Eat in Centre, Plovdiv

Hemingway

• ★ 4.5
• $$$

Refined Hemingway sits in a 1930s modernist building on Gurko Street. Seasonal Bulgarian and European cooking, deep Bulgarian and international wine list.

Nobel by Chef Shishkov

• ★ 4.6
• $$$$

Chef Tanyo Shishkov's Plovdiv flagship in the Residence City Garden Hotel near Tsar Simeon Garden. Bulgaria's celebrity chef cooking refined fine dining.

Salt and Pepper

• ★ 4.7
• Modern Mediterranean
• $$$

Chef Nikolay Boroukov's modern Mediterranean room is one of the few Plovdiv tables that does fine dining seriously, with original menus beyond classics.

Memory Wine and Dine

• ★ 4.4
• $$$

Memory sits on Saedinenie Square across from the Thursday market: 130 seats inside, 80 in a summer garden, Bulgarian wines and piano jazz on weekends.

Smokini

• ★ 4.5
• $$$

Smokini sits a block from Kapana on Otets Paisiy. Mediterranean cooking interleaved with modern Bulgarian, homemade bread, vegetarian and gluten-free options.

Marmalad

• ★ 4.0
• Modern European Bistro
• $$

Marmalad runs all day at the edge of Kapana on Bratya Pulievi: salads, sandwiches, pasta, jazz and chillout music, with a nightclub of the same name below.

Happy Bar and Grill

• ★ 3.5
• $$

Bulgarian chain Happy Bar and Grill on the pedestrian Knyaz Alexander spine. Long menu of grills, salads and sushi; reliable family stop in central Plovdiv.

Central Park

• ★ 3.9
• $$

Central Park sits at the foot of Sahat Tepe with a big shaded terrace. All-day Bulgarian and international menu, family-friendly bench seating central spot.

Dwell Coffee House

• ★ 4.5
• $

Order Pour-over Chucky's coffee

Dwell Coffee House sits a step off the Roman Stadium serving freshly roasted Chucky's beans, calmer than the Knyaz Alexander spine, work-friendly small room.

Dealicious Coffee and Food

• ★ 4.5
• $

Order Dea's Blend 100 percent Arabica espresso

Dealicious roasts on site in the South district. Dea's Blend 100 percent Arabica on a Sanremo F18, breakfast bowls and food, cosy laptop-friendly room.

Snack Specialty Coffee

• ★ 4.6
• $

Order House pour-over

Georgi Harizanov's Snack Specialty Coffee on Georgi Benkovski runs as a roastery and counter. Bulgarian-roasted single origins, pour-over service.

Coffee Republic

• ★ 3.8
• $

Order Espresso flat white

Coffee Republic on the Knyaz Alexander pedestrian street is the local mid-walk stop. Espresso bar, pastries and weekend brunch, large terrace prime.

Mekitsa and Coffee

• ★ 4.6
• Bakery
• $

Order Classic mekitsa with sirene

Mekitsa and Coffee is the only Plovdiv counter that fries mekitsa to order. Traditional Bulgarian breakfast plus modern combinations like basil pesto.

Hali Banitsa Counter

• ★ 4.6
• Bakery
• $

Order Marmalade banitsa

The unnamed banitsa counter beside Hali market on Evlogi Georgiev has worked the same corner for roughly fifty years; the marmalade banitsa is its anchor.

Byala Rada Patisserie

• ★ 4.0
• Bakery
• $

Order Garash chocolate cake

Byala Rada has run a Bulgarian patisserie counter on Knyaz Alexander I for decades. Garash chocolate cake, eclairs, profiteroles and house ice creams.

Dealicious Coffee Roastery

• ★ 4.4
• Coffee roaster
• $$

Dealicious roasts on site in Plovdiv South. Dea's Blend is the house signature: 100 percent Arabica, prepared on a Sanremo F18, retail bags sold at counter.

Dwell Coffee House Roastery

• ★ 4.5
• Coffee roaster
• $$

Dwell roasts Chucky's coffee in-house at the Roman Stadium edge. Small batches, pour-over bar, retail bags, calmer than the pedestrian street's commercial.

Memory Wine and Dine Cellar

• ★ 4.5
• Wine bar
• $$$

Memory's cellar list is the Plovdiv reference for Bulgarian wine. Saedinenie Square setting with summer garden, piano jazz on weekends, deep Bulgarian pours.

Hemingway Cellar

• ★ 4.4
• Wine bar
• $$$

Hemingway runs one of the deeper Bulgarian and international wine lists in Plovdiv. The Gurko Street room sits late, civilised pours after dinner spots close.

Marmalad Club

• ★ 4.0
• Late-night bar and club
• $$$

Drink Classic cocktails

Marmalad runs an all-day bar in central Plovdiv with jazz and chillout, and a club downstairs that picks up past midnight on weekends. Daily 11:00-01:00.

Wunderbaer Hills Beer Bar and Shop

• ★ 4.3
• Craft beer bar and bottle shop
• $$$

Drink Hills Brewery beers

Wunderbaer is the central-Plovdiv outpost of the Hills Beer family (brewery in Perushtitsa). Bavarian-style house beers on tap, bottle shop alongside.

Kamenitza Microbrewery

• ★ 4.4
• Microbrewery and beer restaurant
• $$$

Drink Craft Kamenitza house lagers

Kamenitza Microbrewery sits in part of the original 1881 brewery on Kamenitza Hill. Visitor centre and beer restaurant, brewmaster tours Tuesday to Friday.

Skara Kebapche Knyaz

• ★ 4.0
• Street food
• $

Try Kebapche, kyufte, sausages from charcoal grill

Charcoal grill counter on the pedestrian Knyaz Alexander stretch. Kebapche and kyufte plus lukanka sausage; quick Bulgarian lunch under 10 BGN.

Hills Brewery

• ★ 4.0
• Brewery
• $$

Hills Brewery brews 25 km outside Plovdiv in Perushtitsa and pours its house beers at the Wunderbaer Beer Bar and Shop on Beethoven Street in central Plovdiv.

Kamenitza Heritage Brewery 1881

• ★ 4.4
• Brewery
• $$

Kamenitza is Bulgaria's oldest brewery, founded 1881 by three Swiss entrepreneurs on Kamenitza Hill. The heritage site retains brewing tours after main.

Hali Shopping Center

• ★ 4.0
• Market
• $

Hali is the four-level Plovdiv shopping center built in 1935, anchoring the south end of Knyaz Alexander I. Fresh produce stalls on the ground floor.

Thursday Market Saedinenie

• ★ 4.4
• Market
• $

Thursday farmers market on Saedinenie Square is the oldest marketplace in Plovdiv, said to be more than 350 years old. Tomato, cheese, lukanka sausage.

Food Walk Plovdiv

• ★ 4.4

Three-hour walk through a Plovdiv farmer's market, Kapana and the Old Town: banitsa, mekitsa, lyutenitsa spreads, Bulgarian sausage, honey degustation.

VINARIA International Wine Fair

• ★ 4.4

VINARIA at International Fair Plovdiv brings Bulgarian and international wineries with the University of Food Technologies and Union of Oenologists each.

ByFood Bulgarian Cooking Class Plovdiv

• ★ 4.2

ByFood runs a Plovdiv Bulgarian cooking class with an optional market visit, teaching three traditional dishes including bread, cheese pastry, hot pot and dolmas, eaten together as the closing meal.

Vitafix Juice Bar

• ★ 4.2
• Vegetarian
• $

Try Smoothie bowl or vegan grain bowl

Vitafix's smoothie bowls and grain bowls under 12 BGN on the central pedestrian street. Cold-pressed juices, vegan options, no artificial sweeteners.

Jazz Insights

• ★ 4.0
• $$

Jazz Insights on Beethoven street in central Plovdiv is a small club for live jazz, open only Thursday to Saturday from 19:00 until 23:30 on those nights.

Sinatra Piano Bar

• ★ 4.1
• $$$

Sinatra Piano Bar on the top floor of the Hotel Trimontium in Plovdiv pairs a city view with singing bartenders and a rotating live-music lineup.