Grilled minced meat rolls, finger-sized and thumb-thick, seasoned with garlic, black pepper, thyme and a touch of baking soda for the springy bite that defines the dish.
Mititei trace through the Balkans (Serbia, Greece and Turkey) into 19th-century Bucharest, where the dish is first documented in 1870 by Ulysse de Marsillac and named in 1872 by N. T. Orășanu. A popular Romanian legend credits Iordache Ionescu's tavern on Strada Covaci in Bucharest, where Uncle Iordache supposedly ran out of sausage casings and grilled the seasoned meat directly on the grates. The name means little ones, from Romanian mic, and the dish crossed the Prut into Bessarabia where it became the standard summer-grill order at Moldovan beer gardens. In Chișinău it lands on every grill from Pegas to the Beer Mania festival.
4 editor picks for Mititei in Chișinău, ranked by editorial score. All Chișinău signature dishes · Mititei across every city.
La Taifas ★ 4.4
centru · Strada București 67, Chișinău, Moldova
La Taifas in Chișinău is the old village house with porch on Strada București, serving rustic Moldovan cooking and live folk music in a clay-pottery room.
Pegas Terrace & Restaurant ★ 4.3
centru · Strada Albișoara 20/1, Chișinău, Moldova
Pegas in Chișinău is the long-running two-storey European fusion room on Strada Albișoara, with a wide summer terrace and a Moldovan wine list.
Sălcioara ★ 4.3
botanica · Strada Decebal 99/6, Chișinău, Moldova
Sălcioara in downtown Chișinău is the traditional Moldovan dining room with carved-wood interiors, evening live music and a kitchen built on village recipes.
Beer House ★ 4.2
centru · Bulevardul Constantin Negruzzi 6/2, Chișinău, Moldova
Beer House in Chișinău is the German-themed brewpub on Bulevardul Negruzzi, brewing on-site and serving grill-heavy pub food with a daily 12-hour run.