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Sarajevo — where to eat, from ćevapi counters to hilltop lamb

Four ćevapi grills on Bravadžiluk, three hilltop restaurants with valley views, a French-trained bakery, and a Viennese café inside the oldest hotel. The full eating map, with prices in BAM.

By Nedim Hadzimahmutovic · Sarajevo

Sarajevo eats well at every price. The city has a clear food geography: ćevapi grills on Bravadžiluk in Baščaršija, traditional Bosnian home-cooking in the residential mahalas above the bazaar, hilltop restaurants on the northern slopes, bakeries everywhere, and a small cluster of polished restaurants in the Ferhadija–Marijin Dvor grid. Here is the full map.

Ćevapi — the first meal

Four grills on Bravadžiluk (the old locksmiths’ street, now the ćevapi street) serve the canonical Sarajevo ćevapi — ten grilled minced-meat fingers in a fresh somun flatbread with raw onion and kajmak cream. This is the meal most visitors eat on their first day. The full breakdown is in our ćevapi shortlist; the summary:

  • Željo, Kundurdžiluk 19. The most famous name. Two locations, the original and the annex. 10 ćevapi ~10–12 BAM.
  • Petica Ferhatović, Bravadžiluk 21. The locals’ choice on weekday mornings. 10 ćevapi ~10–12 BAM.
  • Hodžić, Bravadžiluk 34. Quieter, slightly larger portions. ~12 BAM.
  • Mrkva, Bravadžiluk 13. The newest of the four, smallest room. ~11 BAM.

All four are open from roughly 08:00 to 22:00. All are cash only. The correct order at any of them: pola somuna sa deset (half-somun with ten ćevapi) plus onion plus kajmak. If you can’t pronounce it, point at the grill and hold up ten fingers. They have seen this before.

Traditional Bosnian — the slow meal

Three restaurants on the residential slopes above the bazaar serve the traditional Bosnian home-cooking register — dolma, sarma, klepe, begova čorba, slow-roasted lamb, pita from the wood oven. These are the meals that take two hours and sound like somebody’s grandmother is in the kitchen. She might be.

  • Kibe Mahala, Vrbanjuša 164. Middle altitude, broadest view. Mains 22–40 BAM; three courses 50–90 BAM. The one locals bring visiting family to.
  • 7 Šuma — kod Minje, Sedrenik. Highest, most rustic, deepest in the forest. Mains 15–30 BAM. The house dish is janjetina ispod sača — lamb under the iron bell. Call ahead.
  • Park Prinčeva, Hrid slope. Lowest altitude, most polished. The best-known of the three for international visitors. Mains 20–40 BAM.

All three require a taxi up (~10–15 BAM from the centre). All three reward a clear day. See our viewpoints guide for what you’ll see from the terrace.

  • Bašča kod Ene, Sedrenik. A garden restaurant on the same ridge as 7 Šuma. Mains 12–25 BAM. More casual, lower prices, less tourist-facing.
  • Dveri, Prote Bakovića 12. A Baščaršija-level traditional restaurant with a courtyard. Mains 18–35 BAM. Walking distance from the bazaar.

Bakeries — the fast meal

Sarajevo’s bakeries (pekare) are the cheapest hot food in the city. A portion of burek (meat-filled phyllo) or sirnica (cheese) is 4–6 BAM. A somun from a working oven is 1–2 BAM. The full list is in our bakeries shortlist; the two to know:

  • Pekara kod Mahira, Kovači. On the climb to Žuta Tabija. The somun comes out of the oven in under a minute.
  • Maison Coco, Maršala Tita 26. French-trained, the croissants and pain au chocolat are not what you expect in Sarajevo but they are very good. 3–8 BAM.

Coffee — the ritual

Bosnian coffee is not a drink. It is a 45-minute ritual involving a džezva, a fildžan, a sugar cube, and no hurry. See our full guide to the ritual. The cafés:

  • Čajdžinica Džirlo, Kovači 16. The canonical Bosnian coffee and tea house. ~3 BAM.
  • Ministry of Ćejf, Kovači 26. Third-wave specialty coffee. Espresso ~3 BAM; flat white 5–6 BAM.
  • Dibek, Trgovke 9. Traditional copper-džezva coffee in the bazaar. ~3–4 BAM.
  • Viennese Café, Hotel Europe, Vladislava Skarića 5. The Habsburg café inside Sarajevo’s oldest hotel (1882). Coffee 4–7 BAM, cake 8–12 BAM. Open until midnight.

What to skip

  • The restaurants lining the Sebilj square. These serve tourists a menu written in English at prices ~30% above the same food two streets away. Walk two minutes in any direction.
  • Any restaurant advertising “traditional Bosnian food” in three languages on a sandwich board. The restaurants locals actually eat at do not need sandwich boards.
  • Hotel restaurant breakfast buffets when you could walk to a pekara for burek at a fifth of the price.

The one-day eating plan

If you have one day in Sarajevo and want to eat well:

08:30 — Burek at any neighbourhood pekara. 5 BAM. 11:00 — Bosnian coffee at Džirlo on Kovači. 3 BAM. Stay forty-five minutes. 13:00 — Ćevapi at Petica Ferhatović or Željo. 12 BAM. 16:00 — Cake and coffee at Viennese Café. 12 BAM. 19:30 — Slow dinner at Dveri or Kibe Mahala. 40–70 BAM.

Total: roughly 75 BAM (~€38). That is a full day of eating in a European capital for less than a single restaurant meal in most of them.

Sources & further reading

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