Bretto's

Some people wander into here, lured by the colorful bottles climbing up the wall; undoubtedly Bretto’s is the original inspiration for the song “99 Bottles of [Beer/Liquor/Spirits] on the Wall”. I can imagine someone started singing this long about the fifth or sixth shot of one of Bretto’s lovely imbibements.

Not only is it a shop where you can buy on-the-spot distilled ouzo as well as raki and other potables from around Greece, for the daring you can also pick up things like real absinthe (yes, Virginia, I do mean the hallucination-inducing kind) and other things that will curl the hair of U.S. Customs agents, such as Cuban cigars.

In addition to buying some great alcoholic souveniers of your trip to Greece, you can sit at the counter and sip the afternoon away if you so desire, sampling the wide variety they have to offer. Since Greece has no legal drinking age, this offer is open to anyone who wanders in off the streets of Plaka, looking for something to take the edge off an overload of Plaka shops with their abundance of icons, olive-oil soaps, and ancient-Greek statue knock-offs.

Bretto’s has been around for more than 100 years and hopefully will be around for 100 more. It’s a one-of-a-kind place and worth singing about.