Restaurant in Athens, Greece
One Michelin star. Book well ahead.
Botrini's is Athens's most compelling argument for a suburban detour: a Michelin-starred, Greek-Italian tasting menu in a converted school in Halandri, open until midnight Tuesday to Saturday. Book three to four weeks out for the chef's table or outdoor terrace. At €€€€, the price is justified by independent recognition and a kitchen that takes vegetables as seriously as it does land and sea.
If you have been to Botrini's once, you already know the format works. The question on a return visit is whether to push further: take the longer of the two tasting menus, request the chef's table, and commit to a full evening rather than treating it as a quick dinner. The answer is yes, with one condition: book far enough ahead that you can get the seat you actually want, not the fallback option. Botrini's holds a Michelin star, ranks #227 on Opinionated About Dining's Classical in Europe list for 2024, and sits in a converted former school in Halandri, a northern suburb that requires intent to reach. None of that is incidental — the distance from central Athens is part of what makes an evening here feel like a deliberate choice rather than a convenient one.
The visual case for Botrini's starts before the food arrives. The space is a former school building, and the conversion keeps enough of that structure to make the room feel architecturally considered rather than just well-decorated. The dining room is formal without being stiff, built around an open-view kitchen that gives the room its focal point. If the weather allows, the outdoor space changes the tone entirely: the same food and the same level of service, but in an open-air setting that Athens does better than most European cities. The chef's table is the third configuration, and for a second visit it is the most logical upgrade. You get a closer view of how the kitchen moves, and at this level of cooking — Greek-Italian fusion anchored in Corfu and Tuscany, with strong plant-forward instincts , watching the execution is part of the value.
Chef Ettore Botrini's cooking draws on Greek roots (particularly Corfu and Thessaly) and his Italian background, with a kitchen philosophy that takes vegetables seriously rather than treating them as supporting acts. The menu runs in two versions: Peripatos and Taksidi, both structured as tasting experiences, with the option to add dishes to either. For a return visitor, the choice between the two menus is the first decision to make before you even get to the table. The kitchen's commitment to plant-driven cooking means the format rewards repeat visits , the same structure, different seasonal emphasis. Botrini's right-hand in the kitchen, chef Ilias Ntoukas, focuses specifically on natural ingredients and traditional roots, which keeps the cooking grounded even when the technique is ambitious. This is not a restaurant where the creativity feels disconnected from the ingredient. The land-and-sea balance that defines the menu is a considered position, not a marketing phrase.
Botrini's runs Tuesday through Saturday, with service from 7 PM to midnight. That closing time matters more than it might seem. At the €€€€ price point, with a tasting menu format, the kitchen has room to pace a long evening , and midnight last orders means a table at 9 PM is not rushed. For Athens specifically, where dinner often starts later than most European cities, the 7 PM opening is early by local standards. The practical implication: if you book for 8:30 or 9 PM, you are eating at peak Athenian dinner time, the kitchen is fully in its stride, and you have the full span of the evening without any pressure to finish early. For a special occasion or a long-format meal with wine pairings, this is the right way to approach the booking. Alternatives like Hytra or Patio may close earlier or run tighter sittings , the midnight window here is genuinely useful.
Booking difficulty is rated hard. A Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant with a suburban location and limited sittings does not have walk-in capacity worth relying on. Plan for a minimum of three to four weeks out, longer if you want a specific configuration: chef's table, outdoor seating (weather-dependent), or a Saturday slot. The restaurant is closed Monday and Sunday, which compresses the available booking window across five evenings. If your travel dates are fixed, book the restaurant before you book the hotel. Waiting until you arrive in Athens and hoping for availability is not a sound strategy at this level.
If you are building a longer Athens itinerary, Delta and Hervé are worth considering for creative and modern cuisine respectively, while Makris Athens offers a different creative register. For broader trip planning, see our full Athens restaurants guide, our Athens hotels guide, and our Athens bars guide. If you are travelling wider through Greece, the cooking at Etrusco in Kato Korakiana on Corfu shares some of Botrini's Greek-Italian sensibility and is worth the detour. For Santorini, Koukoumavlos in Fira and Aktaion in Firostefani sit at a comparable ambition level, while Lycabettus in Oia is the Mykonos-adjacent comparison for setting-forward fine dining. Almiriki in Mykonos and Avaton Luxury Beach Resort in Halkidiki round out the Greek fine dining options for different island contexts. For international benchmarks at a similar price tier, Le Bernardin in New York City represents the gold standard for seafood-forward tasting menus, and Atomix in New York City is the comparison point for tightly choreographed multi-course formats. Also see our Athens wineries guide and our Athens experiences guide for the broader trip.
The closest comparison at the same price tier is Spondi, which also holds a Michelin star and runs a formal tasting menu format , book that if you want to stay closer to central Athens. Hytra is the step down in price (€€€) with modern Greek cooking and a stronger casual atmosphere; it is a better choice if the full Botrini's commitment feels like too much for the evening. Aleria is another €€€ option with Greek cooking and a lower booking barrier. Tudor Hall matches Botrini's on price and occasion weight but skews toward setting and view rather than kitchen ambition. Nolan is the value option if budget is the main constraint.
Yes, at the €€€€ tier, if a tasting menu format is what you want. The Michelin star and OAD #227 ranking in 2024 give the price a verifiable anchor , you are paying for cooking that has been independently assessed at a high level, not just a nice room and good service. The plant-forward approach and Greek-Italian fusion make the menu more distinctive than a generic fine dining format. If you want à la carte flexibility or a shorter evening, the price-to-format ratio is less favourable , consider Hytra at €€€ instead.
There is no confirmed bar seating available in the venue data. Botrini's operates as a tasting menu restaurant with structured dining room, chef's table, and outdoor seating configurations. If bar or counter dining is your preference for Athens, this is not the right venue , look at options with a more casual counter format in the city centre.
Three to four weeks minimum, and more if you are targeting a weekend slot or the chef's table specifically. The restaurant is only open five evenings a week (Tuesday to Saturday), which limits availability significantly. For travel during peak Athens dining periods (spring and autumn), book as soon as your dates are confirmed. A Michelin-starred tasting menu restaurant in a city with growing international dining traffic does not hold tables.
Yes, this is one of the stronger arguments for Botrini's specifically. The tasting menu format, long evening window (service until midnight), chef's table option, and outdoor terrace all suit occasion dining. The Michelin star provides the credibility signal that matters when the dinner itself is the event. Book the chef's table if it is available for your date , it adds a layer of specificity that a standard table does not. The Greek-Italian narrative in the cooking gives the meal a sense of place that works well for a meal that should feel memorable on its own terms.
Workable, but not the obvious first choice for solo diners. The chef's table is the leading solo configuration , it gives you direct sightlines to the kitchen and does not leave you at a table built for two or four. The tasting menu format suits solo dining well in terms of structure (no decisions to coordinate), but the suburban location and €€€€ price point mean the logistical and financial commitment is high for a single diner. If solo dining in Athens is the priority, Hytra at €€€ offers a more relaxed solo experience with lower commitment on both counts.
Spondi is the closest peer — also Michelin-starred, more central, and slightly better suited to first-time fine dining visitors in Athens. Hytra and Aleria both offer creative modern Greek cuisine at a lower commitment level than Botrini's €€€€ tasting format. Tudor Hall is the pick if you want a view-led occasion over a kitchen-led one. Nolan works for a shorter, more casual dinner that still shows culinary craft.
At €€€€, Botrini's earns its price if a full tasting menu format is what you want — the Michelin star (2024) and Opinionated About Dining Classical Europe ranking (#227, 2024) confirm this is serious cooking, not just expensive cooking. The Greek-Italian approach from Chef Ettore Botrini, grounded in Corfu, Thessaly, and Tuscany, gives the menu a clear identity rather than generic fine dining execution. If you want à la carte flexibility or a shorter meal, the format may feel like poor value; the menu runs in two tasting versions with optional additions, so you are committing to the full experience.
The venue data does not confirm a bar-seating option at Botrini's. What the space does offer is a chef's table in addition to the main dining room — if counter-style dining appeals, requesting the chef's table at booking is the closest equivalent. check the venue's official channels to confirm current seating configurations before booking.
Book at least three to four weeks out, and further for weekend evenings or high season. Botrini's operates only Tuesday through Saturday from 7 PM, which limits available sittings to five nights per week — there is no Sunday or Monday service to absorb overflow. A Michelin-starred restaurant with a suburban Halandri location draws a destination crowd, and walk-in capacity at this price point is not realistic.
Yes, and it is one of the stronger cases in Athens for a milestone dinner. The former school building conversion includes a chef's table option and outdoor terrace in good weather, so the setting matches the occasion rather than undercutting it. Two tasting menu formats (Peripatos and Taksidi) let you calibrate the length of the evening, and the Michelin star gives the meal a credential to point to if you are justifying the spend to a guest.
Solo dining is workable at Botrini's if you request the chef's table, which suits a single diner better than a large table in the main room. The tasting menu format is inherently solo-friendly since pacing is set by the kitchen rather than the table. That said, at €€€€ the experience is most naturally shared — if solo fine dining in Athens is the goal, confirm chef's table availability when booking.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
