What to Eat in Riga (A Practical Latvian Food Primer)

A Riga trip doesn’t need a long culinary syllabus. Try a few local-leaning staples, and repeat what you like.

If you’re unsure what something is, ask for the most popular local item at that stall — that single question is usually better than trying to decode a menu while hungry.

And if you find something you love, repeat it. The best food trips aren’t about maximizing variety — they’re about having two or three things that become ‘your Riga ritual’.

Latvian cooking is honest, seasonal and built around what grows and keeps in a cold northern climate: rye, dairy, pork, fish, root vegetables, berries and mushrooms. It isn’t fussy food, and that’s the appeal. Here are the staples that show up again and again, so a Latvian menu stops looking like a wall of consonants.

Rye bread (rupjmaize) is the foundation of the cuisine — a dense, dark, slightly sour sourdough that turns up at breakfast, alongside soups, and even in dessert. If you try only one thing, try this.

Grey peas with bacon (pelēkie zirņi ar speķi) is the dish most often called Latvia’s national dish: hearty grey peas cooked tender and tossed with fried smoked bacon and onion. It’s comfort food, and it’s especially tied to Christmas and winter.

Sklandrausis is a sweet-savoury open tart with a rye-flour crust filled with mashed potato and carrot, seasoned with caraway and a little sugar. It comes from the Livonian coastal region and carries EU protected-heritage status, so it’s as authentically Latvian as a pastry gets.

Smoked fish is a Baltic-coast signature — look for it at the Central Market’s fish pavilion. Round out the list with pīrāgi and speķrauši (small bacon-and-onion pastries), caraway cheeses, beetroot soup, and dark rye desserts like rye-bread pudding with cream.

No Latvian food primer is complete without Rīgas Melnais balzams — Riga Black Balsam. It’s a dark, bitter herbal liqueur whose recipe dates to 1752, made from a guarded blend of two dozen botanicals (herbs, roots, berries and spices) and bottled at a serious strength — the classic is 45% ABV, so treat it with respect. Try a small measure neat, in coffee, or in a cocktail; many people find the blackcurrant version an easier first sip.

For something gentle and non-alcoholic, look for kvass — a lightly fizzy, low-or-no-alcohol drink fermented from rye bread. It’s the everyday summer refresher and pairs naturally with the rye-heavy food.

Riga also has a genuine specialty-coffee scene. A wave of local roasteries has grown over the last decade, so a good flat white or pour-over is easy to find — the city takes its coffee as seriously as its rye bread. We keep café names qualitative here because openings and hours change; a quick search nearer the time will point you to what's currently good.

Latvian food is seasonal in a way that’s easy to taste. Summer brings berries, fresh herbs, new potatoes and chilled soups like cold beetroot soup (a vivid pink bowl that surprises first-timers). Autumn is mushroom and root-vegetable season, when foraging is a genuine cultural pastime. Winter leans into the warming classics — grey peas, sauerkraut, roasts and dense rye — which is exactly when a cosy sit-down meal feels best.

If you’re vegetarian, you can eat well, but it takes a little intention: the traditional canon is pork- and fish-heavy, so the easiest wins are dairy, rye bread, potato dishes, pickles and the produce halls of the market. Most modern Riga restaurants and cafés handle dietary needs comfortably — just ask.

You don’t need a research project to find good Latvian food in Riga. The Central Market is the easiest tasting ground — its halls and food stalls let you sample rye bread, smoked fish, cheese and pastries in one walk. For a sit-down meal, traditional Latvian restaurants cluster in and around the Old Town, and a number of self-service ‘canteen-style’ spots serve home-style classics like grey peas, soups and roasts at low prices and fast pace.

For the freshest, most local feel, follow the food rather than the address: bakeries for rye and pastries, the market for cheese and fish, and a cosy café for the sweet finish. Because specific venues open, close and change hours, we keep names qualitative here — a quick search nearer the time will turn up what's currently good.

Grey peas with bacon (pelēkie zirņi ar speķi) is widely regarded as Latvia’s national dish — slow-cooked grey peas with fried smoked bacon and onion. It’s a winter and Christmas staple, and you’ll find it on many traditional menus year-round.

Try Riga Black Balsam, the city’s signature herbal liqueur, in a small measure or in a cocktail — it’s strong and bitter, so start gentle. For something non-alcoholic, kvass is the traditional fermented-rye refresher, and the local specialty-coffee scene is excellent if you just want a very good flat white.