The kitchen runs an organic, farm-to-table menu built around Greek producers — eggs Benedict, a strong avocado plate, healthy bowls, proper pancakes and gluten-free and vegan options that widen the table — plated with a consistency the weekend queue confirms. The room is a relaxed Kolonaki café with vintage Hollywood photographs and live jazz on the right morning, a setting that suits a long Athenian brunch that drifts past noon. It has grown into a small group, with rooms in Kifissia and on the islands, but the Kolonaki original is the one to feature. It takes bookings, worth using for a weekend. Come for the organic cooking, the jazz and the room the rest of the city's brunch scene measures itself against — and reserve, because the smart Kolonaki tables go first.
2. Yiasemi — All-day café-bistro · Plaka
Mnisikleous 23, on the steps, Plaka · Plates around €9–16 · Breakfast and brunch on the marble stairs beneath the Acropolis
The Plaka café on the Mnisikleous marble steps; the best-setting brunch beneath the Acropolis. Arrive early for a step table.
Yiasemi on the Mnisikleous steps in Plaka is the café-bistro with the prettiest brunch setting in Athens, and it earns second place as the best-setting pick. The draw is the location — tables set out on the marble stairs that climb toward the Acropolis through the old Anafiotika quarter, about as Athenian a brunch view as the city offers — wrapped around a relaxed all-day menu of homemade pies, eggs, pancakes, yoghurt-and-fruit plates and good coffee and cakes. The cooking is honest café fare rather than a destination kitchen, but the setting is the point, and on a clear morning a step table here is one of the loveliest seats in the city. It does not take bookings for the outdoor steps, so the move is to arrive early before the late-morning crowd claims them. Come for the marble-step setting, the homemade pies and a brunch where the view up to the Acropolis is half of what you came for.
3. Zurbaran — All-day bar-restaurant · Kolonaki
Patriarchou Ioakeim 10, Kolonaki · Plates around €11–20 · All-day bar with weekend brunch to 3 p.m.; eggs Benedict and creative plates
The Kolonaki all-day bar with brunch to 3; the smart, lingering weekend pick. Book the weekend brunch window.
Zurbaran on Patriarchou Ioakeim in Kolonaki is the all-day bar-restaurant that does one of the neighbourhood's most reliable weekend brunches, and it earns third place as the smart, lingering pick. The kitchen runs brunch from late morning to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday — a well-made eggs Benedict, chicken tacos, a tahini millefeuille, profiterole with wholegrain choux — that crosses comfort and a little invention, served in a polished Kolonaki room that shifts from brunch to bar as the afternoon turns. It is the choice for a couple or a group who want to settle in over Bloody Marys and stay past the meal, a brunch that becomes an afternoon. The room fills on weekends, so a booking is worth making for the prime window. Come for the creative plates, the late weekend service and the easy Kolonaki energy that lets a brunch drift into the afternoon without anyone hurrying the table.
4. Picky Brunch & Specialty Coffee — Specialty-coffee brunch · Psyrri
Christokopidou 14 & Navarchou Apostoli, Psyrri · Plates around €9–16 · Specialty-coffee room with a clean, health-leaning brunch menu
The Psyrri specialty-coffee room with a clean brunch menu; the third-wave coffee pick. Walk in early on a weekend.
Picky Brunch & Specialty Coffee on Christokopidou in Psyrri is the third-wave coffee room that takes its brunch as seriously as its espresso, and it earns fourth place as the specialty-coffee pick. The kitchen runs a clean, health-leaning menu — açaí and smoothie bowls, avocado and egg plates, pancakes, good vegan and gluten-free options — built around quality beans and careful brewing, which makes it the move for a brunch where the coffee is the headline rather than an afterthought. The room is small, bright and design-led, in the increasingly busy Psyrri quarter just off Monastiraki, and it draws a younger, weekend crowd. It is mostly walk-up and the small room fills fast, so arrive early on a weekend before the queue forms. Come for the specialty coffee, the clean plates and a lighter, modern brunch in one of the city's most happening neighbourhoods — the pick when the cup matters as much as the plate.
5. Bel Ray — All-day café-bar · Koukaki
Falirou 88, Koukaki · Plates around €9–15 · A former garage turned bright brunch hall; brunch by day, bar by night
The Koukaki garage turned bright brunch hall; the relaxed, local weekend pick. Walk in and settle into the high-ceilinged room.
Bel Ray on Falirou in Koukaki is the former petrol-station garage reborn as a bright, high-ceilinged café-bar, and it earns fifth place as the relaxed, local weekend pick. The kitchen runs an easy all-day brunch — eggs and toasts, sandwiches, a few hearty plates and good coffee — in a big, airy industrial room that fills with a neighbourhood crowd from the residential streets south of the Acropolis, away from the tourist crush of Plaka. It is the brunch for a slow local Saturday rather than a destination kitchen, the room you settle into for a couple of hours, and as the afternoon turns it shifts into bar mode with a drinks crowd. It is mostly walk-up and the room is large enough to usually find a table. Come for the converted-garage setting, the easy plates and the genuinely local Koukaki energy — the relaxed neighbourhood alternative to the smarter Kolonaki rooms above.
6. Queen Bee — Bakery-café · Kolonaki
Kanari & Akadimias area, Kolonaki · Plates around €8–16 · Bakery-café known for the best croissant in Athens; pastries and brunch plates
The Kolonaki bakery-café with the city's best croissant; the pastry-led brunch pick. Arrive early before it fills.
Queen Bee in Kolonaki is the bakery-café that locals credit with the best croissant in Athens, and it earns sixth place as the pastry-led brunch pick. The draw is the viennoiserie — a properly laminated, buttery croissant and a counter of pastries that hold their own against any in the city — backed by a short brunch menu of eggs, toasts and bowls and a serious coffee program. It is the choice for a brunch that starts with the pastry case rather than a full cooked plate, the move for a couple who want a croissant and a flat white in a smart Kolonaki room before a walk through the neighbourhood's galleries and shops. It runs a little pricey for the area and fills fast on weekends, so the move is to arrive early before the croissants and the tables go. Come for the croissant first and the brunch second — the bakery pick for a lighter, pastry-forward Athenian morning.
Avoid for brunch
Syntagma and Monastiraki tourist breakfast cafés — centre. The all-day-breakfast cafés ringing Syntagma Square and the Monastiraki flea market charge tourist prices for ordinary eggs, and a brunch-seeker after real cooking will leave flat. Steer for the Kolonaki, Koukaki and Psyrri rooms above instead, such as Nice N Easy, where the kitchens have a point of view and the value holds up.
A formal Acropolis-view rooftop restaurant — for brunch. The rooftop dining rooms with an Acropolis view are romantic for dinner, but most run a set lunch and dinner service rather than a true weekend brunch, and you pay for the view over the plate. For the view at brunch instead, Yiasemi on the Plaka marble steps gives you the setting without the formality.
Anywhere promising a full English at 8 a.m. Athens brunches late — the rooms fill from late morning, not early, and a place pushing an early full-English fry-up is usually chasing tourists rather than cooking for locals. Lean into the city's rhythm and arrive mid-morning at a room built for it, such as Zurbaran, whose weekend brunch runs comfortably to 3 p.m.
Reservation strategy for a Athens brunch
The smart Kolonaki rooms reward a booking. Nice N Easy takes reservations and its weekend tables go first, so book ahead; Zurbaran nearby runs brunch to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday and fills for the prime late-morning window, which is worth securing in advance.
The café rooms are the early-arrival move. Yiasemi does not book its outdoor steps in Plaka, so arrive early to claim a marble-step table before the late-morning crowd; Picky in Psyrri is mostly walk-up and its small room fills fast, so come early on a weekend.
The relaxed rooms are the flexible options. Bel Ray in Koukaki is a large room that usually has space for a walk-up, and Queen Bee in Kolonaki is first-come — get there early on a weekend before the croissants and the tables go. For a slow local Saturday with no plan, Bel Ray is the easiest move.
Frequently asked
What is the best brunch restaurant in Athens?
Nice N Easy in Kolonaki. The organic farm-to-table kitchen runs eggs Benedict, healthy bowls and proper pancakes with gluten-free and vegan options, set in a relaxed room with live jazz that set the city's brunch standard. It takes bookings, so reserve for a weekend table.
Where is the best brunch with an Acropolis view in Athens?
Yiasemi on the Mnisikleous marble steps in Plaka sets its tables on the stairs climbing toward the Acropolis, the prettiest brunch setting in the city. It does not book the outdoor steps, so arrive early on a weekend to claim a step table before the crowd.
Where can I get brunch in Athens without a long wait?
Bel Ray in Koukaki is a large, high-ceilinged room that usually has space for a walk-up away from the tourist centre, and Zurbaran in Kolonaki takes bookings for its weekend brunch to 3 p.m. Arriving before the late-morning rush helps at the busier café rooms.
Where is the best specialty coffee with brunch in Athens?
Picky Brunch & Specialty Coffee in Psyrri is the third-wave pick, pairing carefully brewed beans with a clean, health-leaning brunch menu of bowls and egg plates. For pastries with serious coffee, Queen Bee in Kolonaki is known for the best croissant in the city.
How much does brunch cost in Athens?
Plan on roughly €8–16 a plate at the café and bakery rooms like Yiasemi, Bel Ray and Queen Bee, and around €11–22 at the smarter Kolonaki rooms such as Nice N Easy and Zurbaran. The Kolonaki tables sit at the upper end for the cooking and the setting, while the Koukaki and Plaka cafés keep brunch cheaper.
What time is brunch in Athens?
Athens brunches late — the rooms fill from late morning rather than early, and weekend brunch service at rooms like Zurbaran runs comfortably to 3 p.m. Arrive mid-morning to beat the peak at the café rooms, and book ahead for the smart Kolonaki tables, which go first on weekends.
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Affiliate disclosure: RFK earns a commission on bookings made through partner platforms (Tock, Resy, OpenTable, SevenRooms) marked with a "Reserve" link. Sponsored listings are clearly marked with a Sponsored badge and are not eligible for editorial ranking. The six rooms on this list were ranked editorially and no booking partner influenced the order.