If you see a small “Pag na meniju” (Pag on the Menu) seal on a restaurant door or menu while you’re on the island, it’s worth paying attention — it’s a genuine mark of quality, not just decoration.
What is “Pag na meniju”?
“Pag na meniju” is a local gastronomy standard and branding project run on the island of Pag. It was created to recognise restaurants, taverns, family farms and small hotels that serve genuinely homemade, authentic Pag dishes and drinks — rather than generic tourist-menu food. The idea is simple: help visitors find the real thing, and help small local producers and kitchens get recognised for keeping island traditions alive.
The project’s motto sums up the island’s food identity well: Pag as a place of salt, cheese, lamb, stone and song — “tastes that tell Pag’s stories.”
What’s actually on the menu
Kitchens carrying the “Pag na meniju” standard build their offer around the island’s signature ingredients:
- Pag cheese — the island’s most famous export, made from the milk of sheep that graze on salt-dusted, herb-covered pastures (see our full article on Pag cheese and lamb).
- Pag lamb — milk-fed lamb with a distinctive, delicate flavour shaped by the same pastures.
- Pag salt — still harvested using traditional methods at the historic salt pans (Solana Pag) near Pag town, one of the oldest salt works on the Adriatic.
- Local wine and olive oil — including small-production island wines and olive oil, often from groves like those at Lun.
Gastro Days — the annual food festival
Each year the project culminates in “Gastro Days – Pag na meniju,” a multi-day food festival usually held in Pag town in late April or early May, when participating restaurants and taverns offer tasting menus and promotional prices built around local specialties. Exact dates shift slightly year to year, so check with the Pag Tourist Board for the current year’s programme before you plan a trip around it.
Why it matters if you’re staying in Novalja
Novalja is about a 20-minute drive from Pag town, so it’s an easy day trip if you want to combine a beach day with genuinely local food. And closer to home, when you’re picking a restaurant or konoba around Novalja (see our guide to restaurants and taverns), the “Pag na meniju” seal is a quick, reliable way to spot a kitchen that’s serious about local ingredients rather than a generic tourist menu.