Where to Eat in Vilnius
Lithuanian cuisine features the products suited to its cool and moist northern climate: barley, potatoes, rye, beets, greens, and mushrooms are locally grown, and dairy products are one of its specialities. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with Eastern Europe, Lithuanian cuisine has much in common with other Eastern European and Jewish cuisines. Nevertheless, it has its own distinguishing features, which were formed by a variety of influences during the country’s long and difficult history.
As the whole event will be held in the heart of the city, you can find many places to grab a meal. There are many cafés and restaurants. However we have compiled a list of few places that we think should be enjoyable if you wish to try the Lithuanian cuisine (places marked with asterisk are recommended more than others):
- Prie Katedros brewery*
- Fortas
- Stiklių aludė
And of course - no trip to Lithuania is complete without tasting the Lithuanian beer, regarded as one of the best beers in the world. It is still a mystery, when the first mug of beer was made in Lithuania, however the first mention of breweries in Lithuania dates as far back as 10th century. Beer was made in almost every homestead, recipes passed down from generation to generation and the hops fields were specifically protected by state law.
Currently there are more than 70 private breweries across Lithuania (not counting the big ones) and they make more than a 100 different types of beer, which can be found unusual by some people due to the use of unique ingredients like clovers and peas, and strange hop varieties. Below you can find a few places to enjoy genuine Lithuanian beer:
- Alaus namai* (wide variety of beers)
- Šnekutis* (even wider variety of beers)
- IPA brewery*
- Stiklių aludė
- Bambalynė (beer only)
- Alynas (beer only)
- Prie Katedros brewery
For those of you who want to keep their head clear (which is not recommended) you can always order another drink with deep traditions - Gira (Kvass). Gira is a fermented beverage commonly made from black or regular rye bread. The colour of the bread used contributes to the color of the resulting drink. As it is a fermented beverage, there is some alcohol in it, however the content is low (0.5–1.0%).
We gave a short list of possible dining and tasting options. However, Vilnius is a nice place to find a wide variety of food. Here is a nice dining guide for you: https://www.likealocalguide.com/vilnius/eating.
Places to eat around venue
For those who would like to grab something to eat during lunch break, there are a few places near the conference venue. There is the shopping center Europa, which has a number of cafes and restaurants as well as a pizza place. It is just across the street from the conference venue. The second place is even closer - the shopping center VCUP, that houses a number of dining places as well (ranging from pancakes to Chinese food).
And don't forget, the hotel we will be having the conference serves lunch as well, so if you don't feel like going outside, you can always grab a meal there.