The Best Restaurants in Stavanger A curated food guide and interactive restaurant map

Stavanger may be Norway’s fourth-largest city, but when it comes to food, it punches well above its weight. Home to Michelin-starred restaurants like Re-Naa, world-class bakeries, exceptional seafood, specialty coffee shops, cocktail bars, and one of the country’s most exciting casual dining scenes, it’s one of our favorite food destinations in Scandinavia. Anders grew up in neighboring Sandnes, so we return several times a year to discover new openings and revisit old favorites, keeping this guide constantly up to date.

In this guide to the best restaurants in Stavanger and Sandnes, we’ve gathered all our favorite places into one curated food map. Whether you’re looking for Michelin-starred fine dining, sourdough bakeries, coffee shops, ramen, burgers, cocktail bars, or great gelato, you’ll find our personal recommendations here. Use the interactive map to explore by neighborhood, click directly on each location, or scroll through the full list below, all organized geographically to make planning your visit easy.

British chef Stuart Barber formerly worked at The Fat Duck before running the kitchen at Hermetikken. This Michelin-starred restaurant only serves tasting menus, but the vibe is much more relaxed than your typical fine dining venue, with cushy couches and candlelit tables. But don’t be fooled by the homey setting – the food here is some of the best in Norway. Our meal started with decadent snacks like a brioche bun with caramelized onions and ham, and a croustade with mushroom parfait, blackberry gelée, and truffle, and continued with bigger dishes featuring top-notch Norwegian produce, like yakitori-grilled scallops with XO sauce. Don’t miss the beef Wellington supplement if it’s available! Opt for Hermetikken’s generous wine pairing or let the expert, Knut-Espen Misje, guide you to a great bottle.

Gimi is our new favorite casual restaurant in Stavanger, a restaurant and cocktail bar located next to Hermetikken. The menu is à la carte, with dishes from around 200-500 kroner, and almost everything touches the grill in the open kitchen. The chicken liver terrine is a must-order – it came with fluffy, housemade brioche and sea buckthorn marmalade. We also loved the signature beef tartare, which we scooped on top of rösti potatoes with egg yolk cream. The bone marrow was a standout – a massive bone served sizzling from the grill with sourdough bread from Molinå. The negima chicken and leek skewers were another highlight – get one per person as a snack before sharing a main course. The wild turbot with yeast sauce was our favorite dish of the night, with an insanely delicious grilled celeriac skewer on the side. Reservations are recommended for the restaurant, but the bar is open for walk-ins. The drinks were fantastic, with creative cocktails and mocktails that paired perfectly with the food.

Ouch is a smash burger spot from Ole Dysjaland, the founder of Hekkan Burger. Dysjaland was inspired by international chains like Shake Shack and Gasoline Grill when creating this concept and, just like at Gasoline Grill, the location of Ouch is at a gas station. (Our kind of fuel!) Ouch grinds their meat fresh in-house every day. We love the signature burger with a semi-smashed beef patty, cheese, raw onions, pickles, and “secret sauce” on a brioche bun. But Ouch also has an off-menu burger: the Oklahoma smash, with extra smashed beef and caramelized onions. This is our favorite! Order some loaded fries and dipping sauces to go with your burger, and wash it all down with a milkshake.

Söl is one of Stavanger’s most exciting eateries. The restaurant is hyper-focused on sustainability, and crafts a mostly vegetarian menu with organic, local ingredients. The all-natural wine list is one of the best in Norway, with hard-to-find bottles from Octavin, Frank Cornelissen, Gut Oggau, Tom Shobbrook, and even Gabrio Bini. The tasting menu is a great value for money, with some exceptionally delicious dishes – on our visit, a standout was the zucchini with potatoes and a creamy løyrom sauce.

Tango is a fine-dining restaurant founded by TV chef Kjartan Skjelde. Seasonal Nordic ingredients are expertly prepared and served with mouthwatering sauces and sides. Tango has always been considered one of the city's top restaurants, but now the food is better than ever and, in our opinion, on track to earn the region another Michelin star. Don’t miss the waffles and caviar. Waffles are deep fried in brown butter, so they taste like a sweet doughnut, and they’re served with whipped sour cream from Røros and a tin of caviar.

Fisketorget is Norway’s best seafood restaurant, run by the young and passionate chef Karl Erik Pallesen. In addition to the eatery, Fisketorget also has an extraordinary market where you can buy fish to take home. All the seafood is locally caught and served fresh; the menu changes based on what the fishermen bring in that day. A staple on the menu is the creamy fish soup, with fish, shellfish, vegetables, and chive oil. It’s a bestseller for a reason! Fisketorget is also an excellent place to try traditional Norwegian dishes such as lutefisk, when in season.

Villa 22 Trattoria & Bar is a casual Italian eatery with Nordic influences, located on the waterfront in Vågen. You can go here for some of the city's best pizza, baked in a wood-fired stone-oven, or enjoy the full Italian sharing menu with small dishes and antipasti.

The fine-dining restaurant Re-naa is the crown jewel of Stavanger, and the city's longest-running Michelin establishment. It earned its first Michelin star in 2016, and after moving to a new space inside the Eilert Smith Hotel, chef Sven Erik Renaa and his wife Torill received their much-deserved second star in 2020 and their third in 2024. The tasting menu features world-class seafood, meat, and local ingredients from the region alongside impeccable sauce work. We rank this New Nordic restaurant among the top two dining experiences in Norway.

Broremann Bar is the most exciting cocktail bar in Stavanger. Young, passionate bartenders mix innovative drinks, nicely presented with well-balanced and pungent flavors. On some evenings, you'll find DJs and a fun party vibe!

Norvald Vinbar is a wine bar in the heart of Stavanger. The relaxed interior resembles a cozy living room, with exposed brick and big windows that allow natural light to flood the stunning space. Make yourself at home – one wall is lined with shelves of books, while the other is lined with shelves of wine bottles. When the weather is nice you can sip wine outside on the patio, otherwise you can curl up on the cushy couches and drink by candlelight. The wine list has something for both classic drinkers and natty wine lovers; some of our favorite producers here are Heinrich, La Sorga, Tschida, Sepp Muster, and Strohmeier.

The award-winning Pjolter & Punsj is one of Norway's finest cocktail bars. The signature drink is the Colada Milk Punch with aquavit, pineapple, coconut milk, tea, and spices. In 2019, the bar was recognized as having Norway's best bartender, the best cocktail, the best overall cocktail menu, and on top of that, they won the people's choice award.

Kokko is a beautifully constructed coffee shop and roastery, designed by an architect who also happens to have a passion for specialty coffee. There are three unique floors, two of which invite you to have a seat, grab a bite, and enjoy your caffeine boost. (The top floor is the office, but you can peek inside through a hole in the floor.) Sip an exceptionally crafted hand brew and try a slice of the cheesecake!

Micro Kaffi is surely one of the world’s smallest coffee shops, but what lacks in size it makes up for in quality. This café is serving some of the very best java in Stavanger. It’s a one-man operation – founder Tim Steer prepares every brew by hand, showcasing small, independent roasters from the U.K. to Ukraine. Both espresso drinks and hand brews are available, as well as beans and coffee accessories.

Located on Verksgata in the city center, Molinå Bakery is a world-class sourdough bakery and café from baker Diego Molina and chef Alejandro Behr. They mill all their own whole grains to make their dough, resulting in the best sourdough bread in the region. In addition to loaves, they also sell sweet buns, focaccia, salads, and sandwiches. We fell in love with the seasonal pumpkin grilled cheese, made with melted Jarlsberg, pumpkin purée, and parmesan on their butter-toasted sourdough.

Kansui is a small ramen shop from the owners of restaurant Söl serving five types of ramen: shoyu, tonkotsu, shio, veggie (mushroom), and kamo (duck). We tried the shio ramen with chicken, brown butter, spinach, and spring onions. It was light and fresh with a clear, delicate broth, and a prominent taste of yuzu. But our favorite was the tonkotsu ramen, with a rich, buttery broth, a slice of pork chashu, sun-dried tomatoes, bamboo, and a marinated egg. The pork was cooked sous vide and torched to order, with a fatty, tender texture and a strong, smoky flavor. The noodles were thin and slippery and the soft-boiled egg was perfectly cooked, with a velvety, runny center.

Burger lovers rejoice! Hekkan Burger is now available in Stavanger as well, having expanded from its original location in Sandnes. The new venue is far more spacious than the original hole-in-the-wall burger shack in Sandnes, and owner Ole Dysjaland still makes one of Norway’s best burgers.

Sabi Omakase is an award-winning, one-Michelin starred restaurant serving an exclusive omakase sushi menu. The place is open three days a week and booked months ahead. Have a seat at one of the nine stools at chef Roger Asakil Joya's bar counter, and let him amaze you with his knife skills, his knowledge of the ancient edomae-style of sushi, and the delicate flavors of the North sea that he presents.

Next to Sabi Omakase on Pedersgata, you'll find the original Sabi Sushi where the adventure started in 2011. This much cheaper and simpler take away franchise restaurant is what allowed the Sabi group to create the most innovative and interesting sushi restaurant in Norway.

Casa Gio, a small and intimate restaurant with only 20 seats, is the best and most authentic Italian eatery in Stavanger. Peruvian-born Giovanna Ordonez was trained at Restaurant Toscanini in Amsterdam, but makes ravioli, risotto, and ragù like only an Italian mama knows how.

Siddis Gelato serves authentic Italian gelato in the heart of Stavanger. Fresh sorbets are available, with creative flavors like kiwi banana, piña colada, apricot, and sea buckthorn, as well as creamy, milk-based options, such as strawberry, chocolate, gianduia, and even licorice. The Madagascar vanilla was our favorite!

K2 is a Michelin-starred New Nordic restaurant from Ola Klepp (the former sous chef of Re-naa) and his partner Elisabeth Kress. Klepp + Kress = K2. The tasting menu changes frequently, with a focus on local and seasonal produce as well as preserved foods. Both a vegetarian menu as well as a menu with meat and fish are available. Our favorite dish was the grilled cabbage with potatoes, whey sauce, nettles, and lovage. The wine list has some of our favorite producers, but be sure to also try some of their house-made cocktails – we loved the "Granskau" with spruce, lime, and locally-produced gin.

Dining at Bravo feels visiting a friend's home – understandable, given the yellow house's history as a private residence. Adorned with vintage furniture, mismatched plates, and friendly service, the atmosphere radiates a laid-back vibe. Bravo offers a seasonal menu highlighting local ingredients and daily catches from the sea. We opted for the three-course menu and savored dishes such as parsnips with a South American-inspired sauce, parmesan, and sunflower seeds, as well as cream cheese ice cream with a crumble, plum compote, and caramel sauce. The predominantly natural wine list featured many of our favorite bottles; on this visit we picked Theodora from Gut Oggau, but we're eager to return and explore more.

Set inside a cozy yellow building (that used to be an old canning factory) on Pedersgata is Bellies, one of Stavanger’s most interesting and unique dining concepts. The chefs at Bellies craft a completely plant-based tasting menu that changes with the season. Vegetables are celebrated here, showcased and elevated with ingredients like almond butter and black truffle. Inspired by the bounty of Norwegian nature, there’s always something wild on the plate. This is vegan food that actually tastes good, and actually fills you up. Take it from a meat lover – the food here is so tasty you won’t even miss meat. And you won’t go thirsty – the incredible natural wine list at Bellies showcases all our favorite producers.

Fortou is a takeout street food restaurant situated on the east side of Stavanger, next to the old Tou brewery. Order internationally-inspired dishes like bao, bánh mì, and Korean fried chicken sandwiches to go, or enjoy them at the neighboring beer bar, ØST (Øl, Svette & Tårer), where you can pair the food with one of the many craft beers on tap. Our favorite dish was the taco, with juicy pulled pork served in a large flour tortilla with pico de gallo, jalapeño mayo, and spicy salsa macha.

Sirkus Renaa is a circus and pastry paradise in Stavanger from the Renaa restaurant group. In the bakery, you’ll find fresh sourdough bread and handcrafted pastries, such as croissants, cardamom buns, and cruffins filled with lemon curd and topped with meringue. Also on offer is a selection of ice cream as well as handmade chocolates. If you’re craving something savory, there is also a pizza restaurant serving dine-in and take-away pizzas with seasonal toppings like butternut squash and fresh truffle. Sirkus Renaa has expanded with locations in Stavanger, Sandnes, and Oslo.

Located in Øglændkvartalet in Sandnes, Tempo Vinbar is a wine bar from Pål Gøran Stolt-Larsen Pettersen (formerly of Tango) and Kjetil Andersen (Ti Spiseri). The name Tempo is inspired by a brand of motorcycles developed by Jonas Øglænd, arguably the most important historical figure in Sandnes. The wine selection here is mostly classical, but we found a few natural bottles on the shelves as well.

Coffeeberry started out as small café called Benk back in 2009, which later closed and reopened as Coffeeberry in 2012, at the train station in central Sandnes. To this day, it is the only coffee shop in Sandnes where you can get light-roasted coffee brewed by people who actually know what they are doing. All thanks to Thomas and Hanne Lovise Jørgensen.

Punk Sushi is a take-away sushi joint from the team behind Hekkan Burger. World Sushi Cup finalist Vladislav Akopjans is the head chef, and he uses primarily local seafood. This is the place to satisfy your sushi cravings in Sandnes!

Hekkan Burger has gone back to the basics in their search of burger perfection. Co-founder Ole Dysjaland is a burger puritan, who believes in the holy trinity of the patty, bun, and cheese. He gathered inspiration from burger joints like Dirty Burger in London, Flippin' Burgers in Stockholm, and Gasoline Grill in Copenhagen, and ended up creating one of the best burgers in Norway.