Best Vegan spots in Athens: Local Favorites + Map
Athens is far more vegan-friendly than it gets credit for.
It’s not a city where every taverna has plenty of plant-based choices, and traditional Greek cuisine still leans heavily on meat, fish, cheese, and yoghurt.
But over the last decade, vegan cafés, bakeries, brunch spots, and casual street food places have quietly multiplied across the city.
Neighborhoods like Exarcheia, Koukaki, Pagkrati, and parts of the centre now have enough options that eating vegan, even during a longer stay, is not difficult at all.
Add to that the fact that many Middle Eastern flavours fit naturally into vegan cooking, and Athens becomes a much easier city for plant-based travellers.
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Athens Vegan Map
Before going through the list, make sure to save this map with all the vegan spots mentioned below.
A Little Bit About This Guide
This is not meant to be a strict ranking, and I’m not a professional food critic.
These are vegan places in Athens I’ve personally tried, liked, and felt were worth sharing.
Taste is always personal, so you may love some places more than I did, or feel differently about others.
That said, I also love places with a story.
Food is rarely just about the plate in front of you.
Sometimes it’s about the people behind it, the reason they started, the struggles they went through, or the small details you only notice when someone takes the time to explain them.
For most places in this guide, I had the chance to speak with the people who own, founded, or work there.
That’s why this is not only a list of places. It’s also a collection of people, ideas, and stories behind them.
I’ll keep updating this list as I try more spots. The scene is still fairly young, and new places keep appearing.
1. Falafelo str. Food
Expectations can work in funny ways sometimes.
When I first went to Falafelo Str. Food in Exarcheia, I didn’t expect to find some of the best falafel I’ve ever had.
Falafelo opened in August 2023, but the story behind it started long before that.
Nitche, the owner, is Kurdish and originally from Syria.
He left the country in 2006, moved to Canada, learned the art of cooking, and later came to Greece with the dream of opening his own place.
The shop is small, but it has character.
From the outside, it almost looks like a food truck, which was actually part of the original idea. Nitche wanted to open a travelling canteen, but Greek regulations made that difficult.
So his wife painted the exterior to look like one instead, and it gives the whole place a very personal feel.
The menu is compact and focused: falafel wraps, falafel bites, fries, and sauces. But everything is made with care.
What makes the place stand out is the bread.
They use a traditional Kurdish technique for the pita, made without yeast and with black sesame, which gives it a slightly deeper, but very interesting taste.
The falafel itself is made in the Syrian style, using only chickpeas.
Their motto is “From scratch to street,” and it fits.
I tried the whole menu, and there wasn’t anything I didn’t like.
The falafel was crunchy on the outside, soft inside, and properly aromatic, which is not always the case with falafel.
My favourite was the Zucchini Zing wrap, with falafel, deep-fried zucchini, tomatoes, pickles, iceberg, tahini sauce, and mint. The mint made the whole thing feel fresher and lighter.
I also loved the Falafel Explosion, which absolutely lives up to its name.
The fries were fresh, the garlic cream sauce was my favourite, and the portions were huge for the price.
Nothing on the menu cost more than €5 when I visited, which is honestly rare for this kind of quality in Athens now.
What I liked most, though, was how much soul the place had. You can feel that there is a story behind it, and there is real care in the food.
For me, Falafelo Str. Food is one of the best food spots in Athens, vegan or not.
2. Peas Vegan & Raw Food
Peas Vegan & Raw Food is one of those places that feels calm the moment you walk in.
It’s a small, cozy, and tucked place in Koukaki.
It also happens to be one of the city’s earlier fully vegan spots, having opened in 2017.
When I spoke with Lila, one of the founders, she told me they wanted people to feel at home there. And honestly, that’s the exact feeling I got.
The space has plants, paintings, hammocks, and a very relaxed atmosphere without feeling forced.
The food is fully vegan and made from scratch.
They don’t rely heavily on processed meat substitutes, which I appreciated. They also try to reduce waste, avoid plastic, and offer a filtered water refill station.
The menu has a mix of vegan Greek dishes and internationally inspired options.
For something fresh during a hot summer day, the Tempeh Sunshine salad is a very good choice. If you want something closer to Greek flavours, go for the “Greek Me” salad instead.
But the dish I’d really suggest trying is “Two Peas in a Pod”, their vegan version of skepasti.
Skepasti is basically a Greek-style quesadilla, usually made with gyros, potatoes, sauce, and vegetables between two pitas.
Their version uses homemade seitan and smoked tofu, and it really works. It felt filling, fresh, and comforting in the way skepasti should.
For dessert, I tried the “Avocado Bloom”, a chocolate tart made with avocado. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was excellent.
Peas also sells handmade vegan deli products, including fillet, sausage, and pepperoni, which you can take home.
Peas is the kind of place I could visit for lunch, dinner, or even just to sit for a while with a laptop and something sweet.
3. Bamboo Vegan
Bamboo Vegan is one of the best vegan spots in Exarcheia for a proper sandwich and a more alternative atmosphere.
Fotis and Elisavet have been running it for over a decade, which already says a lot.
It started as a small vegan market, back when veganism in Greece was still very niche, and slowly turned into an urban sandwich shop and vegan market.
The space feels personal in a way that is hard to fake.
The walls are full of drawings, stickers, prints, and little details from friends, customers, and people who have passed through over the years.
The idea behind Bamboo is simple: good vegan food, good coffee, and a place where people feel welcome.
It’s not polished or overly designed, and that is exactly part of its charm.
Food-wise, Bamboo is mostly about vegan sandwiches, Greek-style pitas, fair trade coffee, and a few desserts.
The “New York-style” sandwich is one of the best things to order.
It comes with tofu ham, vegan cheddar, homemade mayo, tomato, and cucumber, and it’s easy to see why it’s one of their bestsellers.
It’s fresh, filling, and honestly one of the best vegan sandwiches I’ve tried in Athens.
I also liked the” No-Chick’n Nugget” sandwich, especially with the vegan parmesan.
The “Tofu Scramble” sandwich is another good one, made with Elisavet’s own scramble recipe.
Every Friday, Bamboo also hosts a small pop-up with a limited-edition menu item and drinks.
I tried a vegan cheeseburger with a Paloma, and it was exactly the kind of relaxed Friday-night food I want from Exarcheia.
For me, Bamboo Vegan works because it has both personality and consistency. T
he food is good, the people are warm, and the whole place feels like it belongs exactly where it is.
4. Mama Tierra Acropolis
Mama Tierra Acropolis is the smaller, more casual version of the original Mama Tierra, which has now closed.
This branch opened in 2022 and sits right next to the Acropolis Museum, which makes it one of the easiest vegan spots to fit into a sightseeing day.
The space is small, but nicely decorated, and the menu is more street-food focused.
You’ll find dishes inspired by Greek, Middle Eastern, and Asian cuisines, all made from fresh, mostly Greek ingredients.
I also had the chance to speak with Xenofon, one of the co-founders, who left his job as a physicist to work in food.
Another co-founder, Polash, is an Indian chef who has cooked in the United States, India, the Middle East, and Greece, which explains why the menu is so mixed (in a good way).
If you want something lighter, the vegan Caesar’s salad is a good choice.
It comes with vegan “chicken” nuggets and vegan parmesan, and it has that rich, cheesy taste you’d expect from a Caesar’s.
For something more Greek, try the vegan souvlaki with mushroom gyros and vegan tzatziki.
The mushroom gyros was excellent: fresh, well-seasoned, and probably some of the best I’ve tried in Athens.
The Greek Burger is also worth trying, especially if you like olives.
The patty is made with olives as a main ingredient, which gives it a completely different flavour from the usual vegan burger.
My favourite, though, was the Pulled Jackfruit Bao Buns. They were juicy, full of flavour, and easily the dish I’d order again first.
Mama Tierra Acropolis is a great stop if you’re near the Acropolis Museum and want something vegan, quick, and genuinely interesting instead of another random tourist-area meal.
5. Holy Llama
Before getting into this one, I want to thank Eleni, an amazing Greek creator, for the photos. She creates beautiful content about Greece, and you should definitely check her out.
Holy Llama is one of the most famous vegan pastry shops in Athens, and for good reason.
It’s located near Syntagma Square, so it’s easy to fit into a day of sightseeing, shopping, or walking around the centre.
The space is small, cozy, and nicely designed, but the real reason to come here is the food.
You’ll find vegan pastries, sandwiches, bowls, desserts, and drinks.
I’ve visited plenty of times, and the mushroom steak open sandwich is one of my favourites.
I’ve also tried many of their pastries, and I honestly don’t remember having anything bad there.
If you like matcha, their matcha latte is also a strong choice.
Holy Llama is not the cheapest vegan spot in Athens, so I wouldn’t call it budget-friendly.
But if you want a vegan bakery near Syntagma with reliable food and excellent sweets, it’s one of the easiest places to recommend.
6. Vegan Vandal
Vegan Vandal is another personal favourite.
It’s a vegan street food spot in Pagkrati, and one of the first places I discovered when I went plant-based.
Since then, I’ve tried quite a few things from the menu.
The “Crispy Cauli” Sandwich is the one I’d start with. It comes with their cauliflower nuggets, which are probably my favourite thing they make.
The “Vandal Burger”, made with lentils, is another good option if you want something bigger and more filling.
Vegan Vandal is the place to go when you want vegan food that is bold, messy, colourful, and satisfying.
It’s not trying to be delicate, and that’s exactly why I like it.
If you’re near Pagkrati and want a big vegan street food meal, this is an easy one to recommend.
7. Magic Kitchen of Exarcheia
As of 2026, Magic Kitchen is permanently closed. I’m keeping it here because its story deserves a place in this guide.
Magic Kitchen was a migrant-run vegan cooperative in Exarcheia.
In a cooperative, the people who work in the business make decisions collectively, instead of everything being controlled from the top.
I’ve always found that model interesting, so I was excited to visit.
I had the pleasure of meeting Sanem, the founder and coordinator of the cooperative, and she spoke openly about the difficulties of running a space like this.
We talked about the challenges of being a women-run business, how differently people sometimes treated them, and how much human balance it takes to keep a cooperative working.
The place itself was small, colourful, and full of life. It had an open kitchen, and seeing people from different backgrounds working together was a big part of what made it feel special.
The food was mainly vegan versions of traditional Asia Minor dishes.
The köfte ekmek was one of the highlights: a pita pocket with a soy patty, green salad, tomatoes, and their special green sauce. It was huge, juicy, and full of flavour.
I also really liked the tantuni with salad and rice, which came with soy kebab, tomatoes, chickpeas, rice, and greens.
Their soy-based dishes were genuinely impressive – well-seasoned, juicy, and much better than most vegan soy dishes I’ve tried.
For something lighter, the gözleme with greens and mushrooms was also excellent. Gözleme is a crispy stuffed flatbread, and theirs worked beautifully with the spicy sauces.
Magic Kitchen was also very budget-friendly, with generous portions and fair prices.
It’s sad that it’s no longer open, but I’m glad I got to experience it while it existed. It was a place built around cooperation, migration, resilience, and very good food.
Final Thoughts
Writing this guide reminded me how much the vegan food scene in Athens has changed.
It is still small compared to other European capitals, but it has personality, variety, and a lot of people behind it who clearly care about what they are building.
Some places are best for a quick street food stop, others for a slower meal, coffee, pastries, or something sweet after walking around the city. Either way, eating vegan in Athens is much easier than it used to be.
