7 Best Restaurants in Excursions North of Zagreb, Zagreb and Environs

Visiting this rustic tavern is like stepping into a friend's home, although your friend's home is unlikely to have a stuffed fawn and a pair of kuna, the former national currency's namesake, on the wall. Local farmers supply all produce used here, and the menu features typical Zagorje dishes such as purica s mlincima (turkey with savory pastries). As a side note, the use of the kuna (Croatia's currency before it switched to the euro in 2023) dates back from when the fur of this large, weasel-like creature was in fact a currency. 

Located in the heart of Međimurje County, in picturesque Lopatinec, 6 km (4 miles) from Čakovec, Međimurski dvori has been known across the region for top gastronomic offerings and friendly professional staff for years. In 2022 the owners swapped out their restaurant for a catering company, but each Sunday, they host a cheerful open-to-the-public Međimurje Meal (Međimurski Obed), a buffet-style lunch with long community tables, available by advance reservation. The menu includes delicacies like roast turkey and pork, homemade pasta, and regional desserts. Otherwise, the company offers first-class traditional cuisine for private groups (including tourists; eight people minimum) on their bucolic "Fairy-Tale Forest" estate. 

A five-minute walk from the center of town, Angelus is best known for decent pizza but has a huge menu with plenty of pastas and other meatier fare, not to mention a half-dozen creative salads and lots of beer.

Guests looking to unplug in a rural setting away from city life can head 15 minutes northwest of Kumrovec or eight minutes southwest of Veliki Tabor to Sumak, where the loudest noises aren't caused by freeways or crowds of people - but by frogs. This serene restaurant-slash-mini-villa sits in a traditional house with dark wooden shutters and elements surrounded by well-landscaped gardens, including a fish pond covered by a small bridge, among which classic lunch, dinner, coffee, and drinks are served. The owners will happily point visitors to local attractions, depending on their interests.

On the road between Zagreb and Sljeme, this restaurant is renowned for game and traditional Zagreb dishes and desserts. The wine list is excellent, and the interior design is marked by trophies, hunting weapons, old paintings, and big chandeliers. Stari Puntijar is adjacent to a hotel, and both are run by the Puntijar family.

In the village of Železna Gora, some 5 km (3 miles) south of Štrigova along a country road to Čakovec, stands one of the area's best restaurants, where you can dine on everything from poultry to pork to wild game to seafood. The restaurant is in a lovely 19th-century country villa with wood-beam ceilings. A spacious terrace overlooks the area's sweeping vineyards, and on a breezy day you'll hear the clackety-clack of the windmill just outside.

This combined restaurant, winery, and villa is a 15-minute drive south of Krapina and offers wine tastings, traditional Zagorje food (duck with mlinci, anyone?), and unbeatable views of the vineyard-carpeted hills. A straw-covered terrace, open hearth, and classic dark wooden elements complete the ambience, and there's also a "picnic bar" where visitors can recline on the grass in lawn chairs as they sip on house-made wine. For those who want to extend a stay, the property has some airy apartments simply decorated in the alpine Zagorje style (one has an outdoor hot tub), and a pool area is available as well.