by Anastasia Valti - Spanopoulou

A visit to Greece is always a travel experience of a lifetime - what with the Acropolis, the temple of Zeus, the deep blue sea of the Greek islands, and all the other incredible Greek tourist attractions you get to see after hearing and reading about them since you were in school. But, for a true burger fanatic like you, getting a killer burger, a good meat in a bun (with some crispy fries on the side) can always add a little extra magic to your life after the sightseeing tours and day trips are over. Of course, food in Athens was never a problem for anyone but especially over the past few years the food scene has shown particular sympathy towards us wandering burger lovers. So if you’re on a quest to find the best burger in Athens, you might need a little helping narrowing down your options so you don’t get lost among the good and not-so-good places you’ll find around town. Well, it looks like our years of expertise on the matter are finally coming to good use: we hereby present you with our TOP 5, absolutely fail-proof burger faves in Athens, and guarantee you’ll enjoy them as much as we do!

Athens food Tours you want to try right now!

#1 La Esquina Kolonaki

In a small alley corner of the fabulous Kolonaki area, La Esquina truly surprised us burger fanatics because technically it’s a bar (one of the very good Athens bars, actually with incredible signature cocktails), yet its burgers were a complete gamechanger. What with its massive patties of pure, fresh angus meat, what with its high quality, unique ingredients (goat cheese, peanut butter, truffle oil, and zucchini just to name a few), the burgers here are unfailingly mouthwatering. To top it all off, you’re served with country style potatoes of crisp perfection and can choose from a few very fresh and original sauces. Of course, the menu includes a bunch of other yummy options, including brunch dishes, which is why you might have read about La Esquina before in out Athens brunch restaurants guide. To cut a long story short, if you want to combine a taste of Athens nightlife with a burger feast, or if you just need some buns to brighten up your lazy Sunday mornings, the burgers here will never - ever - fail you.

Where to find it: Charitos 43, Athens
Where to call: +30 210 723 2575

#2 Bar Beh Que Piraeus

To say this place is famous would be an understatement. The owner recently won the 1st prize at the Athens Burger Fest (yes, there is such a thing as that), while his burgers have featured in several popular social media pages worldwide - and for good reason! Basically the implied motto here is that ‘size matters’. All the burgers are massive, and often the restaurant rewards the brave ones who manage to finish the biggest ones on the menu (with two, three, four, five patties, with sausages, eggs, triple cheese, and what-have-you on top,) by publicly congratulating them on BBQ’s facebook page. The biggest burger on the menu is so monstrously big that it’s topped with a small burger like a cherry at the top of a cake. If you manage to finish that you get it for free, my friend. Speak of unique things to do, right? Bar Beh Que is located close to the port, in the area of Piraeus, so a perfect plan would be to take a look at our essential island hopping guide, and catch a big fat burger before or after sailing out. Keep in mind that Bar Beh Que takes no reservations, so start queueing early if you want to eat at a decent time.

Where to find it: Freatidos Ave. 13, Pireaus
Where to call: +30 210 451 8129

#3 The Burger Joint Glyfada and Psychico

This all-time favourite...burger joint, is exactly what it claims to be: an easy going place where friends or families can get together and enjoy a good burger. So if you’re looking for things to do with kids, for example, this would be one of the great places to eat in Athens. Among the many things we like about Burger Joint is that it offers a long list of burger options, that it serves them in the softest of buns, that it has the thinest, crispiest fries, and that it adds limited edition burgers on special occasions like christmas and Halloween. A great value for option if you’re looking for the best restaurants in Athens to get real street food but not at all junk food. As we said, the menu card is pretty long, so we could also talk of their pizza, desserts, cocktails a.o. but for the sake of keeping it brief, try their truffle mayo dip, their milkshake, and the traditional loukoumades for dessert (if you have room in your belly for it). To burger lovers’ great satisfaction, Burger Joint now exists both in the sophisticated Psychico area, and in the fabulous shopping ‘capital’ of Glyfada, which you might remember from our Athens’ neighborhoods post. So no excuses to miss out on that one!

Where to find it: Nymfon Plaza 1, Glyfada / Solomou 4, Psychico
Where to call: +30 210 894 0260 / +30 210 671 2222

Essential Athens guide: 2 days in Athens AND the ultimate Athens bar metro map! (you're welcome!)

#4 Juicy Grill Holargos

This burger hub is found outside the city center, in the quiet residential area of Holargos, and yet there isn’t a single weekend when people don’t line up outside its doors, which automatically tells you Juicy Grill is one of the top Athens' restaurants to get your hands on a burger. So if you’ve ticked all the local attractions of the center off your list already and are wondering what to do in Athens next, voila! Take a pick from a long menu where every single burger combines a ton of different mouthwatering ingredients - from pastrami, to goat cheese, to spiced up coleslaw and fried onion strings - and then take a well deserved, digestive walk around the neighborhood. Even the best tours in Athens wouldn’t show you that face of the city! Some extra highlights of Juicy Grill, in case you’re not convinced yet, is that all burgers come with a deep bowl of fries or a large bakes potato, that and they also serve various plain meat dishes, as well as home baked cakes. Juicy Grill also has a first-come first-serve policy, so make sure you do go there first!

Where to find it: Keramikou 2, Cholargos
Where to call: +30 210 5520 3201

In the mood for street food? Discover the 'Greek burger' version, aka 'souvlaki' and find the the best Greek souvlaki in Athens

#5 Berliner Iraklio

The newest addition to our faves list. Your Athens guide to burgerland would just not be complete without a small tribute to Berliner, a colorful little hip place in the Northern suburb of Iraklio that has seduced young foodies from all over Athens. The cute tables set outside and the hand-drawn art on the walls are probably part of the reason why, but food is king here so let’s discuss this a little further. First off, we love that these guys have a sense of humor - who else would call their burgers names like ‘Forever Fat’ and ‘Oh God’? Secondly, each portion here is served with a huge pile of fries, and is big enough to feed a small family - we appreciate that. The recipes are imaginative but not too eccentric for an old-fashioned lad or gal. Their lemonade is a refreshing way to wash down all the food and, if you can handle it, you also have a number of dessert options. If you’re looking for fun things to do with friends, perhaps a good plan would be to treat yourselves with something different and try the ‘Childhood’ - a (very very heavy) burger made with donuts instead of buns! Iraklio too is further removed from the center, but you can take the train from there to visit the green, romantic nearby area of Kifissia, which we also recommended in our romantic Athens post.