Restaurant in Athens, Greece
Michelin star, Acropolis view, fair price.
A 2024 Michelin-starred rooftop tasting menu restaurant in central Athens with direct Acropolis views and a wine list built around Greek varieties. At the €€€ tier — below most of its Michelin peers in the city — it offers two creative tasting menus from chef Vasilis Roussos. Book three to four weeks out; Friday is the one night it does not open.
The Zillers Rooftop Gastronomy earned its Michelin star (2024) at a price tier — €€€ , that sits below most of its Michelin-decorated peers in Athens. That combination is rare enough to make it the first call for food and wine enthusiasts visiting the city, particularly anyone who wants to interrogate what a Greek-forward wine list looks like when it's built to match genuinely creative tasting menus rather than simply filling a page. If you're arriving in Athens between late spring and early autumn, this is where the evening heat and the ambient glow of the Acropolis across the rooftop actually form part of the dining logic, not just an Instagram backdrop.
The rooftop sits above the Zillers Boutique Hotel on Mitropoleos 54, directly beside the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral. The building itself has a documented history: it was originally the private residence of Ernst Zillers, the German architect who arrived in Athens to contribute to its neoclassical public buildings in the 19th century and stayed for the rest of his life. That biographical detail matters less than what the conversion produced , a rooftop terrace with sight lines to both the cathedral dome and the Acropolis that very few restaurants in central Athens can match at this quality level.
Arrive at 7 PM and the atmosphere is composed: low ambient noise, soft service rhythm, the light still warm over the hill. By 10 PM the energy tightens, the tables turn, and conversation becomes a fraction more effortful. This is a dinner-for-two or small-group venue at its leading in the first two hours of service. Groups looking for a lively, loud celebration would find Tudor Hall a more comfortable format.
Chef Vasilis Roussos runs two tasting menus , Synecdoche and Synthesis , both built around contemporary Greek ingredients with international technique. The Michelin inspectors noted a standout dish, Prawn Valley, as an example of the kitchen's approach: raw prawns paired with tomato sauce, bergamot, and kumquat. That combination signals what the menus are doing more broadly , familiar Aegean produce treated with precision and citrus acidity, without losing the flavour logic of Greek cooking. This is not fusion for its own sake. The menus are structured to reward attention, and both tasting formats make the wine pairing question central from the first course.
For context on how this positions within the Athens contemporary scene, Delta takes a similar creative Greek approach but with a different price architecture, and Pelagos covers the seafood-forward end of the market with comparable seriousness. Zillers sits between them in terms of format: more structured than Pelagos, more accessible in price than some of the €€€€ tier.
For wine-oriented travellers, the wine list at Zillers is the detail that most distinguishes this booking from the rest of Athens' Michelin tier. The list features a curated selection of Greek options designed to pair directly with both tasting menus , which means the selection is built with the bergamot-and-kumquat acidity of the Prawn Valley in mind, not assembled generically. Greece's wine regions , Assyrtiko from Santorini, Xinomavro from Naoussa, Malagousia from the mainland , are not a fallback on this list. They are the primary recommendation, and for any guest with genuine interest in indigenous Greek varieties, the pairing logic here will be more instructive than at restaurants where the list leads with French labels.
If Greek wine depth matters to your trip, connect this dinner with a broader Athens exploration , see our full Athens wineries guide for context. And for travellers building an Aegean itinerary around serious food and wine, Koukoumavlos in Fira and Aktaion in Firostefani offer comparable Michelin-adjacent quality in Santorini, while Etrusco in Kato Korakiana and Lycabettus in Oia cover Corfu and Santorini respectively. For a broader Athens restaurant picture, our full Athens restaurants guide maps the whole category.
The Zillers is open Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday through Sunday, 7 PM to 12:30 AM. Friday is closed. The weekend closure on Friday is the first thing to get wrong , verify before you travel. This venue is rated Hard to book. Michelin recognition in 2024 accelerated demand, and the rooftop terrace has a finite number of covers. Book a minimum of three to four weeks in advance for weekday tables; weekend slots in high season (May through September) can require longer lead time. If you arrive in Athens without a reservation, your fallback options at comparable quality include Hervé and Botrini's, though the latter runs at the €€€€ tier.
For hotel choices near this area, our full Athens hotels guide covers the options closest to the Monastiraki and Plaka neighbourhoods where Zillers sits. For pre- or post-dinner drinks, our Athens bars guide covers nearby options, and our Athens experiences guide maps what to do around the cathedral neighbourhood during the day.
If your Athens itinerary also takes you to the islands, Almiriki in Mykonos and Avaton Luxury Beach Resort in Halkidiki offer reference points at comparable quality levels in different settings. For international comparison, the creative contemporary approach here has structural similarities to Jungsik in Seoul and César in New York City , both deploy local culinary identity through technically precise tasting menus.
Quick reference: Michelin 1 Star (2024) | €€€ | Tuesday–Thursday, Saturday–Sunday 7 PM–12:30 AM | Closed Friday | Rooftop, Mitropoleos 54, Athens | Google 4.4/5 (1,469 reviews) | Book 3–4 weeks minimum.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Zillers Rooftop Gastronomy | This Michelin-star restaurant is located in the heart of Athens, on the rooftop of the Zillers Boutique Hotel, which once was the home of German architect Ernst Zillers. This is an all-day venue that...; This restaurant occupies the former family home of the German architect Ernst Zillers, who came to Athens to design some of its public buildings, fell in love with the city and remained here for the rest of his life. The building, which is situated next to the Greek Orthodox cathedral and has now been converted into a hotel (Zillers Boutique Hotel), boasts a rooftop terrace and multi-purpose Roof Garden with fine view of the cathedral and the Acropolis. The Zillers restaurant is only open in the evening and chef Vasilis Roussos offers two tasting menus: Synecdoche and Synthesis, both with creative dishes of traditional Greek influence and touches of international flavour. One standout dish was the Prawn Valley, a refreshing combination of raw prawns with a delicate tomato sauce, bergamot and kumquat that will definitely leave a lasting memory. The wine list also features a variety of Greek options to pair with your meal.; Michelin 1 Star (2024) | €€€ | — |
| Botrini's | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Hytra | Michelin 1 Star | €€€ | — |
| Spondi | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Tudor Hall | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Aleria | €€€ | — |
A quick look at how The Zillers Rooftop Gastronomy measures up.
Go in knowing it's a tasting menu format only — chef Vasilis Roussos runs two menus (Synecdoche and Synthesis) built on contemporary Greek cooking with international technique. The rooftop sits directly beside the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral, with Acropolis sightlines that most €€€ venues in Athens can't match. It's open from 7 PM and closed on Fridays, so plan accordingly. For a first visit, the setting and the Greek-focused wine list are as much a draw as the food itself.
Book at least two to three weeks out, and further in advance for weekend tables during peak summer season. The rooftop setting makes it a popular choice for tourists and locals alike, and a 2024 Michelin star has increased demand meaningfully. Saturday and Sunday evenings fill fastest given Friday's closure. If your Athens dates are fixed, secure the reservation before you book flights.
At €€€, yes — this is one of the more accessible price points among Michelin-starred restaurants in Athens. Spondi, for comparison, sits at a similar or higher spend with a more classical French-leaning format. Zillers delivers contemporary Greek cooking with a wine list that genuinely rewards attention, making the total spend feel justified if tasting menus are your format. If you prefer à la carte flexibility, this is not the right booking.
Small groups of two to four are well-suited to the rooftop format and terrace layout. Larger parties should check the venue's official channels to discuss availability, as rooftop capacity at boutique hotel restaurants typically limits large-group seating. The tasting menu structure also suits groups where everyone is aligned on format — if your party is split on the idea, consider a venue with à la carte options instead.
Dinner only — the kitchen opens at 7 PM and there is no lunch service. This is worth knowing before you plan your Athens day, particularly if you're working around the Friday closure. The evening timing works in your favour for the Acropolis view, which is well-lit after dark and provides a strong backdrop for the meal.
Yes, it's one of the stronger special occasion bookings in Athens at the €€€ tier. The Michelin star (2024) provides a credible quality signal, the Acropolis and cathedral views add genuine atmosphere, and the tasting menu format suits an occasion where you want the evening structured. For a couple, this is a cleaner choice than Tudor Hall or Hytra if you want the combination of setting and technical cooking rather than setting alone.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
