Most travelers spend only one or two days exploring Sofia, Bulgaria. After arriving, we decided to extend our stay for nine nights to explore this beautiful city and find the best restaurants in Sofia, Bulgaria. During this time, we explored Sofiaโs foodie scene and found three restaurants that we would highly recommend to anyone who asked, โWhere should we go to eat?โ
Best Restaurants in Sofia, Bulgaria
Grape Central
Across the Balkans, wine bars are booming. With wineries sometimes hard to visit, for travelers like us, wine bars areย often the best option to explore wines from the region.
A few blocks off Vitosha Blvd. isย Grape Central, one of Sofiaโs premier wine bars and restaurants. Itโs cozy, yet chic interior sets the stage for an evening of wining and delicious dining. The staff here areย warm and engaged, so donโt be shy. If youโd like guidance in your wine selectionโฆ.simply ask!
Not only do they specialize in Bulgarian wine, but their vast varietal selection allows wine lovers to travel the globe glass by glass. They also have thematic tasting nights featuring different wine regions.
As long-term travelers, we appreciate the opportunity to experience a lovely, upscale dining experience at an extremely affordable price. Dishes here are fresh and delicious and preparedย according to the seasons of the year.
We recommend the hot cheese dip with mushroom and fresh tomatoes and the veal kebab with cashew nuts, basmati rice, yogurt, and pepper relish. After a long day of touring the city, it was the perfect place to enjoy an intimate date night.
Recommended
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Check out our highlight reel above and see why Grape Central is one of our top foodie picks. Reservations are recommended.
Skara Bar
As Food Bloggers, Skara Bar is what we consider an awesome, local foodie find. This is the place if you are looking to experience a typical, Bulgarian summer night!
There are three different locations, but on pleasant nights head to Park Zaimov where you can dine al fresco under the stars and soft, glowing party lights. Skara Barโs specialty is their delicious grilled meat dishes, served with freshly made potatoes and a light cabbage salad. They also have fresh vegetable salads and light appetizers.
As a starter, we tried the spicy stuffed peppers with cheese. They were divine! We ordered one of the meat platters to sample a variety of different grilled meats. We also jumped on the opportunity to try grilled horse meat. Reservations are recommended.
Watch our vlog above to experience Skara Barโs chill, outdoor vibe, and to see what we think horse meat tastes like. Youโll be surprised!
Grab and Go Pizza Station, City Center
As we toured Sofia, we kept seeing locals on the go snacking on these huge pieces of thick, stuffed pizza. Funny enough, we kept our eyes peeled to find out where they were getting these awesome slices of pure deliciousness.
Once we located the stand, upon our arrival they were pulling pizzas fresh out of the oven. The turnover is so fast here, there are no greasy, looks-like-itโs-been-sitting-there-all-day slices. We went and each time it was served piping hot. Always a line, itโs a sign that itโs worth the wait. We recommend the broccoli and cheese pizza.
Have you visited Sofia looking for a great foodie find? Find a great restaurant or cafe worth sharing? Sound off in the comments below!
Will definitely check these out and Iโm always on the look out for a slice on the go whenever Iโm travelling.
Thanks for the recommendations ๐
Hi there,
Iโm so happy you found this useful. We really enjoyed all these different restaurants with a range of prices for different experiences. We really enjoyed the Skara Bar for a local, Bulgarian food experience, however, we did dine outside on their patio (in a nice park) for a lovely, nighttime local experience. That really added to the night. In terms of the city, we just got ourselves a map and crossed off all the major sites as we walked around and explored. We did do free walking tour which we enjoyed. It was a nice way to explore the city with others and then just return to the areas we wanted to see more of. Enjoy Sofia. Itโs a lovely city and we very much enjoyed it. If you do go to Grape Central for a slightly finer dining experience or a glass of Bulgarian wine, it may be worth it to ask for Yana (an owner) and tell her the BS Travelers sent you there.
Kind regards,
Audrey
Reblogged this on When in Bulgaria and commented:
Looking for inspiration on what to eat in Bulgaria?
Iโve been to Skara Bar, but not the other two. There are many good restaurants in Sofia, but I highly recommend ะกะปัะฝัะต ะัะฝะฐ (Sun Moon), https://www.sunmoon.bg, at 39 Sixth of September Street (ัะป. ะจะตััะธ ะกะตะฟัะตะผะฒัะธ, 39). Great healthy food and wonderful ambiance.
I heard about Sun Moon! We will definitely make a stop there next time we are in Sofia, and anyone reading this thread will have another good recommendation to try! Thanks for adding your great travel tip! ๐
This is awesome! Are you guys traveling south to the Melnik region (Bulgariaโs wine capital, spa and hot springs, majestic Melnic sand pyramids, extinct volcano, legend of a clairvoyant Baba Vanga, ancient Thracian cityโฆ). If you come to the area, do feel cordially invited to visit my familyโs winery, Villa Melnik โ 360 gorgeous views of vineyards and mountains, underground cellar tunnels, and fantastic wines from grapes that dont grow anywhere else in the world! Would love to have you as our guests!
Hi Militza,
We will be in touch via FB messenger. Thank you so much for the kind compliments. We were JUST talking about this wine region today!
Looks delicious!
It was!