Sarajevo-style cevapi are beef-only finger sausages, traditionally four-fingers long (6 to 10 cm), grilled over coals and served in a fresh somun flatbread with raw onion and kajmak cream.
Cevapi entered Bosnian cooking through Ottoman Turkish kebab tradition during the empire's 500-year presence in the Balkans. The Sarajevo standard separated from the Yugoslav-wide cevapi (which mixes beef, lamb and pork) by requiring beef-only and the four-finger length, an EU geographical-indication claim filed in the 2010s. Cevabdzinica Mrkva opened on Bravadziluk in 1963; Petica Ferhatovic opened for the 1984 Olympics; Zeljo and Hodzic anchor the same row.
4 editor picks for Cevapi in Sarajevo, ranked by editorial score. All Sarajevo signature dishes · Cevapi across every city.
Petica Ferhatovic ★ 4.8
bascarsija · Bravadziluk 21, 71000 Sarajevo
Petica Ferhatovic is the Bravadziluk family-run cevapi room that opened 1984 for the Sarajevo Olympics and still presses cevapi at the same standard.
Cevabdzinica Zeljo ★ 4.7
bascarsija · Kundurdziluk 19, 71000 Sarajevo
Cevabdzinica Zeljo on Kundurdziluk is one of Sarajevo's three anchor cevapi rooms, beef-only sausages grilled over coals and served in somun.
Cevabdzinica Hodzic ★ 4.6
bascarsija · Bravadziluk 34, 71000 Sarajevo
Cevabdzinica Hodzic on Bravadziluk has been grilling Sarajevo cevapi for more than 20 years and holds three Golden Dining Crown awards from the city.
Cevabdzinica Mrkva ★ 4.5
bascarsija · Bravadziluk 13, 71000 Sarajevo
Cevabdzinica Mrkva opened on Bravadziluk in 1963 and has held the line on Sarajevo cevapi for more than 50 years, with branches across the city.