Mint Vinetu Cafe is a cafe restaurant in Senamiestis, Vilnius.
Mint Vinetu combines a second-hand bookshop with a small cafe in the Šv. Ignoto alleyways, serving mint tea, homemade pies and vegan snacks to readers.
Signature dishes: Homemade pies, Vegan snacks, Mint tea
Must order: A pot of mint tea and a slice of homemade pie.
Tip: Buy a used book on the way out; the cafe stays open later than the shop does.
Address: Šv. Ignoto g. 16, 01144 Vilnius
Pinavija's second branch on Vokiečių keeps the same family-bakery recipes for kibinai and šakotis in a slightly bigger Old Town room with terrace seating.
Signature: Kibinai, Šakotis, Curd cheese pancakes
Order: A mutton kibinai with mustard; a slice of šakotis to go.
Tip: Larger than the Vilniaus original. Vokiečių terrace is the Old Town summer seat.
Lokys has run since 1972 in a 15th-century merchant's cellar, serving wild boar, venison and beaver under the second generation of the same family.
Signature: Wild boar with lingonberry, Venison medallions, Beaver stew
Order: Wild boar with lingonberry; share a beaver stew to taste what makes Lokys an institution.
Tip: Oldest restaurant in Vilnius Old Town. Reserve the medieval cellar room for the full effect.
Etno Dvaras on Aušros Vartų cooks dishes certified by the Lithuanian Culinary Heritage Fund in a cavernous cellar with street-level windows on the strip.
Signature: Cepelinai, Bulvių blynai potato pancakes, Šaltibarščiai
Order: Cepelinai with bacon-mushroom sauce; pair with a bowl of šaltibarščiai cold beet soup.
Tip: Heritage Fund certification means every dish must be 100 years old by recipe. Touristy but real.
The Pilies Street branch of Etno Dvaras sits a block from the Cathedral, with the same Heritage Fund-certified Lithuanian dishes as the Aušros Vartų room.
Signature: Cepelinai, Kugelis, Žemaičių blynai
Order: Žemaičių blynai (Samogitian potato pancakes) with sour cream.
Tip: Often quieter than Aušros Vartų. Walk-ins usually possible on weekdays.
Pinavija's second branch on Vokiečių keeps the same family-bakery recipes for kibinai and šakotis in a slightly bigger Old Town room with terrace seating.
Signature: Kibinai, Šakotis, Curd cheese pancakes
Order: A mutton kibinai with mustard; a slice of šakotis to go.
Tip: Larger than the Vilniaus original. Vokiečių terrace is the Old Town summer seat.
Gaspar's runs a weekday-lunch menu separate from its Michelin Bib Gourmand dinners, with Goan thalis and a daily curry in the same Pylimo room.
Signature: Goan thali, Vegetarian biryani, Daily curry
Order: A Goan thali at lunch; cheaper than the dinner tasting and just as carefully cooked.
Tip: Weekday lunch only; the room flips to fine-dining mode at 18:00.
Lokys has run since 1972 in a 15th-century merchant's cellar, serving wild boar, venison and beaver under the second generation of the same family.
Signature: Wild boar with lingonberry, Venison medallions, Beaver stew
Order: Wild boar with lingonberry; share a beaver stew to taste what makes Lokys an institution.
Tip: Oldest restaurant in Vilnius Old Town. Reserve the medieval cellar room for the full effect.
Etno Dvaras on Aušros Vartų cooks dishes certified by the Lithuanian Culinary Heritage Fund in a cavernous cellar with street-level windows on the strip.
Signature: Cepelinai, Bulvių blynai potato pancakes, Šaltibarščiai
Order: Cepelinai with bacon-mushroom sauce; pair with a bowl of šaltibarščiai cold beet soup.
Tip: Heritage Fund certification means every dish must be 100 years old by recipe. Touristy but real.
The Pilies Street branch of Etno Dvaras sits a block from the Cathedral, with the same Heritage Fund-certified Lithuanian dishes as the Aušros Vartų room.
Signature: Cepelinai, Kugelis, Žemaičių blynai
Order: Žemaičių blynai (Samogitian potato pancakes) with sour cream.
Tip: Often quieter than Aušros Vartų. Walk-ins usually possible on weekdays.
Senoji Trobelė on Naugarduko is a family-run Lithuanian room with painted ceilings and a 75-percent Žalgiris mead balsam fermented for two years.
Signature: Cepelinai, Vegetarian potato dumplings with spinach, Žalgiris mead balsam
Order: Cepelinai with curd cheese; finish with a glass of Žalgiris mead balsam.
Tip: Twelve minutes uphill from Vokiečių. Order the daily-baked linseed leaven bread to start.
