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Greeks love pies. The ancient Greeks have been making filo pastry, which was made by simply combining water and flour, since the Minoan times. Ancient Athens was especially famous for its bakeries and pies. A cheese pie known as tyronos plakous, or tyron artos, was the snack typically consumed by Athenians while listening to public debates at the Agora or watching a theatre performance. Just like today, the Athenians made pies of various shapes with all kinds of fillings.
Pie making traditions and techniques in Greece have evolved over time, but our eating habits haven’t changed as much as you might expect. Athenians still love to snack on cheese, spinach, and other sweet and savoury pies. You’ll find freshly baked pies in artisan bakeries and restaurants all over Athens. These are some of the best specialist pie shops that cater to this national obsession.
Ariston
This famous pie shop has been in the same spot on Voulis (Parliament) Street since 1910 and is still run by the family who founded it. The shop became famous when the old Parliament building around the corner was in use; generations of politicians would queue here for their daily pie fix. You’ll find a very wide range of savoury and sweet pies, including courgette, leek, banana and sour cherry pie, depending on the season. But their best seller for decades has been the tyropita kourou—a smallish, half-moon pie with a thick, butter-based crust, filled with crumbled feta cheese. Usually served warm, the buttery aroma and tart-like texture, along with the salty feta filling, makes an irresistible snack.
Photo: Eleni Veziri
Photo: Eleni Veziri
Fillo
Former bankers Sophia and Filippos decided to quit their jobs and follow their stomach. After a lot of research trips, they opened this little shop serving some 50 kinds of regional Greek pies. All of the pies are prepared by women’s cooperatives and cottage industries in villages around Greece. This is the place to taste unusual offerings that you probably won’t find elsewhere in Athens, like the nettle pie from Magnesia, the plastos from Trikala (corn flour pastry stuffed with greens, herbs and feta) and kreatotourta from Chania in Crete (a wonderful lamb or goat pie flavoured with fresh mint). Some of my favourites: the minced meat pie from Larissa, fennel pie from Lesvos, feta and tomato pie from Thessaloniki, courgette pie from Pella, and the onion pie from Kastoria. Got a sweet tooth? I suggest you taste the pumpkin pie from Larissa.
Marie & Antoinette
This mother-and-daughter venture is such a hit that they supply pies to the restaurants in the Greek Parliament and the National Bank of Greece. Antoinetta comes from Epirus, a mountainous region in northwestern Greece renowned for the art of pie making. Her daughter Maria, a former banker, is the “brains” behind the project. They source all their ingredients directly from small producers; Antoinette often does the shopping herself in local farmer’s markets, just as she would shop to cook at home. Each day, they bake a variety of exceptionally tasty pies, based on seasonal ingredients and Antoinette’s recipes. Apart from classic wheat-based filo, they use many different types of flour, from gluten-free options to cannabis flour. Do try their aubergine pie, a summer special. You can also pick up frozen pies to bake at home.
Photo: Thomas Gravanis
Photo: Thomas Gravanis
Cocona
Cocona derives from the Romanian word cocoană, an affectionate nickname for an aristocratic woman. It is a term of endearment popularised by Greeks from Istanbul and Asia Minor, who came to Greece en masse in the early 1920s. Ioanna Amoutzaki’s pie shop in Kolonaki is inspired by her mother—a true cocona and skilled pie-maker—whose portrait hangs in pride of place in her tiny workshop. That’s where you’ll find Ioanna, rolling out pastries in her black and white headscarf and bright red lipstick. Apart from her classic Greek pies, which are delicious, the highlight is undoubtedly the gőzleme, a speciality from Asia Minor. A very thin, almost crepe-like pastry is filled then folded over like an envelope and cooked on a special metal griddle. Each pie is made to order. I recommend the gőzleme with spinach, tomato and chopped herbs, or pastourma (spicy cured beef), kaseri cheese and tomato. Pro tip: add a fried egg on top of any of the savoury options.
Dimitra Gounaridi
This family business has been turning out pies since 1945. Tasos Gounaridis, a Greek from Asia Minor, arrived in Athens with his mother and sisters when he was eight. Times were tough and he started up rolling out filo in a basement in Nea Ionia, a suburb of Athens with a large community of refugees from Asia Minor. After he married his wife, Dimitra, turnover at their filo workshop really picked up: Dimitra’s triangular cheese pies soon became legendary. The business is now run by their sons, Giorgos and Thanassis. Giorgos, the baker, specialises in pites tapsiou, filo pies cooked in a large baking tray—and of course their famous triangle cheese pies which are fried but not at all greasy. If you want to try your hand at making your own Greek pies, they also sell freshly made filo matsovergas (named after the matsoverga, the long wooden stick traditionally used to roll out filo pastries). Do try their marmalades and preserves, too.
"If you want to try your hand at making your own Greek pies, they also sell freshly made filo."
"The kaseri cheese pie with tomato is fantastic and the chicken and pepper pie is also a winner. They also make batzina, a cheese and vegetable pie from Thessaly that is made without filo and has the consistency of cake."
Oi Pites tis Sophias
Siblings Dimitris and Matina were inspired to open this pastry shop in Palio Faliro by an unlikely incident. Their mother, Sophia, was known among family and friends for her delicious pies. One day, when she was taken ill, she even offered them a slice of pie from her hospital bed. They were amazed to discover that their father had baked the pie following her instructions. That’s when Dimitris and Matina decided to learn their mother’s culinary craft and make a living out of it. Their stone-baked savoury and sweet pies include many vegetarian options. They make two types of hortopita (pie stuffed with edible wild greens): one with feta and another with only an abundance of greens and herbs. The kaseri cheese pie with tomato is fantastic and the chicken and pepper pie is also a winner. They also make batzina, a cheese and vegetable pie from Thessaly that is made without filo and has the consistency of cake. For dessert, indulge in one of their sweet tarts, such as strawberry or banana and caramel.
Photo: Thomas Gravanis
Harry’s Kitchen
You’ll find this tiny hole in the wall on Axarlian, a pedestrian street near Syntagma Square. Although you could easily miss it, you won’t miss the queue of people outside. Harris Satiridis and his wife Yiouli previously owned a couple of deli shops in Athens, where the bestsellers were the pies based on the recipes of Harris’ grandmother. So they opened a teeny shop selling nothing but freshly baked pies. They bake 14 different kinds of pie every day—each better than the next. Their secret? Fine ingredients and their amazing non-greasy pastry. Their ‘spring cheese pie’ is a light, fresh mix of feta, myzithra (soft white cheese made from the whey of feta), graviera cheese (similar to gruyere), spring onion and mint. Their chicken pie with caramelised onions is also superb. If you are heading there for breakfast, go for the pie with kayiana, a Greek version of scrambled eggs cooked with fresh tomato, oregano and feta cheese—imagine that enclosed in perfect pastry. Make sure you head there early in the day before they sell out of their delicious pies.
Pites Tis Yiayias Evridikis
The name of this place, way out in the residential suburb of Vrilissia, translates as “the pies of granny Evridiki”. All the recipes are inspired by Evridiki, the mother of the owner, Dimitra Kougianou. Every day, you can watch Dimitra and her son, Vaios Rousopoulos, rolling out and filling at least 12 different kinds of pies in the open kitchen of their pie workshop. The seasonal ingredients are sourced locally, apart from the cheeses, which come from Vitina, a village in Arcadia. Dimitra sticks to classic Greek pie recipes, with a few little twists. Her spinach and feta pie is stick shaped, and her cheese pie is made with a mix of four different cheeses. If you’re staying somewhere with a kitchen, be sure to buy some skaltsounia—small Cretan pies, filled with creamy white cheese, ready to cook at home. Pan fry them until crisp and golden and then drizzle with honey—heaven!
Photo: Thomas Gravanis
Mam & Mam 2
Athenians have worshipped this place for generations. Young photographer Yiannis Psomopoulos opened the first branch in 1958 with his wife Mam on Panepistimiou and Ippokratous, right in the whirl of Athens. Their home-baked cheese pies became stars, selling over a thousand a day. A few years later, they opened a second branch—Mam 2—nearby, on Pesmatzoglou and Stadiou. During the week, you’ll see dozens of suited-up bankers and lawyers queuing every morning for one of their legendary cheese pies. The secret is their pastry. It’s prepared daily, never frozen, and filled with real cheese: choose from tyropita kourou (kourou cheese pie) with feta cheese and kaseropita with rich kaseri cheese. Their filo is prepared with fresh butter. It’s crispy around the edges and softer in the middle. They’ve added more pies with spinach or minced meat—and they’re good too—but the cheese pies remain their best seller. Yiannis and Mam’s children now run the business but wouldn’t dream of changing the recipe, ingredients or even the logo—which is almost like a trademark of retro Athens. Their cheese pies cost just 1 euro but the best part about this place? Whatever they don’t sell by the end of the day, they offer to the homeless and other people in need.