Editing Vilnius (section)

=== Restaurants & cafés===

No doubt you will find McDonald's yourself, but in case you want to experience lithuanian cuisine, here are the most
popular restaurants serving traditional lithuanian meals:

[http://www.cili.lt/ Čili Kaimas] - a chain restaurant, located in Vokiečių St. 8 and Gedimino Ave. 14;

[http://www.fortodvaras.lt Forto dvaras] - also a good one and is right in the center - Pilies St. 16;

[http://www.zemaiciai.lt Žemaičiai] - a bit more expensive place in Vokiečių St. 24 and sometimes it takes ages to
get your meal, but the result is usually rewarding.

''Pilies menė'' in Pilies St. 8 or ''Amatininkų užeiga'' in Didžioji St. 19/2 might be also an option for
traditional meals.

What shall you order there to get real lithuanian experience? A distinctive trait of Lithuanian cuisine is the
preponderance of potato dishes, so try one of those:

* ''Cepelinai'' (‘Zeppelins’) - the most typical dish, large boiled potato dumplings (made from grated raw potato)
with fillings of minced meat or cottage cheese. Be careful - they are really filling;
* ''Kugelis'' (potato pie);
* Potato pancakes made from grated raw potato or boiled potato (sometimes – with a meat filling);
* ''Vėdarai'' (potato sausages) – a pretty creepy meal, made of pork intestines stuffed with grated raw potato,
baked in a wood stove or electric oven.

For a snack you should definitely try fried bread with cheese, marinated herring with boiled potatoes, various kinds
of cottage cheese or fermented cheeses, and hot-smoked or cold-smoked hams and sausages. Lithuanians also know many
recipes for mushroom dishes which are used in sauces, as fillings, or served as an accompaniment to meat dishes.

Soup is very popular in Lithuania and there are lots of kinds of it, but the most interesting Lithuanian soup
is ''šaltibarščiai'' (cold beetroot soup), which is made from beetroot, kefir (a fermented milk product), greens and
boiled eggs, is served chilled and is very refreshing on a hot summer day. Just don't get scared of a pink colour!

And finally, beer goes with pretty much everything, so go ahead! (ok, maybe not for breakfast;)

If you're done with typical lithuanian cuisine, there's plenty of other choices to eat out that match all tastes and
budgets (in most restaurants approximately LTL 20-40 should be enough for lunch or dinner for one person):

* European cuisine is predominant in Vilnius restaurants, with a few Lithuanian dishes included in the menu - check
out ''Užupio cafe'' (Užupio 2) - a super place and a heart of Užupis Republic during the summer time; [http://
www.avilys.lt Avilys] - really nice beer brewery & restaurant (Gedimino Ave. 5); [http://www.cozy.lt Cozy] - a
restaurant and a cozy club downstairs (Dominikonų St. 10); [http://www.steakhouse.lt Steak House Helios] (Didžioji
St. 28, 2 floor, Helios Entertainment Centre).
* Restaurant with amazing view - [https://sventaragiosodas.lt/?lang=en Šventaragio sodas] restaurant in Vilnius can accommodate more than 100 people inside and the same amount on the outdoor terrace. Where the the golden sun-shaded Vilnius Cathedral stands before the eyes and right where every hour the bell tower tolls you back to the present .
* Italian cuisine - [http://www.antonio.lt/index.php?k=EN Da Antonio I] (Vilniaus St. 23) and ''Da Antonio
Tratoria'' (Pilies St. 20); ''St. Valentino'' (Vilniaus St. 47/Trakų St. 18); ''Pomodoro'' (Jogailos g. 4)
and ''Fiorentino'' (Universiteto g. 4) with a nice inside yard during spring/summer. Note that pizzerias now
outnumber Lithuanian restaurants, so do not be surprised to find a wide range of pizzas available at most
restaurants (especially medium price range restaurants). The people of Vilnius are starting to jokingly say that
pizza is becoming Lithuania’s national dish.
* French cuisine - ''Les Amis'' (Savičiaus St. 9) and ''Saint Germain'' (Literatų g. 9), also ''La Provence''
(Vokiečių St. 22), but this one is a bit expensive.
* Czech cuisine - ''Pas Rudolfą II'' (Gedimino Ave. 46-2) - not very cozy place, but they have some quite nice
beers.
* Argentine cuisine - ''El Gaucho Sano'' (Pilies St. 10) - meat lovers, please enjoy;)
* Chinese cuisine - there is a big and always growing number of chinese restaurants in the Old town, so you will see
them at once.
* Vegetarian - ''Balti drambliai'' (White Elephants) is a purely vegetarian restaurant and very cozy bar (Vilniaus
St. 41) although you might have to wait about an hour for a beer, so better don't go there if you are in a hurry.
Vegetarians should be also able to find a suitable dish on the menu of almost any restaurant.
* Night time Restaurant with amazing food and relaxing atmosphere [http://www.vanillelounge.lt/en/ "Vanille Lounge"] – is a business class restaurant-bar in the center of Vilnius, in Vilnius street. Its a placewhere business class customers can enjoy the quality of meal, relax and spend pleasant time till late.

In terms of numbers of cafés, Vilnius is not far behind the traditional ‘café culture’ cities of Europe and they can
be found in almost every street of the Old Town, mostly in Trakų, Pilies, Didžioji, Vokiečių, Domininkonų, Savičiaus
streets and Gedimino Prospect. Most popular chain cafés are ''Double Coffee'' and ''Coffee Inn'', but don't expect
to find ''Starbucks Coffee'' here;)