Europe's Best Places to Eat Like a Local

By Travel + Leisure and Travel + Leisure Staff
March 27, 2014
Credit: Carol Sachs
People didn’t used to plan a trip to London just for its food, but ask any well-heeled foodie traveler—or, for that matter, a well-fed local—and you’ll discover a world of dry-aged Galloway beef, farmhouse cheeses, and charred leeks with duck eggs .

Over in Amsterdam, locals know that the best Dutch pannenkoeken (larger and thinner than American flapjacks) are served at Pancake Bakery. And in Barcelona, the huevos estrellados (eggs over fries) at Bar Velódromo draw in diners until the wee hours of the morning.

Related: 13 Affordable Trips to Europe

To find Europe’s best regional dishes, we asked our staffers and contributors to eat their way across the continent for Travel + Leisure’s annual Best Places to Eat Like a Local. Here we have an insider’s guide to authentic deliciousness—from woefully underrated Hungarian wine in Budapest, to Osteria Bancogiro’s Grand Canal views from your table in Venice, to the best hot chocolate in Paris. If you weren’t hungry already, you will be now. —Lyndsey Matthews

Restaurant Pricing Key
$Less than $25
$$$25 to $75
$$$$75 to $150s
$$$$More than $150

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Il Pirata, Praiano, Italy

Credit: Simon Watson

Antonio Sersale, owner of Positano’s Le Sirenuse hotel, swears by the sea-urchin linguine at this Amalfi Coast idyll, where a sun-drenched terrace is built into rocks above a glittering cove. Via Terramare. $$$

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Orlando di Castello, Vienna

Credit: Natascha Dimovic

What’s drawing creative types to this eye-catching, white-on-white café? Perfect poached eggs on dense walnut toast and beautifully served Viennese Melanges (espressos with milk)—some of the city’s best. 1 Freyung. $$

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Gelateria Millennium, Rome

Credit: Gelateria Millennium

Located just outside the Vatican, this husband-and-wife operation is known for its funky range of flavors (such as mascarpone pear and persimmon). 2/A Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie.

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Lauras Bakery, Copenhagen

Credit: Courtesy of Laura's Bakery

In a land obsessed with morning pastries (Danish, anyone?), Lauras takes the cake. Expect rows of kanelsnegle (intensely spiced cinnamon rolls) and Pop-Tart-like hindbærsnitters, all in the culinary mecca that is Torvehallerne Market. 17 Linnesgade. $

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Spit & Roast, London

Credit: Grant T. on Yelp

Two young chefs have turned a 2006 Ford Transit van into the roving rotisserie Spit & Roast, whose free-range Suffolk chickens are now a cult sensation.

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Le Coq Rico, Paris

Credit: Courtesy of Le Coq Rico

Heirloom chickens and game birds are the specialty at Le Coq Rico, in Paris’s boho Abbesses quarter.

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Bar del Fico, Rome

Credit: Danilo Scarpati

At this modern restaurant in the Parione quarter, nattily dressed Romans hold court over salumi, mini-pizzas, and terrific cocktails. 26 Piazza del Fico. $$

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Borkonyha Wine Kitchen, Budapest

Credit: Lily Idov

A fashionable bistro dedicated to Hungary’s woefully underrated wines. Late nights draw well-heeled locals for sautéed duck liver and freshwater trout with dill. 3 Sas Utca. $$$

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Osteria Bancogiro, Venice

Credit: Simon Watson

Request a Grand Canal–facing table and order gnocchi with scallops and porcini. 122 San Polo. $$

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Angelina, Paris

Credit: Deborah Lynn Guber

Skip breakfast—hell, skip lunch—and save every calorie for the decadently thick, not-too-sweet hot chocolate at this ornate 1903 teahouse, an erstwhile haunt of Coco Chanel. $$$

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Pancake Bakery, Amsterdam

Credit: Kiat Wei Ng (blakeyluvsu on Instagram)

Bacon-, cheese-, or apple-topped pannenkoeken (larger and thinner than American flapjacks) are the items to order at this intimate canal-side space. 191 Prinsengracht. $$

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Bar Velodromo, Barcelona

Credit: Adriana Lopez Sanfeliu

The sprawling Art Deco interior of this 1933 landmark is as inviting in the madrugada (late at night) as it is during the day. Why wait for breakfast to order huevos estrellados (eggs over fries)? $$

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Van Kahvalti Evi, Istanbul

Credit: David Hagerman

At this cozy spot in the Cihangir district, breakfast spreads come loaded with sesame bread, white clouds of kaymak (clotted cream), and briny, herb-flecked cheese. Add a skillet of sizzling soujuk sausage, and you’re set until dinner. 52A Defterdar Yokuşu; 90-212/293-6437. $

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Clove Club, London

Credit: Carol Sachs

Inside the Shoreditch town hall, the Clove Club (from rising star Isaac McHale) goes Noma-esque with small bites of locavore esoterica, such as gull’s eggs with lovage. $$$$

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By Travel + Leisure and Travel + Leisure Staff