What makes a bar the most beautiful in the world? By what criteria do we each choose it, and who ultimately decides whether that choice is right? I do not know whether it is the drinks, or the atmosphere. What I do know is that the one universal element is how a bar makes you feel: the moment you take a sip of its cocktail and, above all, the mood you bring with you.
These were the thoughts running through my mind as I sat at Jazz in Jazz with Konstantinos Gkionis, enjoying a truly rare cocktail he had just prepared for me. One of the finest Final Wards I have ever had.
Jazz in Jazz feels as though it belongs to another era, yet it has never remained trapped in one. When we speak of classic bars, we often mean places that seem to have pressed pause on time, transporting us to a different age, not only in décor but in their style of hospitality and operation. This, however, is something different. A bar where every corner holds a story, and every cocktail gives rise to another.
It was these stories that Konstantinos and I discussed as we sat at the bar. For the past six years, as Bar Manager of Jazz in Jazz, Konstantinos has embraced the vision of Vangelis Spanos (pictured above): to preserve the bar’s singular character, originally shaped by its founder and Vangelis’s uncle, Kostas Spanos, while simultaneously evolving it into a hospitality experience that resonates with today’s generations.
This ongoing effort, which has been Vangelis’s mission for the past fifteen years, continues to bear fruit thanks to the people who have formed, and continue to form, the team behind Jazz in Jazz. If that sounds like a delicate balancing act, a glance at the back bar, stocked with an impressive range of labels, and at a cocktail list devoted entirely to the classics, says it all.
I will not dwell on its history here, as it is largely known and we have written about it before at FNL. Still, it is worth recalling in brief. Vangelis’s uncle was a sea captain named Kostas. On one of his voyages to New Orleans, he was captivated by the city’s music and culture. So deeply enchanted was he that not even a billiard ball, which narrowly missed his head after he entered a bar where white patrons were not permitted, could dissuade him.
Today, that very ball can be seen at the back of the bar, displayed beside an old typewriter. Kostas gathered his souvenirs, vinyl records, cassette tapes of jazz broadcasts he tuned into on the BBC, and various other treasured finds, and in 1978 returned to Agia Galini in Crete, a place he loved dearly, where he created his own small temple to jazz.
For practical reasons, the bar eventually had to relocate to Athens, and in 1994 it opened its doors in a narrow Kolonaki street, where it continues to operate to this day.
Today, I want to focus on what makes Jazz in Jazz stand out in my own eyes. After all, experiences are personal, and it is important to speak from one’s own perspective rather than borrowing impressions.
The moment I took a seat at the bar, four things immediately struck me. First, the self-service philosophy remains intact: guests order directly at the bar, between the two railings that define the space where seating is not permitted. As Konstantinos (pictured above) explained, this approach ensures a first, second or even third point of personal contact with each guest. It creates familiarity, breaks the ice and encourages a sense of ease, as though you were stepping into someone’s home.
And they succeed, not only through this interaction, but also through the simple yet deliberate greeting extended to every single person who walks through the door. There is, after all, nothing quite as comforting as sitting in a bar and feeling entirely at home.
The second is the memorabilia and bottles you are unlikely to encounter anywhere else. A photograph of the uncle sits among the spirits, gazing out at regulars like a quiet guardian. There is an enormous bottle of Chartreuse that even the monastery that produces it might envy, and beside it a rare, collectible Ardbeg that looks as though it has firmly found its place and is quite content there. The shelves of jazz CDs are not decorative props but very much part of the bar’s working identity, and there are countless other details that could easily justify an article of their own.
Third come the cocktails. All classics, all executed with precision, all perfectly attuned to the room’s atmosphere. I began with a Gibson, a properly boozy 75/15 Martini, served ice-cold with two pickled onion pearls that delivered the perfect savoury punctuation after the first few sips. I followed with a Final Ward, as I mentioned earlier. It had been a long time since I had tasted one in its authentic form, largely because one of its key ingredients, Chartreuse, has become increasingly hard to source. The maraschino liqueur, settling gently at the base of the glass, lent each sip the necessary layer of complexity. I enjoyed it the way one might rediscover a long-lost mixtape tucked away in storage for decades.
More broadly, Jazz in Jazz serves cocktails that are increasingly rare elsewhere. The Brooklyn, the Vieux Carré, the Penicillin, the Paper Plane, the Clover Club and the Last Word are all present and correct. These are not just drinks; they are classics with lineage, each carrying its own story, and together they help define the bar’s identity.
The final element that struck me was the crowd. Diverse, self-aware, and present. People do not come here for the hype or the scene, but for the substance. During the entire time I was there, I did not see a single person lost in their phone. Everyone was engaged, enjoying their drink, talking, sharing, experiencing and quietly collecting moments. Exactly as a visit to a proper bar should be.
I do not know whether Jazz in Jazz is the best bar in Athens, or even in the world. What I do know is that those who come once invariably want to return, again and again. And that says everything. For many, their best moments unfold here. As for me, I return, and will keep returning, to Dinokratous Street.
Info: 4 Dinokratous Street, Kolonaki
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