We love Greek delicatessens. We loved them before they became a city-wide trend and we love them now that they are everywhere, with a cornucopia of incredible Greek and international foodstuffs by small and specialised producers inspiring us to try new tastes and ‘travel’ through our tastebuds.
Through these delis we can discover the result of recipes and procedures that are centuries-old and second to none. In a party of flavours, sour trachana and mature Cretan graviera are sold alongside bleu de Queyras and Iberico de Bellota, camel pastirma and Armenian soujouk, giant ‘gigantes’ beans from Prespes and katsouni (fava) from Schinoussa, avgotaraho (bottarga) from Messolonghi and foie gras.
Here we present you with a broad array of high quality, well-reputed stores across the city that sell an exciting range of excellent food products for festive feasts or everyday luxury for the palate, parties, dinners and special gifts to foodie friends.
Ergon House
Not just a deli but also a beautiful boutique hotel, Ergon House is a contemporary foodie hub with an inviting ambience, plenty of natural light and clean, modern lines. Its centrepiece is the Agora, a lively market selling a vast range – more than 600 unique products. Visitors can buy fresh farm-to table foods like premium meats, artisanal cheeses, and specialty organic produce made in Greece by Ergon (which also has its own orchard) and its collaborators. The market also features a selection of fine olive oils, Greek wines, and traditional pastries and a dining hall.
Address: 23 Mitropoleos, Syntagma, Phone: +30 210 0109090, Website
Ipirotissa
What was initially a bakery and pastry shop, and is one of the oldest shops in the area, has evolved into a multi-space that has a modernised delicatessen with mainly foreign, exceptional cheeses and deli meats, fresh pasta and more delights as well as a wine cellar (including a good selection of champagnes), a small greengrocer’s section, ready meals (from sushi to classic Greek dishes), coffee, a pastry shop with very nice sweets, and a bakery with bread made from emmer wheat flour, stone-ground sourdough bread, multigrain bread and more. It also produces bakery products (bread sticks, biscuits, bagels) that change with the seasons. For example, it offers spooky sweets during Halloween and wonderful vasilopita, melomakarona and kourabiedes at Christmas.
Address: 32 Evelpidon Avenue, Voula, Phone: +30 210 895392, Website
Diatrofi Koutroumanos
At this grocery store you’ll find excellent traditional products from all over Greece, mainly dairy products from the famous Koutroumanos Dairy in Karpenisi, like feta, goat’s cheese, barrel-aged cheese, Vlach cheese, fresh goat’s butter, graviera and kefalotyri, tsalafouti (PDO), all made from local milk, as well as yoghurt from the Tzifris Dairy in Karpenisi. They also sell ‘tsatsou’ pasta from Lamia (sour and sweet sheep’s milk trachanas, a rarity), and vegetable trachanas, hilopites, Keramaris spoon sweets, pine honey from Evrytania and honey from all over Greece, both conventional and organic, and a unique liqueur made from Evrytania berries. For delicatessen, there are Karpenisi sausages from Vrekos (and Synglino, a very good pork tenderloin and salami) and Strammenos sausages.
Address: 130 Papadiamantopoulou, Goudi, Phone: +30 210 7754805
Nora’s Deli
A remarkable place to shop at for both Greek and international cuisine lovers, selling a wide range of everyday staples such as olive oil, honey, pasta, rice, dairy products, spices, teas, sauces, chocolates and vegan food products, as well as organic and natural cosmetics and household products. From abroad come Iberico de Bellota, foie gras, caviar, smoked salmon, fresh Normandy butter, goose fat and more. From Greece, there are goat trachanas from Andros, Mytilene oil cheese, pickled quail eggs from Grevena and avgotaraho from Messolonghi. You’ll also find smoked and pickled fish, buffalo milk ariani, top quality wines and much more.
Address: 11 Anagnostopoulou, Kolonaki, Phone: +30 210 3389349, Website
Ellinika Kaloudia
A charming shop behind the Acropolis Museum selling a curated selection of goods from small Greek producers, with an emphasis on organic sourcing. You’ll find unique foods and delicacies that you won’t easily find elsewhere, like cheeses from Maltezou Farm and San Michali from Syros, riki honey from Andros, frozen handmade pies from Pie Lab in Ayia Larissa and frozen Batis Bougatsa from Thessaloniki – both ready to bake. Also a broad range of sauces from Goumenisses, nut butters from The Nutlers, wonderful herbal tea blends and much more.
Address: 8 Hatzichristou, Koukaki, Phone: +30 210 9224060, Website
Troufa Local Deli
Cheeses, deli meats, pasta and an impressive collection of whole truffles and truffle products, which inspired its name. World Cheese Award winning cheeses and wonderful Greek cheeses (many from Arcadia) share shelf space: Arcadian Sheep and Goat’s Gruyere with Four Peppers, Gruyere with Bukovo, Arcadia Smoked Gruyere, Sfakian Numbered Gruyere, aged Kasseri from Xanthi, Castelviel Roquefort, 18-month aged Comte, 18-month raw milk Cheddar, Pecorino with Truffle, Queso Curado with Truffle, 36-month aged Gouda, 12-month aged Manchego D.O.P., 12-month aged Cretan Gruyere and more. The same variety extends to charcuterie, where camel pastirma sits alongside Renzini truffle salami. As for truffle products, you’ll find vinegar, oil, butter, mayonnaise, risotto rice (carnaroli), basil pesto, all with truffles, and whole truffles.
Address: 54 Achilleos, Paleo Faliro, Phone: +30 210 9885445, Website
Mirán
Since 1922, this famous delicatessen has been known for its variety of pastourmas (beef, sheep, buffalo, camel) and a range of other items such as spicy and plain soutzoukia and kavourmas. In addition to its own meats, produced with a century of in-depth knowledge, it deals in air-dried salamis – spicy Hungarian, paprika, truffle, cheese, and beef tongue, pastrami and more, indeed there’s a wide variety of exquisite cheeses from every corner of Greece crowding the shelves: Cretan graviera, Xanthi kasseri, sheep’s and goat’s milk cheeses and dry cheeses from Samothrace, smoked cheese from Veria, Ios gruygraviera, semi-hard sochino, Astakos kefalotyri, Kefalonia kefalotyri, Mykonos goats’ cheeses and so on. The cornucopia of mezes is rounded off with fantastic picked and preserved ‘alipasta’ seafood and fish.
Address: 45 Evripidou, Psyri, Phone: +30 210 4121766, Website
Degustation
Founded in 2007 by the cosmopolitan Ilias Apostolou, a veteran of the hospitality industry, the company exclusively imports high quality foods, delicacies and drinks from selected Greek and international producers. The range of products is vast, with over 1,700 items mainly from Greece, France, Italy, Germany and the rest of the world. Legendary cheeses such as Stilton, Comté, Farmhouse Cheddar, Roquefort, deli meats – Jamon Serrano & Jamon Iberico, Bresaola di Punta, Truffle Mortadella from Bologna, Finocchiona, Spianata Calabria or Romana, etc. The foie gras, caviar, avgotaraho, pies, crackers and chutneys have a special gastronomic presence in the shop.
Address: 5 Koumpari, Kolonaki, Phone: +30 210 3627744, Website
From Paris
Founded by Parisians Cyril and Sylvie Rouquette, who fell in love with Greece and cheese, they’ve created a quaint cheese shop offering fine French cheeses of all kinds. In their fridges you’ll find everything from Reblochon, a goat’s cheese with ash and a delicate flavour, to pungent cheeses such as Le Georges and truffle-flavoured Camembert, soft Saint Marcelin and Langres, Saint Nectaire, classic Roquefort and Bleu de Queyras, Brie and Mimolette. In addition to cheeses, there are ready-made vegetable soups in jars and traditional French dishes such as duck with orange, beef blanquette, pickles, jams, a few wines and many other delicacies with the French gastronomic stamp.
Address: 35 Kleisthenous, Aghia Paraskevi, Phone: +30 698172612, Website
Ta Karamanlidika tou Fani
A stroll around the huge circular refrigerator at the centre of Fanis Theodoropoulos’ shop is like a complete gastronomic tour of the tastiest parts of Greece. There are incredible cheeses that only a few insiders knew about before they hit the shelves, such as Armirotiri from Kasos, Kariki from Tinos, a blue cheese from the Tinos Dairy Cooperative made from cow’s milk and matured in a pumpkin, Kimolos Manoura matured in grape must, semi-soft oil cheese from Milos, Caskavali, a PDO semi-sweet cheese from Limnos, and more. There’s an abundance of deli meats on offer, including Karamanlidika-style pastourmas and soutzoukia, pork knuckles, salamis and sausages. Products range from pasta, sauces and spreads to ready-made pies, halva, wines, spoon sweets and jams. Wines – of course, wines – as well as spirits and beers complete the range.
Address: 1 Sokratous & Evripidou, Psyri, Phone: +30 210 3254184, Website
Gratsanis – Mornos Dairy Products
The shop of this family-run dairy and traditional pasta company brings the variety of its unique products to the city. PDO Feta, sheep’s and goat’s cheese, Gruyere, Kefalotyri and Kefalision (made from pasteurised Greek sheep’s and goat’s milk, a cross between Greek Gruyere and Kefalotyri), Anthotyro, dry Mizithra and Manouromizithra, as well as sheep’s and goat’s yoghurt and fresh sheep’s and goat’s milk and sour milk. There are also spreads such as tzatziki and spicy cheese dip, and spreadable cheeses such as galotyri and sour mizithra. Their traditional pasta is represented by trahanas (sweet, sour, whole wheat), lasagne, hilopites, screw pasta, macaronaki, etc.
Address: 33 Oulof Palme, Zografou, Phone: +30 213 0255665, Website
Amfilohia
A modern store with a variety of products from small Greek producers making modern, classic and traditional foods. They sell dairy products, deli meats, honey, bakery products, wine and frozen ready meals. The feta from Trihonida and the manoura from Sifnos are delicious, as are the blue cheese “Cyan” from the Arvanitis dairy and the chevre from the Maltezos farm. Of particular interest are the products of Parnonas Poema, an association of Parnonas producers (graviera that’s aged for 8 months, graviera with chilli seeds, graviera with black pepper, pine, blossom and conifer honey), as well as fantastic rusks made from legume flour (fava, lentil, chickpea) and whole-wheat flour in three flavours: oil, tomato and garlic-oregano, all kinds of deli meats, salamis, pork knuckles and prosciuttos, and spaghetti, linguine and vegetable linguine from “Agrozimi” made with semolina in special bronze molds (a special order from Italy).
Address: 30 Sarantaporou, Holargos, Phone: +30 210 6532051, Website
Provence
The only shop in the country that sells selected and rare foreign cheeses (and very few Greek ones), run by Giorgos Kyriakopoulos, the owner and connoisseur of the subject. If you follow his advice, you’ll find a 14-month aged Gouda that’s not just a rubbery slice for pizza or toast, but a superb cheese. Among the myriad codes, his fridges hold rare cheeses such as the unpasteurised Swiss Holzhofer, the rare blue cheese from Savoie Bleu De Termignon, Occelli with chestnut leaves from Piedmont, 11-year-old Reggiano Modenese cow’s milk Parmesan, raw 12-month-old English cheddar, soft, buttery Munster Montagne Claudepierre with its pungent smell and delicate taste from Alsace, handmade Camembert, perhaps even a Tinos Gruyere, and more. The shop also stocks excellent charcuterie and foie gras, caviar, salmon and seafood, as well as more everyday quality foods such as Carnaroli rice and Italian pasta, Modena balsamic vinegar, spreads, chutneys and bakery products. A range of international wines, including champagnes, sparkling wines and sweet dessert wines, as well as spirits and liqueurs, complete the picture of indulgence.
Address: 12 Theofanous, Ambelokipi, Phone: +30 210 8981435, Website
Yoleni’s
Yoleni’s presents a delightful array of specific Greek culinary products, ensuring a genuine taste of Greece, with both food halls and a large grocery store. Their collection includes a variety of olive oils, from extra virgin to infused varieties, and a wide selection of Greek olives like Kalamata and green from Halkidiki. The cheese offerings range from feta and halloumi to more exotic types like kefalotyri and manouri. They also offer a diverse range of honeys, such as thyme, pine, and flower honey. The store features classic Greek pastries like baklava and kourabiedes, along with unique Greek chocolates. Additionally, Yoleni’s stocks an assortment of traditional Greek pasta, like orzo and hilopites, and a curated selection of Greek wines and ouzo, reflecting the country’s rich winemaking heritage.
Address: 9 Solonos, Kolonaki, Phone: +30 210 9402007, Website
Kolios Grocery
A grocery store that loves Ikarian products and artisan breads, selling wood-fired sourdough bread from Halkida or Kato Souli in Marathon, Agioreitiko and Zeas breads, Eptazymo with chickpea yeast, Monastiriako with wine yeast, Four-flour bread with turmeric, Octasporo with walnuts, Carob bread, and so on. On the shelves you’ll find a huge variety of honeys and royal jellies, halvas, tahini, spoon sweets, Ikarian wines and special loukoumia (Turkish delight). An important category is the wide range of frozen doughs from the Kolios family, from fantastic handmade phyllo to puff pastry and many pies, walnut and honey kaltsounia and Skopelitian twisted pie.
Address: 35 Athinas & 54 Athinas, Psyri, Phone: +30 210 3241477, Website
Alexandris
A delicatessen with a large selection of excellent cheeses, mainly Greek (and some foreign), as well as a wide range of other quality Greek products from all over the country. Standouts include Epirot cheeses from Tositsa Foundation, Tsoutsoplidi Dairy and Pappas Dairy, exceptional feta and anthotyro from Arta, Ziros cheese. Also, Rumeli cheese from dairies such as Inachos and Tsitsiridis and famous cheeses such as Naxos Graviera (5 year matured by Koufopoulos) and Naxos Arseniko, Petrino from Chalkidiki and Myrovolos from Chios (such as Mastelo with mastic). The shop sells selected delicacies (such as Manousos’ smoked pork shoulder and Aliartos’ country chicken sausage), Adamantina pasta, organic Greek trahanas, legumes from Evros, Geodi jams and Italian pasta with cuttlefish ink and mushrooms.
Address: 30 Heroon Polytechneiou, Ilioupoli, Phone: +30 210 9918730, Website
Paradosiako Bakaliko
A grocery delicatessen with a wide range of selected products from all over Greece. Many graviera cheeses from Crete and many other cheeses (Kalavrita Feta from Militsopoulos, Petrino from Chalkidiki from Stathoris, Sitià’s Xigalo from Kouvarakis), deli meats (Corfiot Nouboulo and Salado) and buffalo meat from Kerkini Farm, honey, Kytherian rusks and wood-fired bread from Epidaurus, pasta with buffalo milk from Ano Poroia, spreads, organic and free-range eggs. A well-stocked wine cellar.
Address: 8, 28 Oktovriou Square, Ilioupoli, Phone: +30 210 9954500, Website
Manitarion Gefseis
Stathis Giannatos, an ardent mushroom forager, has turned his passion into a profession and created a shop where even the most demanding mushroom lovers can find everything they desire, in the non-psychedelic sense. A whole range of fresh Greek mushrooms depending on the season (wild fresh porcini, chanterelles, Caesar’s mushrooms, black and golden trumpets) including fresh truffles. Also, fresh cultivated mushrooms, Greek and imported – enoki, shiitake, king oyster, white and brown shimeji, and so on. On the shelves of the shop, you can find spreads, sauces and purees with mushrooms, pasta, rice, barley and quinoa with mushrooms, cheese with mushrooms, mushroom candies and all the classics (truffle oil, salt, butter, balsamic vinegar and more), all with truffles.
Address: 122 Tatoiou, Nea Erythraia, Phone: +30 210 620 3354, Website
Batanian
The story began in 1922, when the Batanian family from Kayseri set up a small workshop on the terrace of their house in Kokkinia, Piraeus, and began making what they knew best: pastirma and the famous Armenian soujouk. Now in the hands of the fourth generation, the workshop has grown into a factory. Their pastirma and Armenian soujouk are second to none, as are their kavourmas, head cheese, smoked tongue and Greek prosciutto. They bring in many distinctive Greek and foreign cheeses, lots of starters like cheese stuffed peppers, ready-made dolmades and cabbage rolls, excellent Mount Athos eggplant salad and pickled cabbage (armia). They also deal in frozen prawns, pastourma pies with pastirma and Mytilene kasseri. Now, for the holidays, they import pheasant and wild boar pate from Belgium and make handmade parmesan or feta mousse.
Address: 5 Platonos, Kallithea, Phone: +30 210 9562265, Website
Il Salumaio d’Atene
Now in its 25th year, this restaurant/delicatessen offers a curated selection of the finest and most authentic tastes. Here you’ll find Italy’s finest – fresh Parmigiano Reggiano, Gorgonzola, Mozzarella di Bufala, Prosciutto di Parma, Bresaola and the coveted Alba truffles. In addition to cheeses, the deli sells a wide range of other products: a variety of cheeses and charcuterie, exclusive Martelli spaghetti, homemade pesto sauce and a selection of truffle products. Seafood lovers can indulge in fish roe, oysters and scallops.
Address: 3 Panagitsas, Kifissia, Phone: +30 210 6233934, Website
Pandaisia
Few shops live up to their name like Pandaisia in Agia Paraskevi. It’s a place where gourmets from Athens and the suburbs know they’ll find flavours committed to the ethos of the highest quality and a wide variety of raw materials. The traditional Pandaisia grocery store offers raw materials directly from small producers throughout Greece and equally carefully selected foods from around the world, capable of enhancing even the simplest recipe.
Meet the experts of the gastronomic scene who will present the delicacies of Pandaisia, inspired by new recipes and trends, and you will be convinced.
Address: 41 Ag. Ioannou 41, Agia Paraskevi, Phone: +30 210 6017731
Barolo
This Italian restaurant and international delicatessen’s offerings include a variety of cheeses and charcuteries, which can be enjoyed at tables indoors and outdoors, enhanced by the cosy ambience of awnings and heaters. The curated wine list complements the flavours of aged 36-month parmesan, pecorino, Comté, Cretan goat graviera, Arseniko from Naxos, and an assortment of prosciutto, salamis, and chorizo. Guests have the luxury of taking home any unfinished delights. This culinary haven welcomes patrons until late into the night, ensuring a memorable and tasteful experience.
Address: 1 Davaki, Psychiko, Phone: +30 210 6717600, Website
Read more about Greece’s regional food products
Discover the Best Traditional Cretan Foods of Chania | travel.gr
Home Grown and Traditional Island Foods on Paros | travel.gr
Unravelling Aegean Gastronomy on Milos’ Traditional Table | travel.gr
Flavors and Aromas from the Local Cuisine of Zakynthos | travel.gr
