Slovenia Map Anders Husa & Kaitlin Orr

For a small country, Slovenia has a mighty food scene. However, unlike in a lot of other places, the best restaurants are not merely clustered in the capital; rather, they are spread around the country, sometimes in the unlikeliest of settings. We embarked on a Slovenian road trip in order to explore every nook and cranny of this beautiful country, discovering the best food experiences along the way, from the Alps, to the coast, to the rural countryside, to the city of Ljubljana.

In this foodie map, we have gathered all our favorite eateries in Slovenia – in Ljubljana, Kranjska Gora, Kobarid, Koper, and Prekmurje. You’ll find everything from Michelin-starred restaurants, to more casual coffee shops, natural wine bars, and, of course, burek. Navigate the map easily either by scrolling through the list on the right or by clicking the points on the map. Places are listed in a geographical order.

Milka received their first Michelin star just three months after opening, and their second star the following year – but we expect that’s just the beginning for this ambitious restaurant. This place is one to watch in Slovenia. Chef David Žefran crafts a tasting menu that’s Nordic-inspired, with a focus on foraging, fermentation, and sustainability. Milka uses exclusively local ingredients, lots from their own garden, and others from the best small producers and farmers. The wine pairing features Slovenian wines, and they also make lots of juices and cocktails in-house, based on wild ingredients. This world-class eatery is set in a luxury boutique hotel in Kranjska Gora, nestled in the Alps, with artfully-designed suites looking out onto the crystal blue lake. We recommend spending the night, if only to experience the breakfast in the morning – it’s the best hotel breakfast we’ve ever had.

If you want a taste of traditional Slovenian food while staying near Kranjska Gora, visit Gostilna Šurc. It feels a bit like you’ve stepped back in time at this no-frills eatery, where the dining room is lined with wooden benches, and the windows are adorned with lace curtains. Start with the flour dumplings in bone broth, and then continue on with some fried cheese. You’re going to want to order a basket of fried chicken, served on the bone with a side of mashed potatoes and onions. This is comfort food at its finest.

Hiša Franko put Slovenia on the world culinary map when Ana Roš was featured on Netflix’s Chef’s Table in 2016, and was the first restaurant in the country to receive three Michelin stars. The restaurant is set in the Soča Valley, and the greenhouse-like dining room (with glass windows for walls) looks out towards the mountains. It’s a place where it feels like time has stopped – the atmosphere is so peaceful and tranquil. Ana Roš and her team have a great respect for nature and seasonality, which is evident on the plate. After one meal here, you’ll understand the region, the terroir, and the local culture. 50 years after it opened (and twenty years after Ana Roš took over), Hiša Franko remains a must-visit restaurant in Slovenia.

Kobarid may be world-famous because of Hiša Franko, but you’d be remiss to leave town without dining at Hiša Polonka. Unlike the tasting menu restaurant down the street, Polonka serves local Slovenian food, with dishes inspired by what would’ve been served decades ago at Hiša Franko. The thinly sliced roast beef is non-negotiable, as is the humble “frika,” a classic Slovenian pie made with cheese and potato. Share some pastas and a mushroom carpaccio (if they’re in season), but don’t leave without indulging in the famous Kobarid štruklji – a dumpling filled with walnuts, raisins, and bread crumbs, served swimming in brown butter. Sit back, relax, and let owner Valter Kramar pour you the best Slovenian natural wines.

Topli Val has been a restaurant since the 70’s, formerly housed in the venue that now is home to Hiša Polonka. Today, it resides inside the Hotel Hvala, and is run by the third generation of the Hvala family. The focus here is seafood, and the kitchen sources the highest quality of fresh fish for their patrons. Sit back, relax, and let your waiters make suggestions based on the catch of the day. Start with a carpaccio, continue with some raw scampi, slurp a shellfish pasta, and end with a whole fish to share. Wash it all down with local Slovenian wines – both classical and natural wines are available.

Špacapanova Hiša has been run by the Špacapan family for the last 50 years, in the Karst region of Slovenia (right on the Italian border). But it was only ten years ago that chef Ago Špacapan began taking over the business from his parents, starting a sausage and charcuterie program, aging his own cheeses, and making natural wines in the cellar. Ago also reinvigorated the restaurant, adding a tasting menu that features modern versions of classic Slovenian dishes (in addition to the à la carte options). There are ten charming guest rooms for those looking to spend the night, and breakfast is served with house-made breads, meats, cheeses, butters, and jams.

Husband-and-wife team Ivo and Špela Tomšič opened a tiny restaurant in the coastal city of Koper. Eating here feels more like attending a dinner party than visiting a restaurant, and it’s a hard seat to snag (they serve a maximum of ten guests a day). When you arrive, they ask you how hungry you are and if you have any allergies, and then food starts appearing. There’s no menu (what they serve changes daily), but you can count on warm, friendly hosts filling your glass with Slovenian natural wine and serving you dish after dish of plates to share. The Mediterranean-inspired antipasti highlights fresh Adriatic seafood, while the heftier fare showcases the best local meat and vegetables. Every meal ends on a sweet note with a tableside tiramisu service. Recently, they also opened a location in Ljubljana.

While in Koper, grab a scoop (or two) at the best local ice cream shop, Sladoledarna. Their creative flavors include the likes of Gin and Tonic with lavender, turmeric with sesame cream and candied lemon peel, green apple and basil, and rose. Since we are purists at heart, we indulged in the rich bourbon vanilla alongside the creamy pistachio.

Michelin-starred restaurant Grič is located in the mountains, about 45 minutes west of Ljubljana. It’s a remote area, mostly rural farmland, with not much else around – which is how Grič came to be in the first place. It started as a simple eatery serving pizza and beer for the locals, but, with time, evolved into one of Slovenia’s top fine dining establishments. Now, it’s mostly self-sustaining – they have a vegetable garden, orchards, a mushroom garden, a flower garden, and even fresh wasabi growing directly below the restaurant, all of which you can see from the dining room. They get dairy from a neighbor, and they have their own ecological duck farm a ten minutes’ drive away. The tasting menu is exceptionally creative, and constantly evolving. This is a must-visit restaurant in Slovenia.

Stow is our favorite coffee shop in Ljubljana, offering a rotating selection of coffee for pour-overs. They buy hand-harvested coffee from small farmers around the world and roast it themselves. We tried a juicy coffee from Panama with notes of Meyer lemon, rose hip, and watermelon, as well as a jammy Kenyan coffee with notes of black currant, berry, rosé pepper, and lime. Their main café is in a courtyard of the Ljubljana City Museum, but they also have a take-away window, Stow2Go, in Prešeren Square. Be sure to ask the price before ordering a pour-over – we accidentally ordered a rare coffee that cost €25!

Kolibri is an intimate cocktail bar in the heart of Ljubljana, with a charming location by the river. It’s a tiny, cozy place, with plush velvet seats inside and an outside patio. They have a small menu of original creations, and can also make all the classics. We enjoyed the Broken Lavender 47 (with a local Slovenian gin, lavender, and Monkey 47 gin), and a classic daiquiri.

TaBar was the place we’d heard the most about before visiting Ljubljana, hailed as the top place to drink natural wine in Slovenia’s capital – their list is exclusively natural. After the pandemic, they changed concepts from a drop-in place with sharing plates to a more focused kitchen with higher ambitions. Later this year, they will move into a new space, where they will have a tasting menu in one section as well as a casual wine bar with small plates. The concept of the kitchen is zero waste; we especially loved the wild salad with potato, zucchini, deep fried beans, and pumpkin oil, and the dry-aged tuna and dry-aged beef dishes.

The best pastries in Ljubljana can be found at Pekarna Ana, Ana Roš’ bakery. This small shop serves sourdough bread loaves, French-inspired croissants, Portuguese-style pasteis de nata (egg tarts), cookies, as well as seasonal pastries. On our visit, we indulged in a pastry filled with confit cherries, thyme, and a creamy vanilla ganache.

Kavarna Moderna is another of our favorite coffee shops in Ljubljana, with a beautiful location in the basement of the Museum of Modern Art. You can choose to sit inside, or outside on the steps of the museum to enjoy a hand-brewed coffee or an espresso-based drink. We had a great pour-over from Rwanda, with fresh acidity and tropical notes. The motto at the shop is “first coffee, then cocktails,” with specialty coffee all day, and craft cocktails in the evening.

Chef Ana Roš of Hiša Franko opened a more casual restaurant concept in Ljubljana. Jaz by Ana Roš started as a pop-up before moving to a permanent location in the city center. There are seasonal offerings, as well as tributes to signature Kobarid dishes, like the roast beef with smoked egg cream and the roe buck with celeriac, brown butter, and horseradish. Our favorite cocktail in Slovenia was their Kinky Sour, with apple verjus, white rum, lime, and tonka bean syrup. It tastes like a daiquiri, but with some floral elements and a nice sweetness from the tonka.

Aftr is run by chef Jorg Zupan, who formerly ran the Michelin-starred restaurant Atelje in the same space. Zupan decided to renovate and turn the place into a more accessible concept for the locals. Now, instead of tasting menus, they serve an à la carte menu of small sharing plates, made from local ingredients and veggies from their garden. It’s not fine dining, it’s fun dining, with all the deliciousness of a Michelin chef, but with a more chill vibe – and a better price point. Expect punchy, really good food, like latkes topped with caviar and cream, game tartare slathered on fluffy focaccia, and decadent caramel chocolate custard tarts. Aftr has a fun atmosphere with neon signs, loud music, and DJs on Fridays – and it’s open late, hence the name. This was our favorite meal in Ljubljana!

Čompa is a restaurant famous for their meat, but the name “čompa” actually refers to their baked potato topped with cheese. (This is a must-order dish here!) We also loved the raw beef “bon bons” with various toppings, the pancetta-wrapped zucchini flower stuffed with ricotta, the fatty mangalitsa pork, and the signature beef filet. Be sure to order a side of the fluffy, grilled bread to soak up all the sauces. The staff made us feel like regulars from the first minute, so it’s easy to see why this place is beloved by Ljubljana locals.

It’s easy to understand why Burek Olimpija is the go-to place in Ljubljana for late-night food. This buzzy take-out window is open 24/7, serving fresh burek from the oven all night long. Is there anything better than flaky, buttery layers of filo dough stuffed with juicy fillings? While meat is the most traditional choice, pizza is the most popular with the after-drinking crowd. They also have one stuffed with spinach, one with potato, and even one with apple, but the cottage cheese-filled burek is our favorite. Added bonus: it’s a steal for only three euros a slice!

Situated on the 20th floor of the Intercontinental hotel is B Bar, a rooftop bar with a 360º view of Slovenia’s capital, with a panorama stretching from the castle to the Alps. B Bar also serves some of the best drinks in town; the cocktails are based on local botanical honey, paying tribute to the Slovenian honey bee. (It’s called B Bar for a reason!) We tried the “Floral” with gin, chamomile, floral honey, and lemon, which tasted like a sparkling lemonade, and the “Acacia” with tequila, lemon, lime, and acacia honey, which reminded us of a paloma. This is a perfect place for sunset drinks in Ljubljana.

Guesthouse Novak is a must stop for any natural wine lovers in Slovenia. This family-run farm and bed and breakfast is legendary, not only because Boris Novak has the biggest natural wine cellar in the country, but also because of the incredible warmth and generosity of the hosts. While Boris pops bottle after bottle from his cellar, his wife Miriam serves simple comfort food and seasonal veggies from their farm. We tasted around 30 wines in total, until we finally called it quits at one o’clock in the morning. (You’re going to want to spend the night!) Fortunately, farm-fresh eggs topped with pork cracklings are the ultimate hangover cure.

Huda is set more than halfway between Ljubljana and Zagreb, but this local gem proves that you don’t need to be in a major city to find great pizza. Here, the pizzaiolos serve a Neapolitan-style pizza, but made with a mix of whole wheat and white flour, resulting in a slightly darker dough. To go with your pizza, they recommend wine, and they have lots of natural bottles (including some from their neighbor, Keltis). We tried the burrata pizza with grilled tomatoes, basil, and olive oil, and a white pizza with truffle cream, mozzarella, mushrooms, prosciutto, and olives. Fluffy, flavorful pizza!

The Rajh family has been running a restaurant in Murska Sobota since 1882 – first, a sandwich shop, and then a traditional eatery. Gostilna Rajh is still family-owned and operated today, run by the mom-and-son team of the fourth and fifth generations. This is a local gem in the Prekmurje region, where the young chef is serving classic dishes with a modern twist. Don’t leave without tasting the famous Prekmurska gibanica, a layered cake with poppyseed, apples, cottage cheese, and walnuts. It’s the most traditional cake of the region, and reminded us of a mix between strudel and the Danish pastry, tebirkes.

When the pandemic hit, celebrity chef Bine Volčič and his wife Katarina decided to leave behind their Ljubljana restaurant in search of a more balanced lifestyle. They renovated a farmhouse in the countryside, and transformed it into Monstera Estate. For those looking for the ultimate foodie escape, they welcome twelve guests from Friday until Sunday. The weekend getaway includes two dinners, two breakfasts, and a two night-stay. Friday evening is more casual with sharing plates, and Saturday is a bit more upscale, with a multi-course meal and an optional wine pairing. Sustainability and zero waste is at the core of the philosophy; all the food comes from the region, with fruits, veggies, and herbs coming from their own garden, eggs from their chickens, and lamb from the next-door neighbor. Start your day with morning yoga, cool off in the pool, and gather with other food lovers around a communal table.

Located in Slovenian wine country, north of the city Maribor, is Hiša Denk, a one-Michelin-starred restaurant from chef Gregor Vračko. The dining room is stunning – it resembles a Japanese zen garden with glass windows looking out onto the lush, green nature. We had the seven-course menu, which had three veggie and seafood courses, and three heartier meat courses as mains. The tasty and beautiful snacks were some of our favorite bites – it’s clear that the chef knows how to balance flavors well, and he delights in playful presentations. The wine style is more on the classical side, but they have a few natural bottles in the cellar from some of their neighbors, like Sepp Muster. The seven-course tasting menu is one of the best values-for-money in Slovenia, reasonably priced at 95 euros.

Set atop steep vineyards in the very north of Slovenia is a beautiful boutique hotel with only four rooms. Hiša 1624 is a renovated old house (first built in 1624), run by a family of exceptionally friendly winemakers, who are also incredibly warm hosts. Despite its tiny size, the wellness area is massive, with two saunas (one indoor and one outdoor), a whirlpool, a full-sized pool, and a heated outdoor jacuzzi under the stars. The spa amenities are open 24/7 for guests, so you can enjoy the incredible sweeping views of the landscape during the day or relax under the stars. The property is breathtaking and romantic – we only wish we could have stayed longer!