EBG Rating: 7.6/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️
One area of the business in need of a small update, an only competent selection will keep things ticking along, but room for improvement.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
As you enter off the street into a half-step basement, you’ll find casual homely furnishings in a loungey common-room style space.

Darts is played to the left of the entrance and there’s sofa seating by the bar. Lit by lamps and coloured bulbs which also help set the tone. Some interesting furnishings like old wood cabinets, framed artwork and sporting trophies add to the sense.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Atypical for Latvia, yet somehow distinct to Latvia as well, a strange sensation. Casual, homely and cosy too with a family operation.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Food, snacks, darts, limited outdoor seating

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Reasonably fair value for money.

Description:
Fans of pubs, as opposed to bars will probably find themselves scratching around a little bit in Riga to find something that feels homely, cosy and casual like a pub. Other venues achieve this in their own different ways, but certainly aren’t pubs as such.

Established in 2004, Pieci Vilki (Five Wolves – referencing the family ownership!) is one of the closest you will find to a Latvian bar that feels like a pub.

As you enter off the street into a half-step basement, you’ll find casual homely furnishings in a loungey common-room style space.

Darts is played to the left of the entrance and there’s sofa seating by the bar. Lit by lamps and coloured bulbs which also help set the tone. Some interesting furnishings like old wood cabinets, framed artwork and sporting trophies add to the sense.

They offer food but it isn’t necessarily the focus and certainly not in any way obliged, burnishing its pubby credentials further. The shashlik here is well rated.

Pieci Vilki has been around the block longer than most post 2000 bars which shows in its approach. Most venues seem unable to resist pinching British/Irish pub features for inspiration but this one genuinely feels like a Latvian pub, one Riga and the country in general sorely needs many, many more of.

(Added April 2026)