Cafeography
Athens

Specialty coffee in Athens

Athens roasters and espresso bars, from Emmanouil Benaki Street to Thiseio and Pangrati.

Photo: Olivier Morneau, Pexels License

Over the past decade Athens has become one of the most dynamic specialty coffee scenes in Europe, Newmoney wrote in March 2026, with long-established coffee shops changing their approach next to micro-roasters that roast fresh batches every day.1 Taf, open since 2009 at Emmanouil Benaki 7, is widely credited with spreading specialty coffee culture across Greece.21

The local twist is temperature. Specialty bars serve the freddo cappuccino as readily as filter: Motiv on Benaki lists it beside its espresso drinks, and at Anäna in Psyrri it is the signature drink.3 The cafés that roast their own coffee are spread across Exarchia, Psyrri, Thiseio, Kolonaki and Pangrati.

Local tip: Buy beans at the source: Taf on Benaki packs its own, and Motiv on the same street sells bags of the coffee it roasts.23

Where these cafés are: Pangrati (6), Exarchia (4), Ilisia & Zografou (3), Monastiraki & Psyrri (3), Syntagma & Plaka (3), Kypseli (3), Ampelokipoi (2), Thiseio & Petralona (2), Kerameikos & Gazi (2), Neos Kosmos (1), Kolonaki (1), Kallithea (1), Koukaki & Makrygianni (1).

At a glance

32Cafés listed
8With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
02:30Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Foyer Espresso Bar, from 07:00 (Mon–Fri 07:00–19:00 · Sat–Sun 08:00–18:00).
  • Closes latest: Warehouse, until 02:30 (Daily 09:00–02:30).
  • Most common features: card payment (16%), outdoor seating (13%), partial wheelchair access (9%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Athens.

Taf, Motiv and Warehouse in Exarchia

Taf brews and packs its own beans, from Africa and Central America, and sells them as far afield as London, Singapore and Milan; it pulls flat whites and cappuccinos with latte art even on paper cups.2 Motiv, a few doors up at Benaki 20, roasts all of its own coffee and sells bags from a range of regions.3

Warehouse, at Valtetsiou 21, pairs good coffee with a wine list, and Kaldi, on upper Ippokratous, started in 2016 as a small takeaway shop selling beans and herbs.14

The Underdog, from Thiseio to Kypseli

Newmoney counts The Underdog among the first places to introduce Athenians to specialty coffee. Its flagship occupies a neoclassical building at Iraklidon 8 in Thiseio, and it roasts at its own roastery in Psyrri, selling beans, capsules and instant coffee as well.1 The company has roasted since 2011 and opened the Thiseio café in 2015.2

Its first partner espresso bar, a compact format the company calls its satellite model, is at Fokionos Negri 49 in Kypseli.51

Kolonaki, Pangrati and beyond

Samba Coffee Roasters has roasted since 1979 and opened its first café in 2020. Its small Kolonaki shop is at Solonos 36 and its larger venue at Laskaridou 7 in Ampelokipoi, open 08:00–21:00 daily, with coffees from between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and desserts baked every day.21

In Pangrati, Foyer Espresso Bar at Vryaxidos 2 is the address for filter, with rare lots from foreign roasters. Kross Coffee Roasters, founded in Chania in 2013 by the brothers Sotos and Stavros Michael, runs a café here open 08:00–17:00.16 Anäna, at Praxitelous 33, roasts in-house and changes its coffees every quarter.3

Guest roasts and prices

Several cafés serve other people’s roasts. Picky in Psyrri pours single origins from Taf, Third Place on Apollonos uses the Athenian roaster Ofellia, and Kick in Kypseli rotates guests such as Bonanza from Berlin and HandPickers from Athens.73

Pricefox’s 2026 comparison of delivery prices in Attica put the average cappuccino at €2.45, up from €2.36 a year earlier, with espresso starting at €1.20.8 At Samba, coffees from the competition list cost two or three times its regular black and white drinks.2

Freddo orders follow the sugar rule even here: the sweetener goes in before the coffee is shaken, so say skétos if you want none.9

Sources

  1. Πώς ο καφές στην Αθήνα έγινε τελετουργία: Αυτές είναι οι τοπ διευθύνσεις (Vasilis Dimaras, 2 March 2026), Newmoney, accessed October 2026
  2. 9 Great Coffee Shops in Athens (Daryl and Mindi Hirsch, updated 23 July 2026), 2foodtrippers, accessed October 2026
  3. Tour Four of the Best Cafés in Athens, Greece (Michaela Tomchek, 28 May 2025), Barista Magazine, accessed October 2026
  4. Athens: specialty coffee and herbs at Kaldi (Dimitris Kossyfas, October 2017), Travel Food People, accessed October 2026
  5. Locations, The Underdog, accessed October 2026
  6. Kross Coffee Roasters: roaster story, The Way to Coffee, accessed October 2026
  7. Picky Specialty Coffee & Brunch, Picky, accessed October 2026
  8. Τιμές καφέ 2026: Πού πληρώνουμε ακριβότερα και πού φθηνότερα (18 October 2026), Notospress, accessed October 2026
  9. The Freddo Espresso: A Modern Greek Cultural Phenomenon (Angelos Gassenschmidt, 11 May 2026), To Vima, accessed October 2026
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By area: Monastiraki & Psyrri Thiseio & Petralona Syntagma & Plaka Koukaki & Makrygianni Exarchia Kolonaki Pangrati Kypseli

FAQ

Specialty coffee in Athens: questions

Which specialty coffee roasters in Athens sell their own beans?

Taf on Emmanouil Benaki brews and packs its own beans, from Africa and Central America, and sells them as far as London, Singapore and Milan. Motiv, on the same street, roasts all of its own coffee and sells bags from several regions. The Underdog roasts in Psyrri, and Samba Coffee Roasters has roasted since 1979.

What is The Underdog specialty roastery in Athens?

The Underdog is an Athens specialty roaster that has roasted since 2011 and opened its Thiseio café in 2015, in a neoclassical building at Iraklidon 8. Its roastery is in Psyrri, and its first partner espresso bar is at Fokionos Negri 49 in Kypseli. Newmoney counts it among the first places to introduce Athenians to specialty coffee.

How much does specialty coffee cost in Athens?

Pricefox’s 2026 comparison of delivery prices in Attica put the average cappuccino at €2.45, up from €2.36 a year earlier, with espresso from €1.20. Specialty menus can run higher: at Samba Coffee Roasters, coffees from the competition list cost two or three times its regular black and white drinks.

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