You are a true veseljak – a person who loves to have fun, go out, drink, eat, and entertain your friend group – and you have found yourself in Serbia, aching for some good times. What you must do is visit a Serbian kafana. Let us explain!
What is Kafana?
Red and white checkered tablecloths, wood, brick, and metal interiors, dimmed lights, and a waiter with a protruding belly – if you tick out all of these boxes, you are in a kafana, friend. Essentially, it is a place where Serbian people love to go when they are in the mood for strong food, such as grilled meat and potatoes, affordable drinks, and loud music. Don’t get us wrong, it’s not like a club or your typical going-out place, it’s more of a: you sit, you eat, you drink (a lot), and you tip the musicians to perform your favorite songs.
Essential Serbian Kafana Words You Must Know
Since kafana is such a typical Serbian experience, we’ve decided to create a little cheatsheet of all the necessary words and phrases you should know if you want the best kafana experience! They are nothing complicated, but they will make you sound like you know what you’re doing. Let’s dive right in!
Majstore
Sure, you can refer to the waiter or waitress as: konobare or konobarice, but if you are hungry for a more slang approach, and something that will make you be recognized as a true native, using majstore to call a male waiter will definitely get their attention – in a good way! Majstor is a word that is roughly translated to handyman, but it is often used to refer to a person who works in a kafana, or as a bus driver, for example.
|
Word |
Sentence |
Translation |
|
Majstore |
Majstore, donesi jednu duplu! |
Waiter, bring me one double (rakija). |
Bakšiš
It is a common practice to leave a tip when you are leaving a restaurant, a cafe, a bar, and the same goes for kafana, too. This is what we call bakšiš. You leave it for the waiter or waitress who served you, and a rule of thumb is to leave some 10% of the total bill amount.
However, you not only leave tips or bakšiš to the waiting staff. No, no, no! In kafanas, there are musicians playing instruments and singing. If you want them to perform a song of your choice, you need to tip them. Bonus points if you put the bakšiš in the accordion!
|
Word |
Sentence |
Translation |
|
Bakšiš |
Ovo (bakšiš) je za tebe. |
This (tip) is for you. |
Ceh
Ceh, or račun, are all words you can use in kafana. It refers to the bill or amount you have to pay. The reason we chose this word specifically, and not račun, is that the word ceh is often heard in Serbian folk music.
|
Word |
Sentence |
Translation |
|
Ceh |
Ja plaćam ceh! |
I pay the bill! |
Tura
The best way to explain tura is a round of drinks for the table.
|
Word |
Sentence |
Translation |
|
Tura |
Majstore, daj još jednu turu. |
Waiter, give us another round. |
Roštilj
Kafana is a place where you usually eat meat. It doesn’t have that big of a range, so it’s mostly meat from the grill – roštilj, or sometimes pečenje – roast pork, or lamb. This is often coupled with baked potatoes, tomato, cucumber, or cabbage salad.
|
Word |
Sentence |
Translation |
|
Roštilj |
Za mene jedna roštilj kobasica. |
One grilled sausage for me. |
Meze
What they call finger food in the West is meze in Serbian. It’s the epitome of finger food: you have all kinds of cheese, smoked or dried meat, olives, bread, etc. It’s like a Balkanized version of a charcuterie board.
|
Word |
Sentence |
Translation |
|
Meze |
Daćete nam jedno meze da podelimo. |
You will give us a charcuterie board to share. |
Prva liga
Prva liga is used to describe something so good, it’s first class. It’s usually used in reference to food or service in a place.
|
Word |
Sentence |
Translation |
|
Prva liga |
Ova hrana i usluga su prva liga. |
The food and the service are first class. |
Živeli
Živeli is a word you have probably heard of if you ever visited Serbia and had the pleasure of drinking some booze with Serbian people. However, when you are saying Živeli! or Cheers! make sure to keep eye contact with the person that you are, at that moment, clinking your glass with. Not making eye contact might be seen as disrespectful or insincere.
|
Word |
Sentence |
Translation |
|
Živeli |
Živeli! |
Cheers! |
Key Takeaways
Here are the key takeaways we want you to keep from this blog post:
- Majstore – Waiter
- Bakšiš – Tip
- Ceh – Bill
- Tura – A round of drinks
- Roštilj – Grill, grilled meat
- Meze – Finger food, charcuterie board
- Prva liga – First class
- Živeli – Cheers
Where to After Kafana?
So you’ve been to the kafana, you got to know the nitty gritty parts of Serbian nightlife, music, food, and drinks. Now, it’s time to work on your Serbian language skills more – well, you probably want to get fluent at kafana, after all. You’ve come to the right place, friend.
In About Serbian, we offer a wide range of materials and group lessons for your convenience. You can read up on our blog for more interesting Serbian cultural moments, and contact us for more information on what it is we do here. Best day to act is today!
