Μαύρος Γάτος — Restaurant in Athens

"It's because you're a tourist!"

We're really sad to be writing a 1 star review and not a 5 star review ... We came to the Black Cat for the first time with my parents on 13.05 in the evening, we were greeted by a wonderful male server who spoke perfect English and was more than helpful. Both my parents and I liked the place so much that we came pretty much every single day of our 1 week holiday, each time having great service, drinks and atmosphere. (The waitress with the red hair was 10/10 - kudos to her)

Yesterday (19.05) however, we decided to stop by one last time before each of us heading back to our respective countries and were a bit confused when the waitress demanded we pay as soon as we got our drinks. Previously we had enjoyed sitting for hours and ordering several rounds of drinks, each time getting our respective order ticket to know how much we had accumulated so we asked why we needed to pay immediately and if we could open a tab. The waitress told us it was "a new policy" and that "everyone in the establishment had to pay upon receiving their drinks" -- it was odd when we saw the same waitress take drinks to multiple other tables but didn't demand them to pay immediately. My father and I decided to go inside and chat to the girl (with short black hair) behind the bar, we ordered a few more drinks and I asked her about the new policy to which she replied it was because we were tourists and that "we would just leave the money on the table" when in the 5 times we had been before we'd never done because we were paying by card. The first male server we had was sitting at the bar presumably on his day off, and although he clearly recognized us - acted like he had never seen us before.

I tried explaining to the girl behind the bar that we had come to the bar everyday for about 5 days and never had issues, her argument was that the waiters/waitresses weren't doing their job properly - she was really aggressive and shouted at us it was because we were tourists. We paid for the drink which was already poured and simply left.

This was our favorite place in Athens (hence going everyday) - it's unfortunate that our last night was such an unpleasant experience. To the management - if you don't want tourists/foreigners coming to your place, either put up a sign or let them know they'll be getting special...

I really have mixed feelings about it. I don't know whether to put 3 or 4 stars, but I put 4. I liked the fact it was really packed, the music was loud and such, but on the other hand...there's a lack of restrooms (1 for boys and 1 for girls), when I went to the restroom they picked up my drink before finishing it, or even worse, one woman drank from my glass of wine. What can I say? I'm not a saint either, because I also drank from other people's drinks.

Anyway I really liked the atmosphere, but more restrooms are...

It means "Black Cat" in English we were told... Very trendy and certainly one of the "in" places to be and be seen. Friendly expert staff will mix top cocktails from one of the widest selections of drinks in Athens. DJ's with unique mixes play most nights. The management are open to hear your suggestions or moans. George behind the bar is awesome at mixing up some wicked drinks! Opposite is a great little takeaway, ask for a "Wrap with the little sausage type thingys" for 2euros and you'll receive a tasty...