After all day exploring Vilnius, you need to recharge your batteries and have a good meal. And not just at any random place. You need to find that perfect traditional Lithuanian restaurant to fully immerse yourself in the local culture. There are many Lithuanian cuisine restaurants to choose from, so here I am coming to help you. Trust me, I’m a pro at eating traditional Lithuanian food.
What is traditional Lithuanian cuisine like?
Local food is mainly determined by the geographical location of a country. Lithuania, for ages, was an agricultural country in the North-Eastern part of Europe. Farmers needed to fill themselves up with high-calorie food to work in the fields all day. Also, there are four distinct seasons; each of them provides different foods and for centuries formed our eating habits.
If I needed to describe Lithuanian cuisine in one word, that word would be “heavy.” We eat a lot of meat, especially pork, and we add sour cream in many soups, and all kinds of dairy products are abundant. Also, Lithuanians cannot imagine their life without potatoes. Cepelinai (eng. zeppelins) are the crown jewel of traditional Lithuanian cuisine. It unites all three elements mentioned above – potatoes, meat, and dairy – into the perfect symphony for Lithuanian tastebuds. For a foreigner, such a combo might be a bit too extreme, so I highly recommend ordering just one zeppelin for starters.
Another traditional Lithuanian dish is šaltibarščiai (don’t even try to pronounce it) or simply pink soup. Its color is obtained just with natural ingredients (beets and kefir). Be careful with this one as well; it’s cold, and it might taste bizarre. It’s a 50/50 chance you will like it. If you feel more adventurous, try vėdarai – pork intestines stuffed with potatoes or blood and grain mixture.
How did I pick traditional cuisine restaurants in Vilnius?
Location was my first criterion. Probably, you will be wandering around in the old town, so most chosen restaurants are located exactly there. There will be a couple of exceptions, though. Most importantly, I personally visited all of these traditional Lithuanian restaurants, so I give you my first-hand experience. Some of these restaurants I visited just once, in some of them I dined multiple times. Another crucial criterion – a restaurant must have zeppelins. So, let’s take a look.
Etno Dvaras
This is the most famous traditional Lithuanian cuisine restaurant in Vilnius. Why? It is located on Pilies street, right next to the Cathedral square. A lot of local guides recommend this place for tourists. But this is not one of these over touristy places that gained popularity simply because it was established in a perfect location.
The environment is rustic – starting with the furniture and ending with the waitresses’ traditional costumes. They have a small terrace right on Pilies street in the summertime. Their menu is broad, and prices are very reasonable. For instance, you expect to pay about 6 euros for a portion of zeppelins. But most importantly, they serve more than ten different varieties of them based on different Lithuanian regions!
Bernelių užeiga
This restaurant is located right next to Gediminas avenue. I’ve been there a lot of times because the food and prices are good. Their menu offers a lot of traditional dishes together with regular, less unorthodox foods. You can see pan-fried zeppelins for 6.5 euros in the picture below.
There is one BUT about this place. Their playlist is very…Lithuanian. Which isn’t a bad thing itself since it represents our culture. But don’t expect folk music. They mostly play songs that were popular when I wasn’t even born, making my ears bleed. Anyway, this is my personal problem. I believe many tourists find it charming sitting at a rustic wooden table and listening to old-school Lithuanian music.
Alinė Leičiai
This restaurant is located not far from Rotušė square, in a beautiful Siklių street. I’ve been there a few times but not for their food. Don’t get me wrong, their meal options are great, although slightly more expensive than in the places mentioned above. The main reason to go there is their mini brewery, where the owners make all kinds of craft beer and mead.
Unfortunately, their Facebook page isn’t updated, and their official web page isn’t working, so there are no links to their menu here.
Amatininkų užeiga
This restaurant is also located near the Rotušė square, and it is trendy among tourists. This is why I avoided it so much for a long time, being sure that the prices will also be very touristy. Due to this mini-research, I went to Amatininkų užeiga just once and wasn’t disappointed.
First of all, the atmosphere was very cozy. The waiter was super funny, and the food was great. Yes, prices are a bit higher but still reasonable. A portion of zeppelins costs about 7 euros. In the summertime, this place opens its terrace facing the Rotušė square. You can find their menu here.
Lokys
This is the last restaurant near the Rotušė square. In fact, Alinė Leičiai, Amatininkų užeiga, and Lokys are almost one next to each other. They all have similarities, but Lokys (en. Bear) stands out due to its game dishes. That automatically implies higher prices on their menu. Again, I was there just once due to this research, but I probably wouldn’t go back.
Why? Well, there are several reasons. First of all, it definitely didn’t look as casual as all places mentioned above. White tablecloths, waiters in vests and bowties, light music in the background, and just a few occupied tables. It felt as if it was designed for tourists and me and my friends ended up there by accident. To simply put this, it was a very formal ambiance.
Another reason why I didn’t like it was the food itself. We ordered a selection of vegetable spreads with crispy bread for starters. It was awful. And it’s not because I’m super picky. All three of us felt the same. I was almost sad that such a starter represented our traditional Lithuanian cuisine for tourists.
Then I and my gals ordered three different meals. Venison tartare was ok. Nothing to die for nor to complain too much. I would have expected more of that meaty flavor and fewer condiments. The same I could say about the venison meat roasts. Maybe I wasn’t blown away because I’m simply not used to game meat. On the other hand, I’ve had a good game meat dish before. And the last dish was potato game cutlets served with sour cream and mushrooms. I like mushrooms the most. But the worst thing of all was that I left this restaurant still hungry.
Žemaičių Ąsotis
Now we leave Vilnius’s old town and transfer ourselves to another neighborhood called Naujamiestis (eng. New Town). This part of Vilnius borders the old town and is still at a walkable distance. Or simply use Uber or Bolt. So there’s that.
Žemaičių Ąsotis in English means Samogitian Jug. Samogitia is a Lithuanian region in the western part of the country. The whole restaurant is decorated with hundreds of different sizes, colors, and styles of jugs. They’re hanging from the ceiling, the walls, and every other conceivable surface – simply a paradise of jugs. And yet, the restaurant doesn’t feel overstuffed with such decorations. Everything is subtle.
Now some information about their menu. It’s not that long, there are no pictures, but it is sincere. Why is that? For instance, near the zeppelins options, it is written that there will be just one zeppelin. But there is a warning in the brackets that it will be “quite big”. And trust me, they are! And not just zeppelins. I also ordered a Samogitian pancake for 5 euros which I could barely finish. Overall, this restaurant is really worth leaving the old town area.
Senoji Trobelė
This is one more restaurant in Naujamiestis. Its style is very similar to Etno Dvaras or Bernelių užeiga – wooden furniture, waitresses dressed in traditional outfits, and high-quality food. So, why am I mentioning it separately?
A few years ago, I had a guest who didn’t eat pork but still wanted to try our traditional dish – zeppelins. As I mentioned before, zeppelins are mainly made with pork. I decided to try my luck and called Senoji Trobelė and asked if they could separately make one portion of zeppelins stuffed with chicken instead of pork. And to my endless joy and surprise, they agreed! The dish turned out great, and my guest was in the ninth heaven. Furthermore, this restaurant didn’t charge me more for such a special request. So, if you find yourself in a similar situation, try to contact them and ask for some food adjustments.
Chain restaurants
I’m walking on thin ice with this one. Locals might think that I’m crazy for offering foreigners to go to a chain restaurant. But I wouldn’t discard such an idea altogether.
First of all, it’s cheaper. Not everyone wants to spend money every day in different restaurants. So why not try such a place? Usually, chain restaurants have a large option of different foods – from traditional Lithuanian cuisine to pizza, pasta, and other regular stuff. Maybe the food quality and aesthetics aren’t always on the highest level, but if you simply need a quick bite at an affordable price, this is the way to go. And if you’ll go there between 11 am and 3 pm on the workdays, you’ll save even more by choosing one of the day’s lunches options.
CanCan Pizza, Čili pizza, Charlie pizza, Katpėdėlė are among the most popular ones. These restaurants are scattered throughout the whole of Vilnius and Lithuania.
Best Lithuanian traditional cuisine restaurants in a nutshell
In my humble opinion, the best traditional Lithuanian cuisine restaurant still remains Etno Dvaras. It has the best price, location, and quality. For those interested in craft beer, I would suggest going to Alinė Leičiai. And if you don’t mind leaving the old town area, then I’ll highly recommend trying out Žemaičių Ąsotis.
