What is Serbian street food, and what should I eat first?
Serbian street food is built on grilled minced meat and bakery pastry — cheap, fast, meat-heavy and genuinely good. If you only learn three words of Serbian food, make them ćevapi, pljeskavica and burek. Together they cover most of what Belgrade eats on the go, and all three are inexpensive, quick and reliably satisfying. This page is the canonical home for Belgrade street food and grill — where and how to eat it. For the deeper cultural story of these dishes and the wider Serbian table, see our guide to Serbian food.
Ćevapi (also called ćevapčići) are small grilled minced-meat sausages — beef, pork, lamb or a mix — usually served in or alongside a soft flatbread called lepinja or somun, with chopped raw onion and accompaniments such as kajmak and ajvar. They normally arrive in portions of several pieces (commonly five or ten), so it's a filling order rather than a snack.
Pljeskavica is the same minced-meat tradition pressed into a single large grilled patty — the Serbian relative of a burger — and it's often served with kajmak, ajvar and onions too. The Leskovac style is a well-known spicy variant, worth asking for if you like heat. A stuffed pljeskavica (filled with cheese or kajmak) is another common upgrade.
Burek is a different animal: a flaky filled pastry, made with meat, cheese or other fillings, and it's a staple of both breakfast and the small hours. It's traditionally eaten with yoghurt, which cuts through the richness — order the two together and you've got the classic combination.
Two accompaniments tie the grilled dishes together. Kajmak is a clotted-cream dairy spread, and ajvar is a roasted red-pepper relish — these are the defining sides to grilled meat here, not optional extras. State them by name when you order and you'll eat the way locals do.
Where can I get the best ćevapi in Belgrade? The venue types
The best ćevapi in Belgrade come from a ćevabdžinica or roštilj spot — a counter-service grill — and the most reliable advice is to trust the venue type rather than chase a single name, because the places that serve this food are as durable as the dishes themselves even as individual shops open and close. There are three venue categories you'll use again and again.
The ćevabdžinica or roštilj spot is your counter-service or quick-serve grilled-meat place — this is where ćevapi and pljeskavica are at their best, cooked over a grill and handed to you fast. Named spots come and go, but the format is permanent; as of 2026 you'll see well-regarded grill counters both around the centre and in residential neighbourhoods, and the local rule of thumb — follow the smoke and the queue — works better than any list.
The pekara (bakery) is found on nearly every corner and serves burek and other pastries around the clock. This is the most ca
