Drobeta Turnu Severin is a medium-sized city by the Danube and the only place in the area where you can find some really good restaurants and enjoy amazing food – all at Romanian prices (which are pretty cheap by US or Western European Standards). But where to eat good food in the city? We’re going to find out in today’s article, having a local (myself) share the best restaurants in Drobeta Turnu Severin serving amazing food.
Although the city itself is, unfortunately, not an extremely popular tourist destination, it’s located in an amazing spot. Not just that it’s just half an hour away from Serbia, but it’s also the place where you can see the foot of the bridge built by Roman emperor Trajan to cross the Danube, as well as some nice relics from the era.
Recently, they found in the city the remains of a village that was featured on the famed Column of Trajan, which is pretty cool – it’s not often that you get the chance to see well preserved stuff from 2,000 years ago! Plus, you have the medieval castle to visit (an article is coming soon about it!) and a few other attractions as well. You can read more about the city if it sounds good.
Also, around the city are some other popular attractions: like Orsova with it’s impressive sights and the Danube, Decebal’s statue, the thermal resort Baile Herculane and even the renowned Bigar Waterfall.
So, with so many great and touristy places around, Drobeta Turnu Severin remains the best option when it comes to eating amazing food in the area. Even though there are not a lot of restaurants available in the city either – or at least not a lot of places you’d really like to get food from, there are some great spots, as you will see by reading this article.
And since I lived most of my life in Drobeta Turnu Severin, I can definitely share the absolute best picks with you in today’s article. So let’s not waste a single second and let’s check out the best restaurants in Drobeta Turnu Severin!
(This article was updated in 2020, with new and amazing entries listed. Yum!)
Nest
This is the best place in town, in my opinion. It is located close to the city center, but in a quiet area, next to a beautiful park with old trees. You have a small terrace available for those hot summer days, as well as two areas for dining inside. Both are really nice looking, decorated with style and everything about this location is perfect.
That includes the food – the most amazing food you will eat in Drobeta Turnu Severin. While it’s not the best spot for eating traditional Romanian food, you can still eat fish captured in the Danube and try the local mamaliga. Or simply enjoy their selection of international dishes, which are absolutely amazing.
Everything is prepared with the utmost care here (and I am saying this as a personal opinion – I am not receiving any sort of compensation for this!) and you will feel great at Nest. Even more so if you are a wine lover, as they offer an amazing selection of wines.
Even better is the fact that they also offer accommodation, which is also the best in town, in my opinion. A perfect place for your visit, no matter if you plan to just eat good food or spend a few days in the city. You can check out their accommodation rates here.
Also, check out some of their amazing dishes below:
I am also sharing a map below, so you know exactly where to find it (or just click here to see it on Google Maps):
Kripton Club
Located in a central area, it has a small terrace during the summer and a great indoors space available year-long. The place itself looks really good, there are always events like concerts, stand-up comedy shows or something similar during the evenings, themed parties and a lot of options to have great fun.
And the food is absolutely amazing! The presentation is great, the menu offers a ton of choices, from burgers to pizza and pasta, to more complex dishes using all sorts of meats, fish and other goodies. We’ve been here a ton of times and we were extremely satisfied with everything we’ve tried – and we’re still a long way from trying all their tasty options.
The deserts are mouth-watering and yummy too, while the choices when it comes to drinks are virtually unlimited. Best place in town and I am sure the food photos below back up my words:
The place is located centrally, right near the Decebal Mall – but you can check it out on the map below in case you need help getting there – or click this link to see it on Google Maps:
You can also check them out on their official website.
Red’s
This is a new place in town, which opened its doors either in late 2019 or early 2020. It was initially dubbed as an Irish Pub, but now they changed it to British Pub. Either way, the food there is absolutely amazing – and you can even find on their menu some more traditional foods, like the beer knuckles (pock knuckles with sourkrout), a selection of pig meats and cuts and much, much more.
Red’s is also located in a perfect, central area – its biggest disadvantage at the moment of writing this being that it doesn’t have an outdoor terrace. Not a biggie though, since they offer a lot of dishes cooked to perfection and presented beautifull, as well as a nice overall design.
Check out some of the food you can have there:
At the moment of writing this article, the place itself is pretty difficult to find because, well… there’s no sign to mark its existence. Hopefully that will be fixed sooner rather than later, but until then, here’s the map with its location (you can also click to get to Google Maps):
Trattoria Il Calcio
This is a famous chain of restaurants in Bucharest and, strangely, there’s one open in Drobeta too. And it rises up to the expectations, delivering the same high quality food you’d expect to eat in the Bucharest restaurants.
A bit more expensive than others on the list (but still very affordable by Western standards), Trattoria Il Calcio is very stylish and offers Italian-themed dishes. Their pasta is absolutely amazing and I rarely choose anything else on the menu, but there are tons of options available: from salads to steaks and seafood, all the way to a delicious Tiramisu cake that’s a must if you get there.
The restaurant has a huge terrace that’s perfect for the sunny Summer days and the staff is extremely friendly and well trained. Probably the best staff in the city, so the quality of service is always very good.
Located in an easy to reach area, right by the main boulevard of the city leading to Bucharest to one end and Timisoara to the other, Trattoria Il Calcio is a great choice as well, especially if you’re into Italian cuisine. Here it is on the map (click here to check it out directly on Google Maps):
Craft Pizza
This is a place to go for pizza only or some quick, more fast-food types of dishes. Not the easiest one to get to as it’s hidden behind block buildings somewhere in the city, but you do have to try their pizza for one main reason: they add mayonnaise on it!
This place actually started as an internet cafe back in the days and the owners started preparing sandwiches and burgers for the customers who spent their nights there. Then they also started to prepare pizza and, somehow, they decided to add mayonnaise on top of it.
It became an instant hit and you can’t really believe how tasty it is until you try it! Somehow it works. And this is something that’s been copied by other places too – like Kripton, where you can add mayonnaise as well on your pizza, but this is the original.
So, yes, you should definitely give this one a try as well if you stay a little longer in the city and you need extra options. Here’s the map (with the link to it on Google here):
La Pappa
A bit of a hidden gem, something that you will certainly not see in the travel magazines. This is a place where the locals eat and the food is absolutely delicious. It won’t win any awards when it comes to presentation and the whole place – which is very small too – feels more like a self-service restaurant, but the food is delicious. And cheap.
Even better is the fact that everything’s cooked in small batches, so that everything is fresh and just-prepared. You can’t really know what you’ll get until you actually arrive at the counter and order (yes, you have to order your own food).
On many occasions, I got in line and by the time the 3-4 people in front of me had ordered, the food I initially wanted was either gone or new and better options arrived from the kitchen. It’s really cool and if you’re looking for something away off the beaten path and lesser known, but more authentic – this is the place to go. Plus, it’s in a pretty central location, which is always a bonus.
Fun fact: the place’s name – La Pappa (Pappa’s) is a wordplay, actually. The owner is also the cook there. He’s a guy and this is the wordplay: “Papa” is sometimes used in Romania, just like in French and other languages, for Daddy. “Papa” is also a diminutive for food in Romanian. So he combined the two, added an extra P for effect and called the place “La Pappa”.
The place doesn’t even appear listed on Google Maps, but trust me – it’s there! If you check it out the Google Maps link, it will take you to a Postal Office which is the nearest thing to it.
Taverna Sarbului
This one is not really in the city but several kilometers away towards Orsova / Timisoara. It’s best to get there if you have your own ride, but you can also take a taxi there for about $3 (make sure you discuss this with the driver before leaving).
The place offers traditional Serbian cuisine and it’s absolutely delicious. The restaurant itself is by the Danube, so you have nice views while eating. And you should prepare to eat a ton of mean. Not many other options but meat in all forms and shapes – and all of it extremely good.
Check it out on the map (with the direct link here):
Tomis
If you want some Serbian flavor and you’re on the run, you can try the pleskavica in a bun or other fast food options at Tomis. There are actually two of them open in two different areas of the city – one of them being very central, next to the peasant’s market (and the one I always choose when looking for a hearty, tasty pleskavica) and one towards the other end, near the main bazaar.
And if you go there, don’t choose the regular pleskavica, but instead go with a one filled with cheese or bacon and cheese. Try out all the amazing sauces they offer and leave happy. Most likely, you’ll want to return again!
Another place that’s not on the map on Google, but you can still find it here:
I hope that you will really get to enjoy these places if you manage to make it here. It’s worth it, trust me – and not just for the food!
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Hi Calin,
I hope you’re getting a piece of the action for your recommendations!
Maybe you should be a fulltime restaurant critic. Instead of stars, you could
use something like this: https://tse4.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.fpKSxJX8lXW_A7crp7OTPgHaG5&w=239&h=210&c=7&o=5&pid=1.7
How’s the weather in DTS? I know there may be some concern the weather
may impact the wheat harvest.
So, does your government ever totally shut down because the leaders can’t
get their acts together? Such is the reality in the good ol’ USA. Gotta love it;-)
Thanks for sharing your reviews! My arteries are hardening just looking at the pictures–ha, ha!
~Teil
Hello Teil,
I wouldn’t mind giving restaurants those ratings 🙂 I fortunately get the chance to try the ones I have recommended, but one can never have enough 🙂
The weather is warmer than usually and I never heard about the wheat harvest being threatened. I think it’s one of the mildest winters we’ve had in years.
Regarding the government… nobody really knows 🙂 It’s the third prime minister they appoint since getting to power and they will probably keep doing so until they find the right person.. for them.
Everything looks fantastic and l’ll take one of each :-). I did almost throw up at the thought of mayo on a pizza though…yuck! I am guessing that when the bridge reopens and the new Trajan discovery is accessible, the number of people visiting will increase. I know l would love to see it and this food post is begging us to re-visit Romania :-). Il Calcio food looks just as good as the one in Bucharest! Great memories.
I sure hope that more people start visiting the city soon. There is a fair number of reasons for them to do so, food included.
I know that mayo on the pizza sounds disgusting, but they somehow make it work. Probably not that much to those who are used with real Italian cuisine though 🙂 And the food in Il Calcio is indeed really good: you have to come here to compare 🙂
Well, now we have a second reason to visit Drobeta Turnu Severin. In addition to “The Romanian” family living there, it also has some great places to eat! That was all very mouth watering, but I worry about your health. I hope you are getting enough exercise to burn off some of those calories.
I hear things are heating up again in Bucharest where demonstrators are protesting the government’s plans to put the DNA anti-corruption agency under its political control. Is there the same enthusiasm for the demonstrations around Romania that there was back in January of last year?
We’re not eating out that often, so the tasty but unhealthy food isn’t really a problem for us. I do try to pick the healthiest options whenever I have a chance – but those don’t look good in photos haha.
Regarding the protests… it’s not really the same enthusiasm as last year, but it’s still a lot of people who go to protests. However, the time since the previous large scale protests was used by the government to better prepare for everything. They’ve been patient and this time I really doubt that anything else than a miracle will stop them. They received reproaches from the US and EU, but it still didn’t matter to them. Their answer was that the ones sending the reproaches probably didn’t have a good translation of the papers.
I’m starting to know less and less about everything that is happening, though. Every time I listen to the news or listen to them talking or hear about what’s happening, I feel my blood pressure rising and get extremely angry. Most of the things happening in the country right now are illogical and outraging. For that reason, I stopped listening to the news and I really am not 100% up to date. I know it’s not the best approach as this solves nothing and ignorance is not really a bliss… but you do get to a point where you’re simply fed up.
There is a fellow named Calin Bot who has almost single-handedly kept up the protest going all year long. He has his own YouTube channel. He finally seems to be getting some support. Dragnea hopes three is the lucky number as far as Prime Ministers is concerned. The women in his government seem to all be very docile and obedient, so I doubt Ms. Dancila will get delusions of grandeur like Grindeanu and Tudose did. I think the EU needs to get tougher with the Romanian government. No more financial aid if the PSD is adamant in going through with this power grab. Yes, I know the temptation is great to close one’s eyes and ears to the horrific goings-on in parliament, but sometimes demonstrating in public is a good way to let of some frustration and steam. Just try not to get beaten or arrested…
We’ll see how it goes with Ms. Dancila. Before her, both Grindeanu and Tudose were considered his puppets and apparently that wasn’t the case. We’ll see how it goes this time.
I am missing Romania very badly while looking at these pictures. I would definitely choose one of the restaurants the locals eat at. I hope I can make it through this city in one of my trips. I will be in Romania in April but will probably just be in Bucharest and Targoviste.
I am sure you will find a lot of great places to eat there as well. Enjoy your stay in Romania in April!
This is the first time I am hearing about Drobeta Turnu Severin and it really seems like a picturesque and charming place to explore, C.! These restaurants are so nice and lovely. When’s the best time of the year to go there?
It’s a small city, but sometimes they can be quite charming indeed – and this one has even more goodies less than an hour drive-away.
I think it would be best to visit anytime between late April to early October – it’s never too touristy, not even during the summer.
Wow that’s good looking food. I think I gained weight reading this post!
Imagine how it would be if you were here to actually try it!
Many years ago I was in Romania and tasted delicious Romanian food. I hope nothing has changed since then. Everything is still delicious!
I am sure things haven’t changed since. Or if they did, it’s better now. You can come back and see for yourself 🙂
The food still looks as delicious as when you first posted this blog entry. I hope the pandemic hasn’t impacted these businesses too severely. It’s amusing to read some of my comments from years ago. Politics never seems to go out of fashion.
Well, I did remove one from the list and added two new ones, which certainly make things look even more delicious. I know for sure that they are all hurting – most adapted and now offer takeout and home delivery options – but I don’t know how bad it is. Hopefully not too bad, these places are great!
And yes, with politics, it seems to be the same thing over and over again, no matter who’s in charge.