Bosnian Plates Fire Up on SE Division

If you’ve ever hunted for Bosnian food in Portland, you know it can be a bit of a challenge, but your options have just about tripled, with the recent opening of Travnik Bosnian Grill. Travnik Bosnian Grill is located inside the Division Plaza shopping mall on Southeast 92nd Avenue and Division, and it is now open and serving lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Sunday.

After two months in business, Travnik is beginning to cause a buzz. Mi Mero Mole owner Nick Zukin recently tweeted about the restaurant, and on Restaurant Guru, Kevin Wilhelm writes, “I am visiting Portland for a week and my wife is from former Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Serbia). The food was amazing — especially the meat. We've had a lot of Chevapi in our lives, and this was the best I've ever had.”

Chevapi, or cevapi, are icons of Bosnian cuisine: a type of skinless sausage made of spiced ground meat. They’re often served with fries or pita bread, with raw onions and sauces. Travnik offers sour cream, aka kajmak, and ajvar, an often addictive ketchup-like sauce of grilled red pepper and, sometimes, eggplant.

Along with cevapi, Travnik furnishes salads, sandwiches, a lamb gyro, goulash, a “Euro Burger,” and baklava and other desserts. You’ll also find coffee and popular Bosnia drinks and, when they’re on, Bosnia soccer games on the TV. The restaurant joins two already established options for Bosnian food in the city: 442 Sports Bar and Two Brothers Cafe and Grill.

• Travnik Bosnian Grill [Official]