45 Best Restaurants in Central Dalmatia, Croatia

When you're ready for a change from traditional Croatian food, this upbeat fun restaurant-bar adjacent to Hvar Town's harbor serves meals from various global cuisines as well as delicious cocktails. Make a reservation ahead of time if you're arriving for dinner, as the music turns up and the crowds roll in when the sun goes down; Lola stays open late.

This morning-to-night restaurant is the perfect place to sit over coffee or a glass of local wine and absorb the 2,000 years of magnificent architecture surrounding you in the Old Town. Pop in for an omelet in the morning to fuel up for the day, enjoying your surroundings before the streets fill up with crowds.

Based in an elegant stone building in the Old Town, this welcoming family-run restaurant (formerly called Vanjaka) serves Dalmatian specialties. Sit outside on the open-air terrace, or take a table in the intimate air-conditioned dining room. Ask your waiter for a travarica (traditional Dalmatian herbal rakija) as an aperitif. 

Great care is taken to select and focus on the best local fresh ingredients at this sophisticated restaurant, tucked away in a picturesque courtyard off the main square of Hvar Town. The wine list is impressive and includes local standouts and a wide international selection.

This cozy restaurant has become popular because of its reasonably priced menu and quaint atmosphere. The Italo-Dalmatian menu features pasta dishes, seafood risottos, and old-fashioned local fish specialties such as škampi na buzaru (scampi in red sauce) and pečene srdele s blitvom (grilled sardines with chard).

In a modern glass-and-wood conservatory that looks onto a courtyard garden of orange and lemon trees, Pojoda makes for a popular spot among the sailing crowd that won't disappoint a food-savvy traveler either. During the summer, it can get crowded and service may be a bit inconsistent.

The restaurant in this renovated 18th-century water mill is well-known for miles around for its Dalmatian and grill dishes, served at tables under trees in a pretty riverside garden. It lies 6 km (4 miles) from Omiš, up the Cetina River Valley. For a fee, restaurant management also organizes excursions for visitors, from rafting to ziplining. 

Above the ACI Marina and at the foot of Marjan Hill, this mostly seafood restaurant has a light and airy, minimalist interior, as well as a summer terrace. In the spirit of slow food, the kitchen gives great care to fresh seasonal ingredients and presentation. The former owner, Zoran Grašo, is a retired basketball player, and his son Petar is a famous singer, so you may still spot some local celebrities from time to time among the diners.

Seafood and freshwater fish specialties, as well as traditional Croatian peka, are offered at this restaurant with a large riverside terrace and an indoor dining space. Both the main and dessert menus are long, so ask your waiter for a traditional recommendation depending on your mood. The restaurant lies 4 km (2½ mlesi) upstream from Omiš.

On the tiny island of Sveti Klement, a 20-minute taxi-boat ride from Hvar Town (or dock your sailboat in nearby ACI Marina), this terrace restaurant is backed by a romantic wilderness of Mediterranean flora and offers stunning views over the open sea. Besides wonderfully fresh seafood, dishes showcase local ingredients such as sheep's cheese, olives, and beef. The owners are the Meneghello family, whose ties to the island date back to 1906. They are well-known for their love of art and culture, as well as food: the walls are decorated with contemporary Croatian art.

Serving tasty tapas, brunch, and breakfast, Soul is a sweet place to pop into when you get tired of meandering through the Old Town. A five-minute walk from the Peristil, this affordable spot is loved by locals and offers dining in a courtyard between stone buildings or in a suavely decorated interior with wood paneling and records as wall art.

This lounge-style café terrace is known for breathtaking views of the city and sea. Besides a full menu with soups and salads, as well as pasta, fish, and meat mains, they're open for coffee starting at 8 am—convenient if you need to wet your whistle after trekking up Marjan Hill.

Located in a narrow back alley, this cozy little space attracts a young fun crowd with its Dalmatian takes on Mexican and Latin American street food. It offers good food and great prices for lunch and dinner (along with brunch on the weekend), with some gluten-free options.

Stop in at Uje and sample some of the region's best olive oil, as well as a choice selection of Croatian cheese, prosciutto, and wine. This quaint back-alley tapas bar bases its menu on delicious olive oil, changes meals according to season, and sources many ingredients from local organic family farms.

This restaurant in a natural stone building is a favorite among the yachting crowd, in part because of its location near the ACI Marina Skradin. It's aptly named Zlatne školjke, which means "golden shells," because of the plethora of shellfish farms nearby. A sommelier can help you choose a wine, but a glass of local Debit white wine is a wise choice to complement a visit.