You should know a couple of rules about eating in Zagreb, so you don’t get surprised. Croatians eat a lot and mostly meat. Most of the food is heavy. I guess this is inherited from our past.

All neighbouring countries influence food in Zagreb. On our menu, you can find Vienna schnitzel, goulash, pizza or pasta. Please don’t get fooled by Zagreb schnitzel, as it is only cordon bleu. Zagreb is also close to the coast, so that you can find a lot of Adriatic fish on the menu.

Do Croatian eat a lot at restaurants?

Well, that is yes and no. The biggest problem that I have with restaurants is portions sizes; they are huge. Our tradition is to put more on a table, as less would be an insult.

We like eating home cooking. It is a tradition that the best food is at home. I would go to a restaurant for a daily meal and maybe once in two weeks for dinner with someone. I would eat breakfast outside of the home once a month. Lunch and dinner are best for me when I have a business to conduct or some celebration. If I had to choose a bar or restaurant during the weekend, it would be a bar and food be just some fast food, so it doesn’t interrupt drinking.

Breakfast

Not many bars or restaurants offer breakfast. What Croatians usually do, they visit a bakery and grab croissants, sandwiches, pie or burek (Turkish pie). The waiter won’t tell you anything about eating in the bar as long as you don’t create a mess. If you want to be polite you can ask can we eat here. I never heard no in my life.

Another option is visiting a store, getting some eggs, ham, and cheese, and preparing it yourself.

Lunch

Prepare yourself for a heavy lunch if you don’t go with the daily offer if they have one. Daily offers are normal size portions. Anything a la carte will be more significant portions.

Regular lunch would be a soup for a start, main course meat with potato, pasta or rice, salat as a side dish and dessert. The waiter will offer you an appetiser (alcohol shot to open your appetite), red or white wine and coffee for an end. Now you can add different options like no soup or fish instead of meat, no dessert. And yes, salat is not a meal in here, but a side dish or as people would call it a decoration.

On Friday, you will see that most restaurants offer fish as this is a day where we would eat fish by Christian tradition.

My recommendation is to go with the daily offer. It will be a standard size meal, like chicken breast, goulash, risotto or pasta.

Dinner

For dinner, I can copy-paste what was written for lunch, except there is no daily offer. For dinner, I would choose a restaurant close to bars or one with a separate bar with the restaurant to move there.

What if I’m a vegetarian or vegan?

If you are vegetarian or vegan, you need to find more modern restaurants or get a seasonal salt as an offer. In rare cases, they could have pasta or risotto with vegetables. Most of the resultants will prepare a vegetarian meal, don’t ask about vegan they won’t prepare it well.

Food festivals

During summer or Christmas market there are food festivals. These events are throughout the whole year in different locations. Many great restaurants have their counters with street food. If would find yourself at that time, look for them.

Street food

Street food is considered “fast food”, but some of them are everything but fast. Traditional places offer sandwiches, kebabs, tortillas and a more modern one, a creative mix of everything (even healthy).  

Fine dining

Many times I said we like to eat and many neighbours and history influence us. We have both continental and Mediterranean influences. Fine dining in Croatia, in general, is excellent. Zagreb, as the capital, has many outstanding fine dining restaurants. The tasting menu can go from 4 (it is 7) to 7 (it is 12) meals, and it starts from 60€, but the price can get out of hand with drinks. I never ended under 240€ for two people.

How to find the best place?

Google is your king. Another option is to ask locals. If you see too many tourists, then you will be served generic food. For a more traditional flavour, you will need to extend your search beyond the city centre.