3 Best Restaurants in Thissio, Athens

Kuzina may be sleek, dazzlingly decorated, and moodily lit, but it's not just a pretty face. The food—especially the inventive seafood and pasta dishes—is among the best in Athens, standing out on touristy Adrianou. The main room soars skyward, glittering with birdcage chandeliers and factory ducts, with a vast oak-covered gray bar set below a spotlit wall lined with hundreds of wine bottles. The menu (refreshed a couple of times a year) showcases newfangled and alternative Greek dishes with traditional touches like the tasty chicken fillet with confit of cherry tomatoes, graviera (a gruyère-like Greek) cheese, and spinach rice or Asian influenced plates like the light black cod marinated in a miso. Cocktails are to be relished on the rooftop terrace, blessed by very drinkable views of the Acropolis. If you can tear yourself away from that, visit the Porta art gallery on the second floor.

For a fancy coffee (think espresso mixed with Sambuca), sweet crêpes, or an impromptu meal, stop at this restored neoclassical-style mansion and watch the crowds on Apostolou Pavlou. The seating in the square in front of the restaurant bordering the ancient agora has one of the best views of the Acropolis in town.

Unpretentious and overall unremarkable, this restaurant is justifiably famous for its freshly grilled paidakia (lamb chops), to be eaten with unabashed gusto by hand. It's always busy and always a great escape from an increasingly modernized city, but avoid the hima wine, which almost certainly leads to a headache. Enjoy your lamb with thick-cut fried potatoes that might have come from your yiayia's kitchen and perhaps some tzatziki or fava bean spread. The meat taverna's popularity led to the opening of a second branch farther down the same road and an extension across the pedestrianized Eptahalkou Street into a garden area.