Where to eat in Zagreb: 11 places from štrukli to Michelin

At 6:30 the stalls on Dolac market open, and by lunchtime the bistros below the cathedral are cooking with what was sold there. Zagreb eats well all year. Many coastal kitchens close from November, while the capital keeps its tables set through Advent and the winter. This guide lists 11 places for a city weekend: two Michelin-starred restaurants, family kitchens with štrukli and roast lamb, two modern bistros, a grill on the market terrace, the market itself and a classic cake shop.

We selected the places from the Michelin Guide Croatia 2026, the Gault&Millau Croatia guide with its 2026 reviews and the restaurants' and the market's own websites, as of October 2026. Opening hours change, so check the restaurant's website or call before you go. Euro prices appear only where a menu or a guide states them; otherwise the table shows a price level from € to €€€€.

11 places at a glance

Noel: Michelin star in the Lower Town

Noel sits at Ulica Popa Dukljanina 1 in the eastern Lower Town. It holds one Michelin star in the 2026 guide, which describes modern, creative cooking at the €€€ level. Gault&Millau Croatia rates it 17 out of 20 and names Bruno Vokal as chef. Michelin reports that Vokal returned to the kitchen at the end of 2025 after an earlier spell at Noel. The menu is short and built on meat and fish. Local trout appears often, and štrukli turn up as a nod to Zagreb tradition. Sommelier Kristijan Harjač runs a wine list that opens with Croatian bottles and leans towards France for foreign labels.

Noel opens Tuesday to Friday from 18:00 and on Saturday from 12:00, and closes on Sunday and Monday. Bookings go directly to the restaurant by phone or through noel.hr. Our take: the address for one special dinner on a Zagreb weekend. Ask for the trout dish and let the sommelier choose a Croatian wine.

Dubravkin Put: star cooking at the edge of Tuškanac park

Dubravkin Put stands at Dubravkin put 2, where the Tuškanac forest park begins below the Upper Town. It holds one Michelin star in the 2026 guide. Gault&Millau gives it 16 out of 20 in its 2026 review and names Tibor Valinčić as chef. Michelin describes Mediterranean cooking with a focus on raw fish and singles out squid ink risotto with langoustine carpaccio. The cellar holds more than 500 labels, and the restaurant has its own wine shop. In summer the terrace sits among the trees of the park.

At lunch the restaurant serves an à la carte menu with four cold and five warm starters and four mains, according to Gault&Millau. In the evening the chef serves a six-course tasting menu for the whole table; plan at least two hours. Classics such as tuna tartare, steak tartare and wild Adriatic fish with Swiss chard stay on the card all the time. Dubravkin Put opens Monday to Saturday from 12:00 to midnight and closes on Sunday. Our take: the best choice for a long Saturday lunch, with a walk through Tuškanac before or after. Order the squid ink risotto.

Tač: family cooking on Vrhovec hill

Tač is at Vrhovec 140, in a quiet residential area on a hill west of the centre. The Miletić family runs it, and chef Vesna Miletić shaped its kitchen. Michelin lists it as traditional cooking at the €€ level, with generous plates from land and sea, a separate section of offal dishes from local recipes and sharing as the house style. Gault&Millau rates it 17 out of 20 in 2026, the same score as Noel. Its review names the produce behind the menu: Adriatic fish, aged beef, Istrian boškarin cattle, black Slavonian pig and young lamb from Pag.

The daily specials are written on a blackboard, and the staff guide guests through the dishes and the Croatian wines. Tač opens Tuesday to Sunday from 12:00 to midnight and closes on Monday. There is a car park; from the centre, a taxi is the simple way up. Our take: the place for a long Sunday lunch with family or friends. Ask the waiter for the fish of the day, and in autumn for the homemade pasta with porcini and chanterelles.

Vinodol: Zagreb classics on Teslina Street

Vinodol is at Ulica Nikole Tesle 10, on the pedestrian Teslina Street in the Lower Town, a few minutes from Ban Jelačić Square. It has been open for about sixty years and seats more than 200 guests in a covered courtyard and a large hall. Gault&Millau rates it 15 out of 20 in 2026 and names Josip Hauptfeld as chef. The classic part of the menu keeps beef soup with semolina dumplings, Zagorje štrukli, small pasta squares with cabbage, roast suckling pig and roast lamb.

Next to the classics, the kitchen writes a new weekly menu with seasonal produce. Gault&Millau notes that the restaurant is almost always full and that weekend tables need a reservation. There is a small terrace on the street. Our take: the safest central choice for a first evening, also for groups and families. Order the beef soup and štrukli, or the roast lamb.

Pod Zidom: market bistro below the cathedral

Pod Zidom is at Pod zidom 5, a quiet lane at the foot of Dolac market, a short walk from the cathedral. Michelin lists it as farm-to-table and Mediterranean cooking at the €€ level, with vegetables from Dolac, meat from local farms and mostly Adriatic fish. Gault&Millau rates it 13.5 out of 20 in 2026 and names Dario Miš as chef. On the à la carte menu it lists beef tartare with smoked bone marrow and kimchi, slow-cooked beef cheeks and slow-cooked lamb with parmesan gnocchi.

About 100 wines are on the list, most of them by the glass, and the house has its own wine line made with Croatian winemakers. Desserts include a modern take on šnenokli, the Zagreb pudding of poached meringue in vanilla custard. Pod Zidom opens Tuesday to Sunday from 12:00 to 23:00 and closes on Monday; tables can be booked through OpenTable. Our take: lunch after the market, with a glass of Croatian wine on the terrace. Order the beef cheeks and the šnenokli.

Beštija: Bib Gourmand in a courtyard

Beštija is at Masarykova 11/1, in an inner courtyard in the Lower Town. The Michelin Guide gives it a Bib Gourmand, its mark for good cooking at moderate prices, and lists it at the €€ level. Michelin describes a simple bistro with a young crowd, relaxed music and a short menu built on market produce, with Mediterranean meat and fish dishes and rich flavours. The wine list is short and comes with a few cocktails.

Beštija opens Tuesday to Sunday from 12:00 to 23:00 and closes on Monday. Reservations go directly to the restaurant by phone or through its website. Our take: a relaxed dinner for couples and friends who want modern cooking at a moderate price. Follow the daily dishes on the short menu and ask what came from the market that morning.

Nuré: four tables in an Ilica passage

Nuré is at Ilica 33/3, in the passage between Ilica and Varšavska Street. It is the newest Bib Gourmand in Zagreb: Michelin added it in June 2026 and gave it its award for the opening of the year in Croatia. Michelin lists it at €, the lowest price level in the guide. A Korean family runs the bistro; Gault&Millau names Hwan Woong Kim and A Young Kim in the kitchen and rates it 13 out of 20 in 2026. The name joins nouveau and re-start, and the cooking mixes French bistro classics with Korean touches.

The menu has nine starters, four mains and three desserts. Gault&Millau lists steak tartare with gochujang and nashi pear served on nori chips, and lamb chops with harissa and mashed potatoes; Michelin mentions hummus with broccoli and smoked scamorza. Sixteen wines are poured by the glass. With four tables, book by phone well ahead. Our take: the best value in this list for curious eaters. Order the tartare and the lamb.

La Štruk: štrukli on Skalinska

La Štruk is at Skalinska 5, the short stepped lane between Tkalčićeva Street and Dolac. The menu is built around one dish: štrukli, dough filled with fresh cheese, baked or boiled. On the menu on its website, baked štrukli with salty cheese cost 11 euros, and versions with truffle paste, roasted pepper or pumpkin seeds cost 11.50 euros. Sweet baked štrukli come with cheese, with walnuts and honey, with apple and cinnamon or with blueberries. Boiled štrukli with salty cheese cost 10 euros, and there is a štrukli soup for 6.50 euros.

A gluten-free baked version is on the menu at 11.50 euros, and in season the kitchen fries small kroštruklice for 6 euros. The restaurant takes reservations up to one day ahead. Our take: the quick, filling lunch between the cathedral and Tkalčićeva. Order one savoury baked portion, then share a sweet one.

Plac Kitchen & Grill: ćevapi on the market terrace

Plac Kitchen & Grill sits on the mezzanine terrace of Dolac market, at Dolac 2. Gault&Millau lists it in its 2026 selection and names Josip Matijević as chef. The kitchen grills over charcoal: ćevapi and burgers made of 100 percent beef. Gault&Millau orders the ćevapi in a bun with kajmak cream and ajvar pepper relish, and also mentions a chicken burger, a spicy chili burger, a seitan burger for vegetarians and crispy baked potatoes.

The terrace stays open in winter: when it is cold, it is heated and closed with transparent panels. Gault&Millau notes reasonable prices and a homely atmosphere. Our take: the cheapest hot lunch in the market area and a good stop for families. Order ćevapi in a bun with kajmak and ajvar, with baked potatoes on the side.

Dolac market: breakfast where Zagreb shops

Dolac is Zagreb's central market, on a raised square above Ban Jelačić Square, run by the city company Tržnice Zagreb. The open-air stalls, Petrica Kerempuha Square, Opatovina and the fish hall open at 6:30. They close at 16:00 from Monday to Friday, at 15:00 on Saturday and at 14:00 on Sunday. The covered hall below opens at 7:00 with the same closing times. Shops and kiosks around the market stay open until 21:00 on weekdays and Saturdays and until 14:00 on Sundays.

Come in the morning, when the choice is widest. Buy fruit, vegetables, cheese and bread for a picnic, or walk down to the fish hall. Tržnice Zagreb publishes the day's prices from the largest city markets on its website. Our take: the cheapest breakfast in the centre and the clearest view of what Zagreb kitchens cook with. Combine it with lunch at Plac, La Štruk or Pod Zidom, all within a few minutes on foot.

Vincek: cakes and ice cream on Ilica

Vincek is a Zagreb cake shop with its main address at Ilica 18, a few minutes west of Ban Jelačić Square, and further shops across the city. Its website lists cakes for every occasion, ice cream and sundaes, cookies and tea pastries, cream cakes, macarons and chestnut desserts. A gluten-free shop, Vis à Vis by Vincek, is at Tomićeva 2 by the funicular to the Upper Town and opens Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 18:00. Our take: the afternoon stop after the Upper Town. Pick a slice of cream cake or, in autumn and winter, a chestnut dessert.

What to eat in Zagreb

Zagreb cooking draws on the hills of Zagorje to the north and the farmland around the city. Four dishes appear on many traditional menus.

• Štrukli: thin dough filled with fresh cheese, eggs and cream, boiled or baked. Vinodol lists Zagorje štrukli among its classics, and La Štruk serves about a dozen versions.
• Purica s mlincima: roast turkey with mlinci, thin baked dough sheets soaked in the roasting juices. It is a classic Sunday and holiday dish in autumn and winter.
• Zagrebački odrezak: a veal or pork escalope filled with ham and cheese, breaded and fried. Traditional restaurants serve it with potatoes or salad.
• Šnenokli and kremšnita: šnenokli are poached meringue in vanilla custard, kremšnita is a custard cream slice. Pod Zidom serves a modern šnenokli.

For fast food, Zagreb eats burek and ćevapi. Burek is flaky pastry filled with cheese or meat, sold by bakeries across the city and eaten for breakfast. Ćevapi are small grilled rolls of minced meat, served in flatbread with onion, kajmak and ajvar. Both are cheap and quick, and Plac on Dolac grills its ćevapi over charcoal.

Reservations, closing days and Advent

Zagreb restaurants stay open through autumn and winter; on the coast, many kitchens close from November to March. In the capital the closing days matter more. Noel closes on Sunday and Monday, Dubravkin Put on Sunday, and Tač, Pod Zidom and Beštija on Monday. For a Sunday lunch, Tač, Pod Zidom and Beštija are open. On a Monday, Dubravkin Put serves from noon. Michelin lists card payment for all six of its restaurants in this guide.

Advent in Zagreb runs from 28 November 2026 to 7 January 2027. Restaurants in the centre fill up on Friday and Saturday evenings, so book dinner a week or more ahead; for Nuré, with four tables, book as early as you can. Rounding up the bill is a common way to thank good service. How to get to Zagreb for an Advent weekend, where to stay and a two-day plan are in our guide Zagreb at Advent: a weekend trip, and the stages and hours of the Christmas market are on Advent in Zagreb.