Olympion — Restaurant in Athens

Great food, an optional English language menu, big portions, and low prices. One our first visit, we ate what the waiter suggested, and really enjoyed it. That was stuffed peppers and tomatoes and meat stuffed zucchini (corvettes). Since then we have tried many dishes and they have all be very good and plentiful. Definitely a local place, far removed in atmosphere from the touristy places, which is what we are looking for. Highly recommend. A note on the service, since there are a few reviews that aren't completely positive. The waiter leaves you alone to relax and enjoy your company and conversation. Greeks expect to spend a long time at their meal and socializing and expect not to be rushed. The staff is available if you need anything, but aren't asking you every minute if you need something, which is nice. You can sit as long as you want with no pressure to order, eat, and leave. And they speak much more English than I speak Greek, and since we are in Greece, I appreciate that they have gone out of their way to have an English menu and to speak English at all. Great meal and experience, at bargain prices.

If you are visiting the Acropolis or the Acropolis museum, and are looking for a sit down meal, pass the fancy tourist places in front of the museum and act like a European. Walk 5 minutes into a genuine Greek neighborhood, and eat at the local taverna. You will experience great local food and feel what the local taverna is really about. And if you like a strong drink, the glass of Tsipouro (see pour oh) is a strong local liquor sipped with the meal that many enjoy, and is less than 2 euros. Make sure you order the glass, if you ask for a little one, you get an airplane bottle that isn't what the locals drink, and is harsh and not as flavorful.

Updated to add:. We returned 4 months after my first review, in May of 2018 and this place is...

The food was fine and the menu options were ample - hence the two stars I've given, but the service was bad. Perhaps it's because there were only one or two servers, so they were busier than usual, but I've never felt like I was such an inconvenience (even as a solo diner), as I did when I ate here. Having worked in customer service my whole adult life, I empathise with the stresses of being short-staffed, but wow, I was in disbelief.

After being seated, I waited 20 minutes to be given a menu - no apologies or appreciation for my patience, or even a brief explanation for the delay. And to be honest, I think my wait was cut short because a Greek couple who sat behind me noticed that I wasn't being served, and the gentleman got out of his seat and went up to the server, said something to him whilst pointing at me. Shortly after that, that's when I got a menu - with a look of contempt from the server.

When I went to pay my bill at the cashier, he had the audacity to ask if I wanted to leave a tip. I have no problem tipping, but only when the service received is good, even if that's an acknowledgement that they've fallen short and that they're trying their best, not when they treat a customer like trash, which is the closest description I can give to my experience here.

Maybe it was the end of summer and they're sick to death of tourists (I could guess multiple reasons for their poor service), but they're the ones who are in the line of customer service, not me.

The food and the options are good, nothing out of this world, just don't expect even sub-standard service and you'll be fine. Or...

It was a sad day for us in Athens yesterday. We had just flown in from Paris directly to Olympion with a colleague I had been raving to for years about this unique Taverna and institution unspoiled by tourists in a beautiful street of Mets. We sat impatiently in the main room waiting to order half of the menu to review it and photograph the dishes for an online guide that has millions of followers when a waiter called Dimitri aggressively told us to be quick as we were only two and he had “more important tables to serve”. Stunned, I asked for a few explanations about the food to which he rudely answered that he didn’t have time to explain anything. I can’t explain how embarrassed I was in front of my colleague and how disappointed we were having been dreaming about retuning to Olympion since my last trip to Athens during the pandemic. We couldn’t stay and be treated like bad kids in a school canteen and so we left without ordering anything. I would say we really didn’t have a choice. We were ready to spend good money there and I believe we looked as chic as can be for an afternoon lunch in a local taverna. Something tells me that this Dimitri won’t be too mad about chasing tourists away considering the popularity of this place with neighboring locals but I wonder why anyone would hire such a rude person. I wouldn’t want to stumble upon such a waiter ever again, anywhere...