12 places to eat and drink in Valletta

In July 2025 I was lucky enough to visit Valletta for a second time (albeit six years later) and saving places to eat and drink was high on the agenda (and the Google Map pins). Recently, I’ve loved taking food tours when I visit places as they’re such a great way to combine history and taste buds. Learning more about the city you’re in as well as the culture of food and drink that exists there. It’s also a good way to get to know where you could then eat for other stops on your trip.

The challenge with a weekend break is that you have more locations tagged that you want to visit than there are enough meal times in the day and so many cafes that you’d spend the whole weekend with caffeine jitters if you visited them all! So this is a round up of 12 places that I’ve been to across two separate trips to Valletta (plenty of which have been around on both occasions which is always a good sign). Plus some honorable mentions at the end of some other places I would have liked to try but didn’t have enough meals to do so. I hope you find this guide useful and that it gives you some foodie inspiration for your trip to Valletta.

Top Tip – Booking Activities & Tours

My favourite app for booking tours, adventures and plenty of fun is Get Your Guide. There are so many epic memories that you can choose to make from food tours to entry tickets, laidback wine tasting to adrenaline filled adventures. Make sure you use my discount code CATTHOMSON5 for 5% off your first booking when you download the app as a new user 👇

Get Your Guide App

1. Lot 61

First up on my list is Lot 61 which was the first pin I added for my second Valletta visit. Lot 61 was in its current location back in 2019 on my first holiday and I have fond memories of the excellent coffee and melty chocolate croissant. It’s legacy has remained strong with me as a photo from here has been my blog / Insta photo as well for the last six years. It was fab to find it still open and they do one of the best Flat Whites that you’ll find in the Maltese capital. And the latte work is also fabulous. If you have time, it’s a lovely little spot to sit in with your coffee and take a break from exploring.

2. 1522 a food story

One of my favourite things about Valletta culture is the outdoor dining culture, specifically on the steep stairs that you’ll find particularly on the Three Cities harbour side of Valletta. There’s something rather magical about these staircases being filled with diners and couples with fairy lights overhead to add to the ambience. When I was trying to decide which ‘stairs’ restaurant to visit, I came across 1522 a food story as they have an impeccable Google Stars rating which felt like a must. They specialise in pinsas which are a type of Roman flatbread with delicious, fresh ingredients to top them off. Honestly, it was hard to choose which set of ingredients to opt for but in the end the call of a burrata was strong 😉 The staff are lovely, the prices very reasonable and the food tasty so it’s not hard to see why the stars are full here.

3. Bridge Bar

Another place that I was keen to revisit was the iconic Bridge Bar. It’s definitely a Valletta institution at this point and again, all of the tables are out on the street and on the staircases making it a unique drinking hole. My memory of Bridge Bar’s menu is that it was very limited so I was interested to see that it’s not as limited as I remember with plenty of choices and some food platters to graze on as well. Friday evening is the best time to visit because there is live Jazz music (generally starting at 7pm I believe) which gives a wonderfully chill ambience to an evening underneath the Maltese sky.

4. Nenu the Artisan Baker

When I visited Valletta with a friend in 2019, we spotted Nenu the Artisan Baker whilst exploring the city and made a reservation for the following evening (they were fully booked already that night). Nenu is a traditional Maltese restaurant so if you want to try iconic Maltese dishes or ones in which a contemporary twist is brought to classic favourites then this is one to add. Here, the ftira is made to become like a Maltese version of pizza filled with local toppings. If you want to try something else you’ll find the classic rabbit stew as well as Maltese fish soup to start and octopus. But I’ve definitely remembered that ftira (pictured above) and the Maltese wine ever since!

5. Tal-Kafe’

Tal-Kafe’ is attached to the legendary Tal-Hwawar spice shop in Valletta and this addition serves speciality coffee in a relaxed and atmospheric building. I was going to go for my classic flat white but the hot weather and a change of mind on reading the menu led me to an iced honey and cinnamon latte. Very unusual for me but it sounded pretty good! And it was, the sweet honey took out some of the power of the cinnamon and added some of that spice shop history into my coffee. It looked lovely to sit to enjoy a break or take your drink to go and keep exploring the city.

6. Grano

Grano is known for its sandwiches and its Insta page claims it’s the ‘best sandwich bar in Malta’. We tried a traditional tuna fish ftira sandwich which was yummy. They have plenty of fresh ingredients and the sandwiches are packed full of flavour so it’s no wonder that it’s popular. The tables in the street all have chairs pointing down towards the harbour so it’s an interesting spot to stop and do a bit of people watching whilst you enjoy your lunch.

Top Tip – Data Roaming
If you’re visiting Malta from overseas then getting online with an eSIM from Holafly is such a game changer. No swapping SIMs. No complicated data roaming. Lots of choice. If your phone is compatible, just download the eSIM and get going!

Holafly

7. Cafe Jubilee

Cafe Jubilee was the final stop on our food tour (if you’re interested I booked this one with Get Your Guide) and the menu is full of Maltese food for a lunch or dinner of new flavours. It struck me when we entered that there were lots of people that looked local (elderly people enjoying coffee and soup, businessmen conducting a meeting) which is always a good sign. Valletta is somewhere that has become very geared towards tourists so there are less and less cafes and restaurants that are very much the everyday places.

Cafe Jubilee in Valletta opened in 2000 but it’s decor is reminiscent of the 20s and 30s so does feel like a bit of a step back in time and gives it a old timey feel. Sometimes I do have to remember that 2000 is twenty five years ago and is starting to become a bit old timey…! Try a Maltese platter with sheep’s milk cheeselet, local olives, capers and Bigilla dip with Maltese bread. For a main, I can say the ravioli was delicious and everyone that tasted the rabbit said similarly that their meal was excellent.

8. Cafe Society

I stopped for a drink at Cafe Society in 2019 and was pleased to see it was still open on my latest visit to Valletta in 2025. This is a fun and quirky bar located on one of the most photographed sets of stairs in the city and it’s another one which has a chill but buzzing atmosphere where you can either sit inside or enjoy the warm evening out on the steps.

9. Coffee Circus Lisboa

If you’ve read any of my blog posts before or perhaps even just reading through this one and finding a lot of caffeine, you’ll have worked out that I love a coffee. Finding the best coffee spots in a city usually takes me a good hour or so of trawling through Google Reviews, Pinterest Posts and Coffee Blogs but admittedly, there’s only so much caffeine I can actually drink before feeling like I may be losing a grip on reality so it’s impossible to try them all!

I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover but I definitely judge a coffee shop on its coffee pictures (and its cups…) so Coffee Circus Lisboa stood out with some good looking lattes. The coffee is speciality beans and locally roasted in Malta so it’s rather good and they do have a couple of outlets in Valletta as well as some more around Malta. Coffee Circus Lisboa is an underground spot which I have to was very hot so it was an iced flat white to go for me but I also had to grab a cheeky pastel de nata because I had a bit of a craving for them! I know this isn’t Portugal but sometimes you just fancy one and these were very tasty.

10. De Bono Coffee Shop

De Bono Coffee Shop is a very unassuming, not quite hole-in-the-wall which seems to be part cafe and part newsagents. We were on the hunt for cake after dinner and spotted some excellent looking cheesecake on the counter here. It tasted as good as it looked and found later that this funny little spot has actually got some amazing reviews so if you’re in need of a sweet treat pick me up, this is definitely the place to go. Plus, it looks as though we should have tried an iced pistachio latte because the photos reviews I’ve just looked at look delicious 😋

11. Pastaus

You know when you’re getting hangry and can’t work out where to go? Well that was the feeling before getting to Pastaus. Admittedly, from the interior, I was concerned it was a little more for children and families rather than a more romantic / upmarket meal I was looking forward to but it was a Saturday evening and it was approaching way past dinner time with lots of full places so we stopped here. Luckily, there was space outside which removed some of the family vibe I’d felt inside and Pastaus was a recommendation from ChatGPT to say that it was loved by locals and tourists alike.

Why is it on this list? Well, it’s actually rather genius. If you’re a pasta fan then it’s one to add to your Valletta itinerary because essentially you can mix and match your ideal pasta dish with fresh pasta and sauces. There is a large list of pasta sauces to choose from including Beef Ragu, Four Cheese & Nduja, Basil Pesto, Cacio & Pepe to name a few and then you also get to choose the type of pasta you would like from spaghetti to rigatoni to gemelli. It’s a fun experience and it was very tasty. Plus the wine was also crisp and refreshing after a hot day exploring the city.

12. Pastizzi

The last item on this list is admittedly something you have to eat as opposed to somewhere to eat or drink but it is something I have to recommend as they’re so traditionally Maltese. In Valletta, the place that comes up most to taste these yummy pastry parcels is Jeff’s Pastizzeria but sadly it’s closed on a Sunday which is when I was seeking them out. We tried some on our food tour and given information about them. They’re a great lunchtime snack when you’re after something on the go and the two iconic fillings being cheese and mushy peas. The cheese pastizzi uses melty ricotta cheese whilst a peas version with some curry flavouring is excellent. Make sure to seek some out on your trip. If you enjoy a food tour where you can learn more about the history of food in Malta as well as more general history then this food tour is epic!

For more Valletta inspiration, make sure to take a look at my other guides:

Cat x

Flying Scots Girl

Cat Thomson