Explore Sarajevo / Hidden Gems / Ćevabdžinica Hodžić
Hidden Gem · Baščaršija · 3 min read
Ćevabdžinica Hodžić
The three-time Golden Crown winner on Pigeon Square. Calmer dining room, slightly more refined plating, the same hand-rolled ćevap as everyone else.
- Established
- 2003 (approximate)
Address
Bravadžiluk 34, Baščaršija
Hours
09:00 to 23:00 daily
Price
10 ćevapi around 12 BAM
Getting there
6 minutes east of the Sebilj on Bravadžiluk, opposite Pigeon Square
Time needed
45 minutes to an hour
Best time
Dinner on a weekday evening
Coordinates
43.8589° N 18.432° E
Navigate
Of the four restaurants most often named when Sarajevans argue about ćevapi — Željo (1968), Nune (1966), Petica Ferhatović (1957), and Hodžić — Hodžić is the youngest. It opened in the early 2000s, on Bravadžiluk a few doors down from Mrkva, opposite Pigeon Square. It is also, by some measures, the most awarded.
The Golden Crowns
The Zlatna Kruna restorana (“Golden Crown of restaurants”) is a Bosnian dining-industry award given annually by the country’s restaurant guild. Hodžić has won it three times. None of the older ćevabdžinicas have won it more than once. The interpretation in the trade is straightforward: the older houses won when they were the institutions; Hodžić won when it became one too.
The recipe is the same broad outline as the others — hand-rolled minced beef, rested overnight, grilled over charcoal, served in fresh somun with onion and kajmak. The difference, by most accounts, is in the kajmak. Hodžić sources its kajmak from a single dairy the family has used since opening, and the consistency from plate to plate is unusually good. The somun bread is also baked on-site, in small batches, throughout the service. Bread that has waited fifteen minutes is not served.
The dining room
The space sits across the street from the small square where pigeons gather around the bazaar’s secondary fountain. Inside, the ground floor is a typical Bosnian ćevabdžinica: tiled walls, an open grill, communal tables. A second dining room upstairs is more residential in feel — wooden tables, slightly softer lighting, room for groups. If the ground floor is full, ask whether the upstairs is open. It usually is.
The room is noticeably calmer than Željo, which is a real advantage if you want to actually talk during the meal. Service is the friendliest of the four — staff are happy to explain dishes, suggest portion sizes, or recommend a wine.
Order, briefly
Standard ćevapi orders work the same way as everywhere else in the bazaar:
- Ten ćevapi, two somuns, onion, kajmak.
- A cold yoghurt in a glass, or a glass of boza in summer.
- Bill around 13 to 16 BAM per person. Cards accepted, cash preferred.
Hodžić also has a slightly broader menu than the others — grilled veal, lamb, mixed grill plates, a few traditional Bosnian starters, and a small but careful list of local wines. If you want to make a longer dinner of it, this is the address.
When to come
For a casual lunch in the middle of a bazaar wander, Željo and Petica are faster and easier. For a proper dinner — sit-down, a glass of wine, an hour at the table — Hodžić is the right room. Weekday evenings around 19:30 are the calmest. Weekend evenings fill up.
Group bookings work; the phone number above takes reservations. Solo travellers are welcome — the bar seating along the open grill is interesting because you can watch the rolling.
If you only eat ćevapi once in Sarajevo, eat them somewhere else. If you eat them three times, the third meal probably belongs here.
Sources & further reading
Keep wandering
Nearby & related
See on the map →
Ph: Bjoertvedt · CC BY-SA 3.0
Baščaršija
Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque
The most important Ottoman mosque in the Balkans, built in 1531 at the centre of Baščaršija by the Ottoman governor Gazi Husrev-beg. Active, generous, open to visitors. Designed by a Persian architect, paid for by an Ottoman ruler who left his entire fortune to the city.
Open the destination
Ph: Jennifer Boyer · CC BY 2.0
Baščaršija
Morića Han
A 16th-century Ottoman caravanserai on Sarači, the spine street of Baščaršija. Now home to one of the oldest active coffeehouses in Sarajevo. Slow coffee in a courtyard that once hosted 300 travellers and 70 horses.
Open the destination
Ph: Desemeus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Hrid / south bank
Ashkenazi Synagogue
Sarajevo's working synagogue, built in 1902 in pseudo-Moorish style by the Austro-Hungarian administration for the Jewish community that had grown rapidly after 1878. Survived the Holocaust as a building, if not as a community. Still active. Friendly to visitors.
Open the destination