Food brings the world together, that’s common knowledge, right?

Each year, around May, Athen’s Food Festival takes place at a large industrial warehouse space in Gkazi, Athens. Accessible for all ages and people, located opposite a convenient parking lot and with a ticket costing only 3 euros. The whole event lasts three days for three weeks, Friday to a full weekend and it’s a celebration of food and other cultures, but also an opportunity for locals to know more about new restaurants or canteens in various regions in Athens.
This was my second year and it was even better than the last. More restaurants, different flavors, good drinks (cola and cocktails) and a nice vibe with music and other activities for the people present.

The installations around the space and general vibe of this place are very cool, very vibrant, the people working there are dancing along the rhythm provided by local radio station that sets its decks there and blasts the place with hype music. Beers and cocktails are being served(coca cola also an option), so even if you want to make it like a night out situation, they got you covered. Actually, they got you covered in all types of refreshments.

Food? Oh, the food.
You can enjoy all types of fast food, from burgers to chicken fingers with foreign sauces, mac n’ cheese, corn dogs and so on. Variations of mom foods, like spaghetti with meatballs or my favorite lamp meatballs with fried sweet potatoes. Top flavor, trust me. One side has several sour food choices for lunch or dinner, on the other side you will indulge yourselves with sweeter flavors, like ice cream or crepes. Every tastebud will be satisfied there.

In the middle of this large space is situated a large cafeteria-like space. Wooden tables with chairs and standalone barrels, so you can either enjoy your food sitting or standing. More tables are set at the yard, in front of the tall large bleachers, where you can also go and sit. The outside is more of a space for families or large group of friends. The tables are bigger and there are more seats available. During a sunny day it’s the perfect setting. Also, you can make friends with strangers there, as many people opt to share tablespace with others, since most of the days it’s packed with people and you can’t really find a place to sit and eat in peace.

What I noticed vividly is that more restaurants were participating this year. My favorite was an altered Crete cuisine place, which served traditional dishes like “gamopilafo”, but with a modern twist and made everyone lining up for it. Last time, we went fully on corn dogs and burgers since that were most choices, but this year we went a bit more exotic for our taste and got a bowl of fried duck with noodles. Tastiest thing ever, even if we were too full to enjoy it.

If you want to know about the prices, they were your regular restaurant prices from 7 to 12 euros. Some pieces deserved them prices, others could use an upgrade for their prices to fit their taste.

All in all, we stayed there for three to four hours, really enjoying the vibe and the loud music. For a Saturday, it wasn’t too crowded therefore it was easier to find a place to sit. We also met the cutest couple, older than us, who went there to have a good time. Very easy going and approachable, we had a blast with them. Food really brings the people together, we shared opinions about food and taste, local shops and stuff surrounded the event. It was so nice to talk to strangers about something that is bound to bring you together and of course that is the food. Who goes into diets these days, anyway?

Thanks for reading!

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