Lower town – Local tips (snacks)

Bonita is a nice sandwich bar only a minute away from the ban Jelačić square. It has really tasty, warm sandwiches (like mixed sandwich and Slavonian sandwich, my favorite), various salads, vegetarian fast food, refreshments. The prices range from kn 10.00 to kn 20.00. All food is “to go”, and during the week days from 09:00 to 20:00 Bonita has a delivery service.

But the reason we love this miniature sandwich bar so much lies in one other characteristic that it has. Bonita is open almost non-stop. That makes it a perfect spot for a Saturday night scenario that I’m sure you’re all familiar with. You spent  the whole night dancing, clubbing and having fun, and at the end of the night you get hungry from all that excitement. At this point you don’t wish to go to a fancy restaurant. Instead, you fancy an open snack bar, and if you’re in Zagreb, you definitely fancy Bonita!

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Bonita | Snacks | Sandwich Kn 15.00
Cvjetni trg, Oktogon | Lower town | +38514813835
Fast food 06-04 daily | Delivery service: Mon – Fri 09:00 – 20:00

When it comes to bars in Zagreb, great interior design doesn’t always mean good things on the menu. However, in Flores, a fancy café situated a couple of steps away from the Jelačić square, you can get both.

For me it means the best chocolate pie I’ve had in this city, plus pretty good coffee. What more could you ask from life? Well, Flores will also give you good background music (a little bit of lounge, a little bit of funky – nothing that loud that you won’t hear yourself talk), decoration that’s posh but not overly pretentious and a polite staff that will serve you right away and won’t be troubled to recommend a dessert you’ll surely like. They also offer a wide range of both non-alcoholic drinks and fine spirits.

Of course, quality comes with a price: the pastries and drinks in Flores will cost you a bit more than in some other bars. Still, you won’t regret it – empty tables are hard to find in this place for a reason.

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Café Flores | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks | Chocolate pie Kn 15.00
Frane Petrića 1 | Lower town | +38514819272
07:00 – 23:00 daily

Zagreb is packed with various bakeries, ranging from big chains like Pan-Pek to little independent ones, so it might seem a bit hard to pick your favourite.

Since I’ve moved here, I’ve been to every bakery- well, to the ones in the city centre, which is what you’re probably interested in the most. So, when you see my curvy figure, it gets pretty obvious that I know a good doughnut when I find it, and believe me- Dinara is the place where you want to buy your doughnuts. Or bread, bagels… any other thing you crave at the moment. My favourite is their sour cherry strudel.

Situated a few streets away from the Jelacic square, the Dinara bakery offers a wide range of delicious products. It’s one of the smallest shops in the whole city; only four or five people can squeeze in. Yet there’s never a line in front of the store- the nice kind ladies behind the counter work really fast and they’ll always give you the freshest things, warm and tasty, just taken out of the oven.

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Dinara bakery | Snacks | Strudel Kn 6.00
Gajeva 8 | Lower town
06:00 – 19:00 daily

Kraš (see the Kras article) is a famous Croatian candy factory founded in 1911. There’s another side of Kraš, though, that’s a lot younger than the original.

Kraš choco bar is a place where you can enjoy cake and pastries, some of whose ingredients are the most popular products of this great brand. For example, there’s a palette of ice cream flavours that are designed to remind you of famous Kraš chocolates. You’re not into ice cream when it’s cold outside? Well, there’s no reason not to treat yourself to a great chocolate fondue with fruit to dip in.

You also might want to try one of the numerous cocktails. You can get them either hot or cold- just choose a combination that you like best. They include coffee, milk, vanilla, chocolate syrup, nougat, fruit, juice, popular liqueurs… when you taste one, you’ll probably want to go back and get some more.

Most of the pastries in Kraš choco bar are so sweet that both your teeth and your brain might hurt afterwards, but it’s worth it. I would usually suggest trying some of the cakes, but as it gets really hot over the summer, I recommend dark chocolate icecream – it’s lush, not too sugary, but really really intense.

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Kraš choco bar | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks | Icecream Kn 7.00
Ilica 15 | Lower town | +38514876362
07:00 – 23:00 daily

In the first years of the 3rd millennium, prof. Carole Meredith discovered that grapes Zinfandel and Crljenak Kaštelanski have the identical genetic profile, therefore are the same sort.  After a couple hundred more hours in the lab (i.e. wine cellar) she also discovered that the aforementioned Mr. Zinfandel had an affair with Mrs. Dobričić from the island of Šolta which gave birth to the little and much beloved Plavac Mali.

P.Z. Podšpilje (a farming cooperative) from the island of Vis produces excellent Plavac Mali, a quality dry red wine, which can be bought for ridiculously cheap prices in the centre of Zagreb.  Although it seems very light and it slides down smoothly, do not be tricked by its apparent playfulness, this wine has 12.5% alcohol. Goes well with red meat, cheeses and oily fish. And Coke.

As its faithful companion, also from the wine growing hills of Vis, comes Vugava – a quality dry white wine. Vugava is made by grapes cultivated in Dalmacija since the Ancient times, when Vis was called Issa and when the Greek historian  Agatharchides claimed that Vugava “is superior to every other wine whatever“.  Today’s Vugava is a rather sweetish and fruitish wine, which lacks a bit of acidity. Nevertheless, beware of Vugava because it reaches up to 14% alc. content. Goes well with all fish and white meat.

Besides those two wines, available from huge barrels or bottled, one can also find some great grape rakija with herbs and vinegar, all from the island of Vis. And when you get hungry, there’s a big cask of salted anchovies on the premises for just 50kn/kg. Ok, now try getting out of there alive!

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P.Z. Podšpilje | Shopping, Snacks | Plavac mali Kn 14.00
Kralja Držislava 10 | Lower town
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 15:30, Sat 09:00 – 14:00

Bakeries are really popular in Zagreb and my absolute favorite chain is Pan Pek bakeries. Most of the bakeries here have pretty much the same offer. Pan Pek stands out in that area with various and unique “menus”, offering the usual products like bread, donuts, rolls, croissants, strudel… etc. But also delicious snacks like “shell” pizza/cheese (puffed pastry with cheese or pizza flavour filling), cakes, they are bakery with the best pizza and if you wish to have a classic snack, yes, you can also have sandwiches there.

You’ll find Pan Pek bakeries all over the town, but they are not all the same size. Even though they all have the same offer, the bigger ones are better because they bake some of their products on the very spot, while in the smaller ones all products are delivered. Chances of getting warm, fresh, just baked snack are really big by the end of working hours, so don’t hesitate to drop by.

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Pan Pek | Snacks | Pizza slice Kn 10.00
Trg bana Josipa Jelačića 15 | Lower town | +38514812272
Mon – Sat 07:00 – 22:00

To put it in the most simple words, Vincek is simply the best pastry shop in Zagreb. On Vincek’s menu you’ll find cakes, cookies and the biggest balls of ice cream in Zagreb. That is the reason this place is full of people any time of the year. Vincek is a place you’ll always return to for another dose of sugar. Good news for all Vincek fans: now there is a new , fourth Vincek open on the Kvatrić square.

And a word of advice: Vicek really gives big balls of ice cream, so people usually take one ball in which they get two flavors. So when you’re ordering just say in one ball half, for example, vanilla, half chocolate, and ask for chocolate topping. After doing that, you can consider yourself to be a half Zagrebian.

I remember my very first visit to Vincek. My friends suggested to go there, I was like, who the hell is this Vincek guy? But when I found out it was a love for a lifetime that still has no end.

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Vincek | Coffee & tea, Snacks | One scoop Kn 6.00
Ilica 18 | Lower town | +38514833612
Mon – Sat 08:30 – 23:00