Balkan Cafe & Grill

The best home made food from Balkan region. Love the stuffed bell peppers and the rotisserie roast. Great full bar and the atmosphere of the place is just out of the ordinary. I sometimes chill on the patio having a cup of coffe before going inside. Oh yeah, and they have a sand volleyball court in the back as well. Can’t go wrong with this place.

Great flavors, authentic real-​deal food. I’m guessing Grandma’s secret recipes.
Super nice people too.

Ate here with my partner and we really loved the food. He is from Bosnia, and we have been craving cevapi since we visited Mostar last year. It was so nice to find authentic cevapi and hurmasice here in Austin. The service was as awesome as the food, and we will definitely be back. Z, thank you for your recommendations and friendliness this evening! We will see you soon!

Super friendly staff. Amazing food for cheap prices. Authentic Balkan cuisine. Plus they have happy hour every day from 6−9pm, $ 3 margaritas and more! Love this spot

Cute spot … cushy seating outside. Full bar. Wait staff is bilingual and knows a lot of the customers by name.
I just went to get some Turkish coffee since I’m trying to perfect my recipe at home. But the place was so inviting that I told the waiter to just put together a meal for me.
While I sipped on my lovely Turkish coffee, they put together some Sopska Salata (a huge bowl of deliciousness that could be a meal itself) and rotisserie lamb (a full plate with amazingly crispy salty skin YUMMM) with a side of lepinja bread. It was all very delicious, but there was so much food, I could barely make a dent in it. Then afterward, the waiter insisted I try their brandy, which was excellent. I see they have a pear brandy also that I will try next time.
Educational: The waiter told me what I was doing wrong with my Turkish coffee recipe.
Adventurous: I got to try some ethnic foods that I hadn’t had before.
Entertaining: The waiter was super sweet.
I’ll be back.

We went here with friends for lunch to celebrate a birthday. For Saturday they have a special menu item of roasted lamb. They sell lamb $ 20 per pound. Before coming to the restaurant, we imaged it to be great because we have been to the restaurant 3 times before.
Oh do we know lamb! Have been eating lamb all our lives. Cooked and butchered lamb before, ok?
Were told they have a big lamb roasted because this weekend is Syrian Easter and expected a lot of people and THEY HAVE A LOT OF LAMB LEFT but there is no one in the café except us.
What we got is the worst parts of the lamb… barely any meat. We got the front lower leg (Shin area) and neck part. I mean really? Most is bone and was very dry over roasted meat.
Very disappointed with what I got from a «big» lamb. Never coming back again… I can tell you to go down to Peace Café just 1 traffic light down, you walk in during lunch with $ 13 or $ 14 for lamb shank over rice with some vegetarian sides and you are full until morning.

Great food and good atmosphere! We were greated by the owner who took time to get to know us and made great menu and wine suggestions.
The food was out of this world flavorful and fresh!
The customer service really went above and beyond catering to our small parties every need.
We did not have any dessert… this time :)
We will be returning to this amazing establishment to try more off of the menu for sure!

Been here twice and everything is always good. We usually ordered the mixed meats plate and the beef stew, everything always come out hot and delicious. I love the lepinja breads, it’s always hot when they bring it out and great to eat with the meats or dip in the stew. Definitely a good place to go for a simple meal.

The positive reviews are right. The food here does taste authentic. I ordered Grilled Chicken Sandwich. It had a nice balance of seasoning and a unique taste. The servers were patient as they answered my questions about the menu.
Good food, friendly service, & open late night — you can’t ask for more!
Will be back for lamb on Saturday.

I’ve got a mixed review. Balkan food is a mash up of Hungarian with slight Mediterranean influence, from what I can tell. First, the service and food here is well prepared.
And don’t let my mixed review dissuade others. I’m all for promoting ethnic food. However …
I had the flatbread sandwich (?) stuffed with about a half dozen beef links — it was tasty, bread was exceptional. It came with a side of diced onions and pepper relish, which would have been better had it been cooked with the links. I anticipated, and it needed, to be served with cooked vegetables (red onions, bell peppers) in the sandwich to work better. As-​is, I thought it was kind of boring after a couple bites and it was a challenge to eat. I had to dress it up with hot sauce.
The appetizer of a red bell pepper with garlic also looked great, but it was also boring after a couple bites, and it was served cold.
I might return again. Mixed bag.

Probably, most definitely the only *Balkan* food in all of the Austin-​ish area. And well, I have first (or really second) hand knowledge that this place is legit and authentic. I can’t pronounce anything here, so I let my Bosnian girl do it for me. I don’t even try. She loves this place and maintains that they are authentic and do a good job of it. I trust her judgement on this.
My first visit we ordered everything that was meatless on their menu. The veggie stew, veggie burger and the bell pepper «salad.» All three of these items were in the A-​OK level for me. You should probably get the meat here to be wow’ed, but I am glad they had veggie options at all. The most recent visit included the spinach pie special served with sour cream. It was good but needed a different dipping sauce as sour cream does not feel very appropriate. Dessert was a pastry that looks strange and spongey, yet unique and apparently done well and authentic in taste and execution. While the menu is small and semi-​limited, it does help keep with the freshness and efficiency. I really like the lepinja bread served with just about everything.
I also tried their «shot» of plum brandy, which is for sipping not shooting. They also offer it in pear flavor so if you’re into brandy, you should probably get it. Their hours include surprisingly late hours, which is convenient for the late eaters of the world. Most enjoyable was the Croatian wine they offered and the outside loungey areas for hanging out.
3.5 stars.

Really good food and bread. I order more bread though and it tasted like the microwaved it to make it warm. I hope in the future they just serve the bread cool or something because having microwaved bread is gross. To be fair, the first time around, before I ordered more bread, it tasted delicious! I’d still come back, food looked great. I hope my second order of bread was just a fluke because it was all great otherwise.

This is probably one of the most underrated and best Mediterranean/​Modern Europe places I’ve had in a while.
The beef stew is probably the best I’ve ever had. It’s rich and bursting with delicious flavors. This is the first place that I’ve gone back to 4−5x in a row in a period of 3 weeks. It’s that good. Beef stew with Lepinja bread combo is good. The Balkan mixed plate is perfect for a brunch or dinner. Looks like simple sausage links… but it’s so much more flavorful. You can also enjoy this with the Lepinja bread. Okay… you can enjoy anything with the bread here tbh. I’ll eat it with Sriracha.
Total of 10 visits here now in under a year. Also helps that it’s only 5 minutes from my crib.
In a self-​serving way, I really don’t want to recommend this place. cuz then it’ll get too busy. They might even raise the prices and that would suck. However, in good conscience, I guess I have to do the right thing and be unbiased. Ugh…
It’s probably pound for pound the #1 joint in Austin for a place that’s in the $-$$ range. Service and staff here are all wonderful too.

In this quaint little plaza on North Lamar stands a collection of eateries and while they are all good, Balkan Café is a gem. Entering the small wooden building you are greeted with a cozy communal lounging area and bar (try the rakuta!) And several distinct seating areas. This place feels homey, comfortable, a little quirky and, having visited the area, dare I say Balkan?
Service is always prompt and though their menu is compact, everything I’ve had is delicious. Watch for daily specials and the weekend lamb roast is an experience. Standout item would have to be the gulasz/​goulash. Savory and hearty, served with their lepjna bread which tastes like eating a warm, toasted, buttery cloud. Seriously some of the best bread I’ve ever eaten.

Went there to celebrate Christian Orthodox Christmas with my Belarusian friend and had a great dinner that brought us back home. We became so nostalgic. Bottle of wine from Montenegro was a surprise, since we never had wine from that region. It turned out to be great!
We look forward to coming back for more, no holiday needed!

This place is like a hidden gem. Located on north Lamar by a few other cottage-​like home village. Never thought I would eat what you call Balkan food. Love the unique atmosphere and simple menu. Service was super friendly and helpful!!! Food was amazingly delicious! My husband and I ordered the combo and it was very filling and the bread that came with it was freshly baked! Sooooo good!!! I will definitely come back because I want to try other food on their menu! Balkan food accompanied with wine and great ambiance –couldn’t ask for more! Highly recommend!

Another gem on North Lamar!
I want to recognize the server I had right off the bat. I wish I could remember her name — she had long, blond hair, and was SO informative. She was really passionate about the food and wine, and Balkan needs to make sure they keep her, no matter what. She made me fall in love with the place right off the bat.
After discussing the dishes with her, we settled on the Cevapi (flatbread stuffed with season little sausages that came with onions and a dipping sauce), and the Gulas (beef stew.) We also had a few glasses of wine (wish I’d written down which ones) but they complimented the meal perfectly.
While the Cevapi was delicious, the real star of the show was the Gulas. I will probably order that every time I come back. It’s the perfect comfort food, and with the cold weather moving in now, I can see myself happily eating that for dinner.
For dessert, we had the crepes, which were perfect — small, delicate, and flavorful. They were perfect to split between the two of us, because I just wanted a bite or two of something sweet, and not some big gut-​bomb.
Seriously, though — go here and be impressed. The service is wonderful, there’s a good little selection of wines, and the food is amazing. (Oh, and the atmosphere is cozy!) I want to come back and try to rotisserie lamb some time!

This place blew my mind. I have never had Balkan food and it just took me to anther place. Two different sausages and pies and the peppers I have no idea how to pronounce or spell half of it but I give it 5.5 stars. Please please please try this place. I will be coming back often.
Side notes, easy parking, cool music, cool décor and super uberly nice staff!!! Love

Order the pear brandy. Really. Not sweet, just peary and very alcoholic. It’s great. The plum is awesome, too.
Comfortable, offbeat interior. Very pleasant server. Gulas was rich, meaty, full flavored from paprika. Chunks of tender beef melts in your mouth. The bread was a bit of a disappointment. It was tasty but the texture was little gummy for me, just my tastes. Soak the bread in the soup, very good that way. Next up was the mixed plate with three kinds of sausage. All were good. Sorry I can’t tell you which is which in case you wanted to order them separately. Homemade flavor, good texture, right amount of fat. The pickles and reddish relishy condiment served alongside were a nice foil to the rich sausage.
I wanted to enjoy a cup of Turkish coffee, but was too full from my hearty dinner. I’d definitely return. I foresee a gulas craving when the cold weather hits.

I wanted something different for dinner so we checked this place out, it is in a very odd parking lot with a few random other places. It is in what looks to be a converted house and was not very busy on a Tuesday night… the space is lovely and they have a nice mix of seating. They did have a late night happy hour which we just went ahead and bought a bottle of wine instead since it was so inexpensive. It was a Croatian wine, which I do not have much experience with but I thoroughly enjoyed it! My honey spent a year back packing in Europe and especially liked this region with their food and culture so this was a nice nostalgic treat for him.
The waitress was very friendly and had no accent, but when she pronounced all of the food on the menu… it was mesmerizing. She had a few suggestions, of the Balkan mixed plate and Sopska Salata but I read the ingredients on the sampler plate and felt it was too much sausage.
Instead, we did get the Sopska which had a very generous helping of feta, also the Gulas and special of the night which was a stuffed pepper simmered for two hours with three types of beef — ground, veal and smoked beef in a tomato sauce and all served with their bread that has crack in it apparently because it was fluffy triangles of heaven.
Overall, it was enjoyable and even though the menu is small… the food is good. I did wish that my pepper was warmer but it was very yummy still and the stew was very good. We were too full to get any dessert or Turkish coffee but I would definitely go back here. All of what we got was about $ 52 which included the bottle of wine!
The weekend fare is a whole roasted lamb, so that might be something worth checking out as well. It is just overall a very warm and welcoming place where you can hang out if you want and just enjoy some good conversation. Very nice addition to the area.