Since I love Rembetika music and greek food I would like to share a few places in
Athens where I spent a couple of amazing nights!

I Stoa ton Athanaton, Sofokleos Street 19, phone: (210) 321 4362. Rembetika club.
A legendary place. It lies in the middle of the meat market, close to Athinais street. Looks really dodgy from the outside and during the day it is hard to find.(the smell is not very nice either, but once inside, the place is very clean and almost chic in a greek way). At about 11-12 o’clock, the place opens for the night, and you take an elevator to the first floor. These places don’t charge an entrence fee, but, if you want to have a table, pre-booked or not, you are ‘obliged’ to spend a certain amount of money. People buy a bootle of whiskey or an extremely expensive plate or fruit, but can then sit there until the morning and enjoy the music. It is also ok to stay in the bar, which me and my friends did and then you can just ‘get by’ with a couple of beers. They also have afternoon sessions during weekends, I tried that too and it was at about 4-5 o’clock if I remember right. That is probably a better option if you want to bring your parents.

I really recomment this place, it is very traditional, eventhough it has in fact made rembetika, which was once played in the poor suburbs, into a very fancy form of entertainment.


O Kavouras, Themostokleous 64, next to the big square in Exarchia. Phone:3810202. Rembetika club.
This is a great place for Rembetika music too. It has more of a student atmosphere with many young people who don’t mind about dancing on the tables. They open at midnight and close at 6 or so. Can be very crowded and chaotic, but very genuine.


Klimataria, Plateia Theatrou 2, Phone: 3216629, www.klimataria.gr, Tavern with music
You can have a look at their website, and get an idea, eventhough it is only in greek...
This is a simple but very genuine greek tavern. You should not go there too early, people in Greece usually go out for dinner very late, especially on weekends. 9-10 is still rather early...
They have music playing there too, which is very common in these places after like 11 o’clock or so. The place can be hard to find, but if you do get here you will definitely see mostly greek people and a very traditional way of spending an evening in Athens. They have their own wine too!


Taverna Protogenous, Psiri, Protogenous street 10, Phone: 3228658, Tavern with music
One among many places in Psiri. This is just one, can’t remember the names of the other places, but there are loads of good restaurants here. They are a little more expensive than elsewhere, but far less touristic than Plaka. Most restaurants in Psiri are doing some modern kind of greek cooking, which is very nice and popular.


Barba Iannis, Emmanouil Benaki street 94, Exarchia.
Simple and very traditional tavern. The kind fo place where you go and chooce your food at the counter and the paper table cloth eventually becomes the bill. Very beautiful building and a typical greek place.