You will find all types of eateries, from cafeterias to five-star restaurants with prices much lower than what you would expect. A la carte is the standard method of ordering-meaning the main course, rice, potatoes. bread and the garnish (obloha), are all ordered sepatately.
Most menus will have at least a couple of choices of beef, pork and poultry: turkey breast, either as a schnitzel or a saute may be as common as chicken. Fish is also on many menus: trout, usually served whole, and carp are local standardst usually file is from frozen fish. In most restaurants the menu prize for fish covers the first 100 grams, with each additionnal grams costing extra according to the weight of the portion.
As for foreign cuisine, Hungarian and Italian are the most common varieties. Every town has at least one pizza place, often run by immigrants from the former Yugoslavia. Chinese food is starting to catch on, with restaurants in the larger cities.

Slovak Specialities
Typical Slovak food is not exactly light and healthy: fried cheese (vyprážaný syr) served with French fries and tartar sauce is a standard on menus. A more healthy alternative is roast chicken (vypražané kura), served with (varené) or roasted potatoes (opekané zemiaky).
Don't miss the national dish: bryndzové halušky (noodles with sheep cheese), potato dumplings with a sauce of sheep's cheese and bacon fat. In the country you will find the best bryndzové halušky at a unique dining place called „salaš“, modelled after a shepherd's hut. Traditional are also thick potato pancakes („zemiakové placky“) stuffed with a spicy park saut; fried cottlet („vyprážaný rezeň“) or breaded schnitzel, usually pork as well, and „guláš“ (goulash) often served with „knedliky“, a sort of steamed bread that soaks up the sauce. A twist on the typical goulash is segedinsky guláš, which is a spicy concotion that includes loads of sauerkraut and caraway seeds.

Soups
The soups are hearty and good: „kapustnica“, a slow cooked soup of sauerkraut and smoked meat often dolloped with sour cream, and thick bean soup with sausage (fazuľová polievka) are traditional.

Salads
Salads tend to consist mostly of tomatoes and cucumbers in the summer and pickled cabbage in the winter: mean alt is the best hope for a standard salad, and lettuce-lovers can find salvation in hlávkový šalát, many times delightfully served in sweetened water.

Desserts
„Palacinky“ or crepes, filled with chocolate or jam and topped with cream are the standard for dessert, but at many places you'll also find „strudla“, like an apple strudel, „kremee“, similar to a neapolitan, or „ovocne rezy“, a fruit cake covered with gelatin. For sweets or a snack, visit a cukraren, which offers a tempting array of cakes and pastries. Ice cream (zmrzlina) is very popular. Shops serve creamy, sweet ice cream in cones: the scoops are tiny, and most Slovaks mix and match several flavors.

Fast food
For fast lunch look for „lahôdky“, which usually serves several mayonnaise-based salads, open-faced sandwiches and a variety of hot food, such as roast chicken, sausages and fried cheese. Stands with take-away food: closed sandwiches, hot dogs, „langoš“ a fried dough sprinkled with garlic or cheese, are everywhere.

Vegetarians
Vegetarians will have to look hard for variety. The ubiquitous fried cheese, mushrooms (šampióny), cauliflower (karfiol), or broccoli may be the only options. There are a few vegetarian restaurants springing up, especially in larger cities.

Coffee
Coffee is served in a „kaviaren“. The standard is thick, strong Turkish coffee (turecka kava) with the grounds still at the bottom. Other options are espresso (presso), served either with milk (s mliekom) or without. Cappuccino, Viennese coffee with cream (Viedenska kava), and hot chocolate (varena cokolada), Tea (caj), including black tea (cierny caj) and fruit tea (ovocny caj), is usually served with lemon rather than milk and is readily available.

Alcohol
Liquor „Slivovica“, a traditional plum brandy, homemade „Borovicka“, a gin-like concoction made of juniper berries and „Becherovka“, a medicinal, herbal based liqueur are the most favorite shooters.

Beer and wine
Slovakia may not have the Czech Republic reputation for its beer, but some are superb. The favorite beers are Zlaty Bazant (Golden Pheasant ) and Corgon- owned by the Dutch brewery Heineken).
Slovakia has several wine-growing regions: western Slovakia produces dry whites and reds. Some of the best whites are Rulandsky biele. Rizling Rýnsky or Veltlinske zelene, Limbasský Silvan, while some tasty reds are Frankovka , Cabernet Souvignon and Blue Portugal. A strong and often sweet white wine, called Tokaj, comes from the southeast.

Tipping
Waiters in Slovakia don't depend heavily on tips to make their money, and it often shows. The standard advice for tipping is to round up, usually about 5-10% of the total bill. But more if you're especially pleased with the service.