Best Restaurants in Maribor

Maribor is Slovenia's second city and its quietest culinary surprise. The Drava river runs through the historic centre, the Pohorje massif rises directly to the south, and the medieval Lent quarter on the river bank holds the Stara Trta — the world's oldest cultivated grapevine, planted around 1450 and still producing about thirty kilos of fruit each year. Around that vine has grown a serious wine and food culture: in 2020 Slovenia received its first Michelin Guide and Maribor's Mak immediately became a point of reference; the rest of the city has been raising its game in response.

The pantry is Styrian-pannonian: pumpkin-seed oil, river fish from the Drava, lamb and game from the Pohorje, the iconic Slovenian sausages and prepared meats, foraged mushrooms in autumn, plums and pears from the Štajerska orchards. The wine country immediately south and east of the city — Štajerska, Halloze, Slovenske Gorice — produces world-class Sauvignon Blanc, Furmint (here called Šipon) and Welschriesling. The serious kitchens cook this larder with technique borrowed from Vienna and Copenhagen; the wine programmes lean into the surrounding hills with confidence.

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