About the restaurant
A restaurant on the rock at Karlobag
Restaurant Pizzeria OK Karlobag is a seaside restaurant and pizzeria at Augusta Šenoe 2, with its tables on the shore under the pines.
What this place is
Restaurant Pizzeria OK Karlobag is a seaside restaurant and pizzeria in the town of Karlobag, in Lika-Senj County. The address is Augusta Šenoe 2, 53288 Karlobag, and the tables stand on a rock and gravel apron directly at the water, under mature pine trees. Guests eat outdoors, a few steps from the sea, looking across the Velebit channel at the bare karst ridge of the island of Pag.
The furniture is plain: bare wooden tables and dark rattan chairs. There are no tablecloths and no ceremony. What the place offers instead is the position, the fire and the size of the portions. People come down in swimming things at midday and come back in the evening for a longer meal, and both are normal. Dine in, sit outside, or take food away. Nobody will hurry you off the table.
The kitchen covers two things at once. On one side, the sea: grilled squid, octopus salad, fish soup, whole grilled white fish, shellfish, risotto and pasta. On the other, the grill and the pizza oven, for people who would rather have čevapčići, small grilled minced-meat rolls, a mixed platter or a pizza. A mixed table is easy to feed here, which is why families and groups keep arriving.
The town, the mountain and the channel
Karlobag is a town on the Adriatic coast in Lika-Senj County, at the foot of Velebit and facing the island of Pag. It is small: the municipality recorded 780 residents at the 2021 census, and the town proper 368. The town was rebuilt in 1579 by Archduke Charles and takes its name from him. It is a working coastal town rather than a holiday development, and it looks like one.
Velebit rises immediately behind the houses. It is the largest mountain range in Croatia, about 145 kilometres long, and it is protected as a nature park. The Oštarijska vrata pass, at 928 metres, carries the road from Karlobag over the ridge to Gospić on the inland side. Walkers and drivers coming over that pass arrive at the coast very suddenly, with the whole channel opening up below them.
In front of the town is the Velebit channel, and beyond it the island of Pag, whose seaward side is bare white karst with almost no trees. The light on that ridge changes through the day and is at its best in the late afternoon. From a table at the restaurant you have the mountain behind you and the island in front, which is the reason most people remember the meal.
The setting in pictures
These photographs show Karlobag, Velebit and the channel toward Pag, not the restaurant's own rooms.
Who eats here
Families with children
There is a children's menu, and pizza and čevapčići, small grilled minced-meat rolls, keep most younger guests happy. Tables are outdoors and the sea is close, so children need watching, but nobody minds noise here.
Groups
Large platters and generous portions suit a group better than individual plates. Ring ahead if there are more than a few of you, because the tables at the water fill up first on summer evenings.
Motorcyclists and cyclists
Riders coming over the Oštarijska vrata pass stop here often. Motorcycles park directly in front of the restaurant, which cars cannot do. Coffee, a cold drink and a full plate are all available at any hour of the day.
Guests with dogs
Dogs are allowed both inside and outside, so a dog can sit under the table with you at the water. Bring water for a hot day, since the terrace is stone and gravel with shade from the pines.
What this site does not claim
There are no prices on this site. Prices are set in the restaurant and change with the season and the catch, so publishing a number here would only mislead you. There is also no printed menu presented as current. What you will find is an accurate description of the kind of food that is cooked and the way it is served, which is the part that does not change.
The photographs here show Karlobag, Velebit and the sea. None of them is presented as a picture of the restaurant's own rooms or tables. The opening hours are the ones publicly listed, and they have not been confirmed by the restaurant, so treat them as a guide and ring 095 365 6633 to check. Everything else on this site is a fact we could verify.
Come and see it for yourself
The best way to plan a visit is a short telephone call, and the arrival notes are worth reading before you drive down.