Zagreb food guide
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Zagreb is a great place to try traditional Croatian food, with a culinary scene influenced by Central European, Austro Hungarian, and Balkan traditions. The city’s restaurants range from small local restaurants and historic taverns to more modern bistros.
Meat, dairy, and baked dishes are central to the cuisine, with favourites like štrukli (especially the classic Zagorski štrukli, a baked or boiled pastry filled with cheese), pašticada (a slow cooked beef dish), and Čobanac (a paprika spiced meat stew) appearing across many menus, alongside grilled meats and other dishes.
In this quick guide, we’ll introduce you to a few of our favourite traditional restaurants in Zagreb and the delicious dishes they offer, helping you make the most of your time in the city.
If you’re looking to experience traditional Croatian cuisine in Zagreb, Stari Fijaker is our top recommendation. Located in the city centre, it is one of the most popular traditional restaurants in Zagreb and, in our opinion, one of the very best. We’ve visited several times and have always been impressed by both the quality of the food and the atmosphere.
The restaurant serves an extensive menu of classic Croatian dishes at reasonable prices, with large portions that offer excellent value. You’ll find many of the country’s most famous specialities here, including sarma, pašticada, čobanac, purica s mlincima and zagrebački odrezak. Of all the dishes we’ve tried, we particularly recommend the slow cooked pašticada and the filling, flavourful čobanac.
Stari Fijaker is extremely popular with both locals and visitors, so we strongly recommend booking a table in advance, particularly at weekends. Reservations are quick and easy to make through the restaurant’s website.
Stari Fijaker
For a more contemporary take on Croatian cuisine, Vinodol is an excellent choice. Located just a short walk from Zagreb’s main square, this long established restaurant combines traditional Croatian recipes with modern presentation, making it a favourite with both locals and visitors.
The restaurant is quite large, with an impressive dining room and a covered terrace that provide a pleasant setting throughout the year. The menu offers a wide variety of dishes, including an excellent selection of fresh fish and seafood alongside Croatian classics such as Zagorje štrukli, purica s mlincima and zagrebački odrezak.
Despite its size, Vinodol is extremely popular, particularly at weekends, so booking a table in advance is recommended. Service is one of the restaurant’s real strengths, with a large team of attentive, professional staff ensuring food arrives promptly even when the restaurant is busy. If you’re looking for refined Croatian cuisine in a stylish setting without losing the authentic flavours of the country’s traditional dishes, Vinodol is a great option.
Vinodol
If you’re looking for a traditional, no frills Croatian dining experience, Gostionica Restoran Purger is an excellent choice. This cosy, old-school restaurant has been serving home style cooking to locals for decades, with an authentic atmosphere, freshly prepared food and modest prices.
The menu focuses on classic Croatian comfort food, with good portions and recipes that stay true to tradition. You’ll find sarma, punjene paprike (stuffed peppers), ćevapi, Zagorje štrukli and zagrebački odrezak.
Despite its relatively small size, the restaurant has a warm, welcoming atmosphere and is often filled with local diners, which is always a good sign. On both of our visits, it was busy, yet the staff were able to find us a table. If you’re after authentic Croatian food without the higher prices or more polished setting of some of Zagreb’s larger restaurants, Gostionica Restoran Purger is a fantastic option.
Gostionica-restoran Purger
📍 La Štruk
If you want to try one of Zagreb’s most famous specialities, La Štruk is the place to go. As the name suggests, this popular restaurant specialises in štrukli, offering one of the city’s widest selections of this traditional Croatian dish.
The menu features the classic cheese filled version, along with a variety of creative savoury and sweet options. Popular savoury choices include truffle,pepper and pumkin seeds, while those with a sweet tooth can enjoy combinations such as walnut and honey, apple and cinnamon or blueberry. You can also choose between the two traditional ways of serving the dish: kuhani štrukli (boiled) or zapečeni štrukli (oven baked). If it’s your first time trying štrukli, we recommend starting with the classic cheese version to experience the dish as it has been enjoyed for generations, before trying one of the sweeter options.
La Štruk is one of Zagreb’s most popular restaurants and can become very busy, particularly during peak meal times. Despite the steady stream of customers, the staff do an excellent job of keeping everything running smoothly. On our visit, service was good, and we did not have to wait long for our freshly prepared štrukli to arrive. Whether you’re stopping by for a meal or just a sweet treat, La Štruk is well worth a visit.
La Štruk
Sometimes, the best food comes from the simplest places. This small bakery doesn’t seem to have much of a name beyond Burek, which feels perfectly fitting given that it is entirely dedicated to one thing, serving excellent, traditional burek.
Unlike the puff pastry style versions found in many bakeries around Zagreb, the burek served here is the real thing. It is flaky, satisfyingly greasy and exactly how this Balkan classic is meant to be. The menu keeps things simple, with just three fillings to choose from: cheese, meat or apple.
The bakery opens at 8:00 and closes at 13:00, so it is very much a breakfast or lunch destination. Most customers order their burek to take away, although there are a handful of seats available if you would rather enjoy it straight from the oven.
One thing to be aware of is that, at the time of our last visit, the bakery accepted cash only, so make sure you have some euros with you before stopping by. If you’re looking to experience authentic burek rather than the more commercial versions sold elsewhere in the city, this little bakery is the place to go.
Burek
