Taverna Labëria - Gjirokaster

Last summer I scouted cities in Albania including Shkodër, Elbasan, Durres, Vlore, Saranda, and Gjirokaster, where I spent several days before bicycling on to Greece. Vlore was my favorite city with the mild coastal climate, great bike paths, and relative much flat land, so I decided to spend December and part of January there. On December 15, 2022 I took a bus to Gjirokaster, spent a night in the Hotel Lunxheria with a view of the castle, and then biked back to Vlore, 130 km or 80 miles. It is primarily downhill and I picked a day with a good tailwind. For my layover I picked Taverna Labëria for dinner. They were welcoming and friendly and communicated well in English, especially their daughter in high school.I am a lamb lover, so I got lamb off the spit, a salad, and an Ivo lemon soda, Albanian made and my choice for a non caffeinated drink. They had the best lamb I had all year. I tried cooking a bit of lamb for Christmas at my apartment in Vlore, but it didn't even come close. I finally got to doing this review today as I recently bought a house in Florida and cooked my first full meal here, lamb of course. I did a good baking it in the oven, and though it is quite good, it couldn't quite match the fresh meat off the spit at Taverna Labëria. It is not luxurious, but I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is more interested in good food and hospitality. As the weather in Florida has already become uncomfortable in mid-May, I having second thought about not having bought an apartment in Vlore instead.

Good, tasty food. Prices are up but still reasonable.

The menu of this tavern is not so big, but if you would like to test the lamb it is the right place. Although it was grilled, not baked, the lamb was juicy and tasty, without bones, from the leg part. The portion was enough for the hungry man. The tavern has a reasonable price.

Solid owner operated restaurant in Gjirokaster. Nice family who runs the place and the young daughter spoke great English and was very friendly. Her father prepared the food and everything was flavorful and delicious, cold beer. We were happy to eat something different after a couple days of the towns traditional food with similar menus. Great sunset view and outdoor seating, a nice walk from center city. Definitely will be back if in the area. Recommend!

Antonio, you 're probably the nicest albanian ever to be born. We arrived at his restaurant speaking in our weird sounding language (portuguese) while desperate for shadow in a very hot summer day. Antonio got to our table with a Ai meu deus! and two bottles of ice cold water, ready to take our order. We had a lovely conversation in portuguese, english and even spanish: the man could do it all. And he also has mad bbq skills, too! The food was great, the glasses of beer were ice frozen, the stories were delightful. Antonio, we hope to see you again!