Athens is a late city with a compressed dinner service. Between nine and eleven in the evening the good neighbourhood restaurants are full, and between six and eight the same rooms have three tables in them. Everything about booking here follows from that curve.
It also means booking is worth more than it looks. It is not only insurance against a wasted walk across Pangrati — it is the mechanism through which the empty early hours get sold, and therefore where the discounts are.
Here is when to bother, how to do it, and how to make the same table cost less.
When do you actually need to book in Athens?
For two to four people arriving before nine, most tavernas in Athens will seat you without a reservation on any night of the week. After nine on Friday and Saturday, and for any table of five or more, book — the rooms are small, the regulars are many, and "we are full until eleven" is a real answer.
The exceptions that always need booking are the well-known rooftops with a view, restaurants that have appeared in a list of any kind in the last year, and Sunday lunch anywhere that families go. The exceptions that never do are souvlaki shops, bakeries and the market magiria, none of which take reservations at all.
- Weeknight, before 9pm, two to four people: turn up.
- Friday or Saturday after 9pm: book, ideally two or three days ahead.
- Groups of five or more, any night: book, and say how many.
- Rooftops, famous names, Sunday lunch: book earlier than you think.
What are the three ways to book?
A phone call is still the most common way Athenians book, and it works even in small tavernas that have no online presence at all. English is widely spoken in the centre; outside it, a first sentence in Greek helps and is easy to learn.
A booking platform is better when you are choosing rather than confirming — you can see who has tables at eight tonight, in which neighbourhood, and at what price. A discount booking platform does the same and attaches an offer to the hours the restaurant wants to fill. Walking in early is the third route and remains the most flexible, as long as you are eating at the hours the city is not.
| How | Best for | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Phoning the restaurant | Small tavernas, last-minute, specific requests | Nothing |
| A booking platform | Comparing what is free tonight, near you | Usually nothing |
| A discount booking | Getting the same table at half the food price | €6 a person on Filotimo |
| Walking in early | Flexible evenings before 8pm | Nothing, but no guarantee |
How do you get the same table cheaper?
The restaurant's problem is a room that is full at ten and empty at seven, and its fixed costs — rent, staff, gas — run identically through both hours. That is why the early table can be sold at a discount and the late one cannot: at seven the alternative is nobody at all.
Filotimo is built on exactly that trade. You book a partner restaurant before its peak hours, the kitchen takes fifty per cent off the food bill, and drinks are charged as normal. The service fee is €6 a person, charged when you book rather than at the table. On a €70 dinner for two the arithmetic is not subtle: €35 for the food, €14 for the drinks, €12 in fees — about €61 against €84.
Read nextWhere to eat in Athens, neighbourhood by neighbourhood
What do you say on the phone, and what should you expect?
A booking in Athens is short. Give the name, the number of people, the time and a phone number, and expect no deposit and no card details for anything except the most sought-after rooms. Tables are usually held for fifteen to twenty minutes; if you are running late, a two-line phone call keeps it.
If you are calling and want to open in Greek: "Kalispera, thelo ena trapezi gia dyo, stis okto" — good evening, I would like a table for two, at eight. The answer will almost certainly come back in English, and the gesture is appreciated either way.
What do you do if you have not booked?
Arrive before eight thirty and you will find a table in almost any neighbourhood in this guide. Arrive at ten on a Saturday in Psyrri without one and you will spend twenty minutes walking, which is not the worst way to see the neighbourhood but is a poor way to start a meal.
The fallback that always works: eat where booking is not a concept. The magiria at lunch, a souvlaki shop at any hour, a mezedopoleio at the counter, or a bakery at seven in the morning — none of them takes reservations, and all of them are among the best value food in the city.
Read nextThe best cheap eats in Athens, by what you actually want
Booking in Athens is a two-minute job that decides both whether you eat where you wanted to and what it costs. Take the early table when your evening allows it, phone ahead when it does not, and remember that the hour before the city arrives is the one the city sells at half price.
How this guide is kept honest
Written in Athens by the team behind Filotimo, from the menus, prices and bookings we see across our partner restaurants. Prices move with the season and the street, so every figure here is a working range rather than a quote.