Mekane in Athens

Metaxourgio courtyard restaurant — Gikas Xenakis' one-Michelin contemporary tasting menu.

Kifissia izakaya — yakitori counter, charcoal-grilled, one Michelin star.

Pangrati five-chef collective — contemporary-Greek, Bib Gourmand, the city's most-booked Tuesday.

Working-class cellar since 1887 — Athens Central Market lunch room, no signs, two doors, the city's most stubbornly itself room.

Kifissia French-Greek tasting room — Hervé Pronzato's one-Michelin star.

Onassis Cultural Centre rooftop — Tasos Mantis' one-Michelin modern-Greek tasting room.

Vouliagmeni cliff-edge fish room — Athens-Riviera summer lunch, the rocky-cove view.

Pangrati taverna since 1926 — barrel retsina, paper-tablecloth classics, the institution.

Upper-Plaka taverna since 1927 — courtyard, charcoal grill, the working-Athenian institution above the tourist belt.

Plaka souvlaki stall since 1946 — six stools, a charcoal grill, the canonical pita.

Psyrri taverna — regional-Greek cooking, Bib Gourmand, the mother's-kitchen register made formal.

Pangrati mezedopoleio — the city's most-booked Bib Gourmand small-plates room.

Athens' canonical two-Michelin-star room — Pangrati side street, restored neoclassical, classical-French foundation.

Psyrri delicatessen-restaurant — the Smyrna refugee canon, the cuisine cousin Istanbul lost in 1922.

Working-class pork-chop room since 1955 — Evripidou Street, one dish, the institution.

Praxitelous all-day cocktail bar — top-50-bar canon, Athens' canonical drinks address.

Lefteris Lazarou's Piraeus marina seafood room — one Michelin star, the canonical Athens-Riviera fish dinner.

Athens institution since 1920 — Piraeus-port origin, contemporary chef-led set menu, family fourth generation.