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The dining room of Pachnes with the blackboard, the plate rack and a wooden map of Crete

Anexartisias Square · Ilioupoli, Athens

Pachnes: Cretan restaurant in Ilioupoli

Cretan cooking. Meze, grilled meats and raki on the table, right on Anexartisias Square.

Book a table · 21 0971 9492 The menu

The first raki is on us.

Wed–Fri 18:00–01:00 · Sat–Sun 13:00–01:00

From the White Mountains

Our Crete

Pachnes is the highest peak of the White Mountains, above Sfakia. It gave us our name. Our cooking is the cooking of all Crete.

On our walls you will see the people of that place: lyra players, shepherds, a weaver at her loom. On your table, what they used to cook.

Photo: an elderly man with a white beard holding worry beads, sitting in a courtyard
Photo: a man with a Cretan lyra and a woman clapping
Photo: an old shepherd with headscarf and crook
Photo: an elderly lyra player bent over his instrument
Photo: a stone Byzantine chapel with mountains behind
Photo: a rider in a gorge
Photo: a lyra player in Cretan dress on stage
Photo: a laouto player in an olive grove
Photo: a weaver at her loom
Photo: three men in Cretan dress with rifles in front of a wooden door
Photo: portrait of a lyra player in a suit
Greek salad with mizithra, olives and onion
Greek salad€8.00

The kitchen

What makes Cretan food different

Few ingredients, good ingredients, and time. Cretan cooking does not hide the food behind sauces. It lets it show.

Olive oilThe base of everything. Raw on the salad and the dakos, and the slow heat under the tsigariasto.

Herbs and greensSage, thyme, oregano and seasonal greens. In Crete the mountain ends up on the plate.

Smoked meatsApaki is marinated in vinegar and smoked slowly with herbs. Syglino is smoked and kept in its own fat.

Cheese and stakaGraviera, mizithra and staka, the cream of sheep and goat milk, served warm, with eggs or plain.

Pies from the panSfakian pie is thin, filled with mizithra and finished with honey. Kalitsounia are filled with greens or cheese.

RakiDistilled from grape pomace. In Crete it opens the meal and closes it.

Two hands clinking raki glasses over the laid table
A laid table from above: Greek salad, dolmadakia, sausages, kalitsounia, pork chop and raki

In Crete the table is laid for you to stay.

Come with friends, order for the middle of the table, and leave the raki for the end.

Worth trying

The dishes we are known for

Grilled pork chop with fried potatoes
Pork chop800–900 g, with fried potatoes€23.00
Gamopilafo with meat on the table at Pachnes
GamopilafoRice in meat broth, served with the meat€14.00
Baked ofti potato with staka and oregano
Ofti potatoWith staka and oregano€8.00
Fried kalitsounia pies on a plate
KalitsouniaWith mizithra or with greens€8.00
Stuffed vine leaves with yoghurt and lemon
DolmadakiaWith yoghurt and lemon€8.00
Grilled Cretan sausage with lemon
Cretan sausageGrilled, with lemon€8.50
Greek salad in a bowl, seen from above
Greek saladWith olives, onion and white cheese€8.00

11 Anexartisias Square

The room

Wood, woven cloth and old farm tools from the Cretan countryside, in a warm dining room right on the square. For two, for the family or for a big table.

4.6 on Google · 82 reviews · October 2026
The people of Pachnes at the laid table of the restaurant
A gourd flask, bells and a wooden plate rack on the wall
An old plough, a saw and wooden pitchforks on the restaurant wall
Red Cretan woven cloth on the wall above set tables

At Pachnes

Moments

The table, the dishes and the first glass, as they are.

Clinking glasses of raki over the table Gamopilafo with meat and a Greek salad on the table
Grilled pork chop with fried potatoes, from above
Pork chop and wine on the laid table, from above
Kalitsounia pies on a plate Clinking glasses of wine over the table
Ofti potato Stuffed vine leaves with yoghurt and lemon
The laid table from above
Stuffed vine leaves on the table beside a blue wine jug
Cretan sausage with lemon Raki being poured into a small glass
A gourd flask, a bell and a plate rack on the wall Wine being poured from a blue jug
Pork chop with fries and kalitsounia on the table
Greek salad from above
A bottle of raki among the plates The table with Greek salad, sausages and kalitsounia
Gamopilafo Painted plates on the plate rack
Ofti potato from above

Before you come

Good to know

Do I need a reservation?

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday lunchtime it is best to book, on +30 21 0971 9492 or by WhatsApp.

When are you open?

Wednesday to Friday from 18:00, Saturday and Sunday from 13:00. We close at 01:00. Closed on Monday and Tuesday.

Is there parking?

Street parking around Anexartisias Square is free.

Is it suitable for children?

Yes. We have high chairs and dishes for children.

Do you offer takeaway?

Yes, order by phone and collect from the restaurant.

Do you take cards?

Yes, debit and credit cards, and mobile payments.

Reservations

Visit

11 Anexartisias Square
Ilioupoli 163 44, Athens
  • Wednesday18:00 – 01:00
  • Thursday18:00 – 01:00
  • Friday18:00 – 01:00
  • Saturday13:00 – 01:00
  • Sunday13:00 – 01:00
  • MondayClosed
  • TuesdayClosed
21 0971 9492 WhatsApp Emailinfo@paxneskritiko.gr
Directions →

Pachnes · 2,453 m · White Mountains

A thousand welcomes to the Pachnes of our hearts

The first raki is on us.