🍽️ Oltenian cooking, and the rest
Where to eat in Craiova
Craiova eats well and cheaply, and it eats Oltenian — which means more pork, more polenta and more garlic than the Romanian average, and a red wine list that comes from half an hour down the road. The centre holds most of what is worth booking.
84 places
CRAFT Pizza - Restaurant & Delivery
Drobeta-Turnu Severin4.6(6,838)out of 5 on Google€€€€
Closed · opens 10:30
4.6(3,308)out of 5 on Google
Agape Restaurant by Kripton
Drobeta-Turnu Severin4.5(3,147)out of 5 on Google€€€€
Closed · opens 09:30
Hotel Anna
Târgu Jiu4.7(1,565)out of 5 on Google
What Oltenian cooking actually is
It is not a marketing category, it is a real regional kitchen, and three things distinguish it.
Garlic, properly used. Not as a background note but as a sauce in its own right — *mujdei*, raw garlic pounded with salt and water or oil, served with grilled meat and with fish. If you have had it in Bucharest you have probably had a polite version.
Pork, and all of it. *Tochitură* — pork pan-fried down with its own fat, served with polenta, a fried egg and sheep's cheese — is the regional plate, and the one to order if you order one thing.
Freshwater fish. Oltenia reaches the Danube, and carp, catfish and crucian appear on menus here in a way they do not in Transylvania. Taverna Racilor is the obvious place for it.
Where to book
Casa Ghincea and Ardelenesc Osanu' in the Old Town are the traditional-Romanian end. Taverna Racilor for fish. Al Za'atar is the best-rated of the Levantine places and consistently busy. La Dolce Vita covers Italian, and FRYDAY is the high-volume casual option the city actually eats at.
Practical
Book for Friday and Saturday, in the centre, from about seven. Midweek you will usually walk in.
Lunch is the value. Most places run a *meniul zilei* at a price that makes eating out at midday cheaper than cooking, which is why the centre fills at one o'clock on a working day.
In July and August, eat early or late and expect terraces to be empty until after seven — the plain's summer is not terrace weather at six in the evening. See the weather month by month and what it costs.
Where to stay in Craiova
Live prices and availability on a map centred on this exact spot — hotels, apartments and hostels, so you can judge the walk from here rather than guess from an address.
Bookings made through this map earn us a commission. Your price is unaffected.
Frequently asked
What should I eat in Craiova?
Tochitură — pork cooked down in its own fat with polenta, a fried egg and sheep's cheese — is the Oltenian plate. Ciorbă de perișoare for soup, anything with mujdei (pounded raw garlic) alongside, and freshwater fish, because Oltenia reaches the Danube. Finish with a glass of Segarcea red.
Is Craiova expensive to eat in?
No — it is one of the cheaper major Romanian cities for restaurants, and noticeably cheaper than Bucharest, Cluj or Brașov for an equivalent meal. The weekday lunch menu is where the gap is widest. See what it costs for current figures.
Do I need to book a restaurant in Craiova?
For Friday and Saturday evening in the centre, yes, from about seven. Midweek you will almost always walk in. The exception is December, when the Christmas market fills everything within walking distance of Piața Mihai Viteazul.
