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Eat & Drink
Latvian cooking is built on rye, pork, smoked fish, dairy and whatever the forest provides, and in the past decade the New Nordic movement reached Riga and merged with all of it. You will find medieval-cellar beer halls and Michelin-recognised tasting menus within the same few streets, at a fraction of Western European prices — and the Central Market alone could feed you for a week on pocket money.
Grey peas with bacon
Latvia's national dish — dried grey peas slow-cooked with smoked bacon and onion. Hearty, simple and deeply satisfying. A Christmas dish that happens to be served all year, not the other way about.
Where: Lido, Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs
Layered rye bread dessert
Dark rye breadcrumbs layered with whipped cream and berry preserve. Latvia's signature sweet, and the best argument anywhere for putting bread in a pudding.
Where: Traditional Latvian restaurants and bakeries
Baltic sprats, eel, salmon
Smoked Baltic sprats on dark rye with butter is the quintessential Latvian snack. The fish pavilion at Central Market has the widest choice — the hot-smoked salmon is worth the detour too.
Where: Central Market fish pavilion
Rye tart with carrot and potato
A rye crust filled with carrot and potato purée and sweetened with caraway. An ancient recipe, and one of the few Latvian foods with EU Protected Designation of Origin status.
Where: Central Market, Rigensis bakery
Midsummer caraway cheese
A firm, creamy cheese studded with caraway seed, made for the Midsummer (Jāņi) celebrations and sold year-round. Eat it with dark bread and beer.
Where: Central Market dairy pavilion
Riga Black Balsam
A herbal liqueur made since 1752 from 24 herbs, roots and berries, at 45% ABV. Drink it neat, stirred into coffee, or mixed with blackcurrant juice — the local favourite. Sip slowly.
Where: Black Magic Bar, Old Town
Valmiermuiža, Labietis, Malduguns
Riga's craft scene is small, serious and cheap by Western European standards. Labietis does wild and herb ales you will not find outside Latvia; Valmiermuiža is the reliable all-rounder.
Where: Labietis taproom, Central Market Gastro Quarter
Cold beetroot soup
Kefir, beetroot, cucumber, dill and a halved boiled egg, served cold. Alarmingly pink, genuinely refreshing, and a summer dish only — you will not find it in January.
Where: Traditional restaurants, June to August
Chanterelles, boletus, cranberries
Latvians forage seriously. In season the markets overflow with wild chanterelles, boletus, blueberries and cranberries, and even the supermarkets sell them.
Where: Central Market, August to October
Central Market's five pavilions can be overwhelming on a first visit — a guided food tour covers eight to ten tastings in about three hours, or read our Riga on a budget guide for a full daily cost breakdown including where to eat for under €10.
The € bands below are relative to each other in Riga, not fixed prices. Menus change; check before you go.
Three rotating chefs, one kitchen. Modern Latvian tasting menus built on foraged and local produce. Michelin-recognised.
Riga's most celebrated restaurant: refined Latvian cooking with French technique, long the standard everything else is measured against.
Experimental multi-course dinners in an intimate room. Reservations essential.
Contemporary Latvian cooking in a warm, unfussy setting. The seasonal menu changes weekly.
A cavernous beer hall in a medieval cellar: live folk music, grey peas, and twenty-odd Latvian beers on tap. Touristy and genuinely fun.
Farm-to-table, hearty portions, excellent value lunch menus. Good for groups. The mushroom soup has a following.
Plant-forward cooking built on local, seasonal vegetables. Creative and filling rather than worthy.
'Herrings and Dill' — tiny, charming and focused on Baltic fish. Around twenty seats, so book ahead.
Steakhouse with good Latvian beef, in a vaulted cellar.
A Latvian institution: self-service buffet with dozens of traditional dishes. Not gourmet, but authentic, cheap and beloved by locals.
Dumplings by weight. Simple, filling and open late.
Five former Zeppelin hangars full of fresh food. Smoked fish, rye bread, local cheese — the cheapest good lunch in the city, and indoors.
Riga's best-known specialty roaster. Several locations; the Miera Street original is the cosiest.
Excellent flat whites and a light brunch menu in a minimalist space.
Local roastery with a bright, modern café and good pastries.
Tipping — appreciated but not mandatory. Round up for casual meals; 10–15% for fine dining.
Reservations — book ahead for fine dining, especially at weekends. Casual places are walk-in friendly.
Lunch deals — many mid-range restaurants run a weekday "business lunch" menu, roughly noon to 3pm, at a fraction of the evening price.
Central Market hours — open daily, with some pavilions closing earlier on Sundays. Go before 2pm for the best selection.
Dietary needs — vegetarian options are now common and there are vegan-specific restaurants. Gluten-free is less widespread but improving; rye bread is everywhere, so say so clearly.
Turning dinner into an evening? — see our Riga nightlife guide for bars, rooftops and live music afterwards.
Latvian food makes more sense in the cold than it does in July. Grey peas with bacon is a Christmas dish that happens to be served year-round, not the other way about — and a bowl of it in a cellar in December is the version the recipe was built for. The same goes for the smoked fish, the black bread and the sour cream on everything.
December adds things you cannot eat here in summer at all: piparkūkas (thin, dark gingerbread, sold everywhere from late November), hot karstvīns mulled wine, and the grilled-meat and pea stalls that set up in Dome Square for the Christmas market. The market food is not cheap by Riga standards, but it is the one time of year the Old Town's main square is somewhere locals actually eat.
Central Market runs through winter and is the warmest cheap lunch in the city — the pavilions are indoors, which matters more in January than the guidebooks let on. Two December dates behave differently from the rest of the year: restaurants fill early around the Christmas market weekends, and New Year's Eve runs on fixed-price set menus that sell out well in advance rather than on walk-ins. More on the season in Riga in December and what's worth doing in winter.
Vincents, in the Quiet Centre, is generally considered Riga's most celebrated restaurant, serving refined Latvian cuisine with French technique. For a more accessible fine-dining experience, 3 Chefs is Michelin-recognised.
Grey peas with bacon (pelēkie zirņi ar speķi) — dried grey peas slow-cooked with smoked bacon and onions. Traditionally a Christmas dish, but served year-round at places like Lido and Folkklubs Ala Pagrabs.
Central Market's food pavilions and LIDO Atpūtas Centrs (a Latvian cafeteria chain) both serve full meals for €3-7. XL Pelmeni is the go-to for cheap, filling dumplings.
Rīgas Melnais Balzams is a herbal liqueur made since 1752 from 24 herbs, roots and berries, at 45% ABV. Drink it neat, in coffee, or mixed with blackcurrant juice, the local favourite.
Rupjmaizes kārtojums (layered rye bread dessert), pelēkie zirņi ar speķi (grey peas with bacon), sklandrausis (an EU-protected rye pastry), and aukstā zupa (cold beetroot soup in summer) are the essentials.
It's appreciated but not mandatory. Round up for casual meals, and 10-15% is standard for fine dining.
Last updated: October 2026. Restaurant details verified via public sources. Menus and prices may change — check directly before visiting.
The easiest way into Latvian food is a guided market tour — about three hours, eight to ten tastings, and the context you will not get from a menu.