Here are 5 of the best places for cevapcici in Vienna that you probably would never normally walk into as they look like locals-only kind of places, but we highly recommend that you do.
Semendria
Where: Koppstraße 62, 1160
Opening times: MON–THU: 11am–11pm, FRI–SAT: 11am–1am, SUN: 11am–11pm
Meat: 50% beef, 50% pork (but they do have a 100% beef version too)
Thinking back on our visit to Semendria, we still burp like a happy child after a huge meal. The extremely kind staff greeted us at the entrance and showed us to our table upon arrival; the table next to a huge photograph of Smederevo, a Serbian town the owner comes from (and of which Semendria is the Latin name). Cevapcici in Semendria is the real juicy deal, people. Seriously, we have never seen them so big. And juicy. And tasty.
In Semendria, you will find everything good that the Balkans has to offer: delicious grilled meat plates, side dishes like young kajmak and other dips, grilled vegetables, Serbian beer and countless types of rakija, the lethal spirit that will lead to any fat consumed during the meal disintegrating in your stomach.
Plus: if you want to experience a real Serbian party, check this place out on weekends when you’ll find live music and perhaps even people dancing on tables. Make sure you reserve your table in advance! No wonder that mere three years since its opening, Semendria has already become one of the favourites among the people of the Balkan communities here in Vienna.
Price guide
Cevapcici, 10 pieces = 6.90€ (including lepinja bread and onions)
Pljeskavica = 7.80€ (including lepinja bread and onions)
Kajmak = 1.50€
Grill Park
Where: Molkereistraße 5, 1020
Opening times: TUE–SUN: 10am–10pm
Meat: 100% beef
Special feature: the giant, punjeni ćevap (one huge cevapcici filled with cheese, kajmak and ham)
Unlike many of the Balkan restaurants that can be found in the 10th, 15th or 16th districts of Vienna, Grill Park is situated in inner city of the 2nd district, a few steps away from Prater. Dule, the owner, is Serbian and he opened the place with his brother. It’s a true family business and it might happen that your cevapcici will be grilled by his wife, while the grandma of the family will neatly pack everything you couldn’t eat into a doggy bag when you leave (with the massive portions here, this is almost a certainty).
The cevapcici at Grill Park are big and juicy, and kudos to anyone who can eat more than five! They are great with kajmak and ajvar, of course, but if you want to (at least pretend) you eat something healthy on the side, go for their delicious šopska salad (a Bulgarian cold salad)! In spring and summer, you can enjoy your meat feast outside, grease dripping down one hand while you hold an ice cold Jelen beer in the other – it’s literally, the dream.
If Grill Park sounds familiar, it could be because they’ve been a big part of the Donauinselfest for the past seven years! Every year, during the last weekend of June, they set up a 4-metre grill where 20 people work from morning til late night, serving up cevapcici to the huge meat-craving crowds.
Price guide
Cevapcici, 10 pieces = 6.90€
Lepinja = 0.80€
Ajvar = 0.70€
Kajmak = 1.00€
Željo
Where: Quellenplatz 9, 1100 & Thaliastraße 30, 1160
Opening times: Quellenplatz: daily: 7am–10pm, Thaliastraße: daily: 8am–8pm
Meat: 100% beef
With its big blue sign above the entrance, Željo is difficult to miss on Quellenplatz in the 10th district. Named after the biggest football club in Sarajevo, Željo was opened by a Bosnian family fleeing the war in the 1990’s. Mr. Emir took over the business after his father and opened their second venue after the one in Thaliastraße. Their Bosnian version of cevapcici are slightly smaller than the Serbian, and they also throw the lepinja bread on the grill too to our delight. After, they smear the bread with fat.
The idea behind Željo is to serve fast-food style meals with quality ingredients. You will find there all kinds of grilled meat, as well as Bosnian burek and other types of pitas, plus some irresistible sweet treats like baklava, tulumba and hurmašice. At Željo’s they don’t serve alcohol, but instead, go for a drinking yogurt! You’ll be surprised how well this goes together with the greasy meats your digesting.
Željo might be Bosnian at its core, but the ingredients are made up of a true Balkan mix. While the food is typically Bosnian, the kajmak comes from Serbia, ajvar is from Macedonian and the yogurt and other dairy products are Slovenian.
Plus: we suggest you eat your cevapcici the real way: grab them with your hands and bite! And lick your fingers when you’re done.
Price guide
Cevapcici, 10 pieces = 6.90€ (including lepinja bread and onions)
Pljeskavica = 6.90€ (including lepinja bread and onions)
Kajmak = 1.50€
Ajvar = 1.00€
Royal Balkan Grill
Where: Märzstraße 59, 1150
Opening times
Restaurant: MON–SUN: 10am–10pm
Takeaway: MON–SUN: 9am–10pm
Meat: 50% beef, 50% pork
Special feature: Royal pljeskavica
If you fancy munching on your cevapcici in a little more posh way, Royal is the place to go. You’ll be served your meat on a white plate with ajvar and kajmak, beautifully adorning the sides of your plate.
Royal opened in 2010, first as Imbiss, a small Balkan grill shop offering take-away meals. The group of friends behind it decided to expand it into a larger restaurant and Royal Balkan Grill was born two years later in 2012. The place is now divided into two parts: there’s the Imbiss – where you can still order your meat and take it away – and the Royal restaurant – where you can sit down at a table and have your meal on the spot. The Royal staff hail from Serbia, and they prepare their cevapcici the Serbian way: they are longer and the meat is a mixture of beef and pork. We especially liked Royal’s lepinja bread, baked just minutes before being brought to the table: warm and soft. And if by the end of the meal you feel like you’ve eaten too much, have yourself a shot of plum rakija (a schnapps-like spirit), it will help the digestion… and drink another to help with the table talk.
Price guide
Cevapcici 5 pcs = 4.20€
Kajmak/ajvar = 1.20€
Lepinja = 1.20€
Zov Homolja
Where: Liebhartsgasse 39, 1160
Opening times: MON–SAT: 10am–10pm
Meat: 100% beef
As you walk in, on your right is a butcher’s cabinet (guaranteeing us the freshness of the meat) where you’ll be greeted by one of the friendly staff, and on the left is some kind of strange collection of farm animals arranged on a stove. We ventured into the back room of the place where smokers can puff on their cigarettes as they munch on their plump cevapcici. The design of this place has been fuelled by love of nostalgia for the homeland by the Serbian owners – accordions and guitars adorn the walls, and we’re particularly impressed by the ingenious disguising of the ventilation system with a rustic wooden veneer. The Serbian pop music on the television assures us that we’ve achieved what we set out to do with this article, we’ve ventured off the beaten path and into the Balkan places of Vienna that normally only the Balkan communities go to.
The menu, both in Serbian and German, is fun to explore for people that are inexperienced in the Serbian kitchen. We order 6 of the plump cevapcici which land on our table with some home made bread. The salty, fatty, juicy meat rolls disappear quickly, with a beer to wash them down. The staff make us feel at home and seem genuinely happy to have us there, which makes us love this place even more. And the Slivovitzais cheap, and sold by the glass or the bottle.
Price guide
Cevapcici 6 pieces = 3.40€, 12 pieces = 6.60€
Beer = 3.10€
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