“At first we had a big Balkan crowd,” Sandoval said. “As soon as we got a little bit of traction from Grapevine and Colleyville, people from the local area, we started switching up the menu a little bit—catering to more people than just those from the Balkan region.”
What’s on the menu?
Elvis said in an email that the Balkan recipes used in the restaurant have been passed down from his and Adelisa Ramovic's grandmothers.
Popular Balkan menu items are cevapi, a Balkan beef sausage dish served with fresh lepinja bread, and sarma, which is ground beef and rice stuffed cabbage served over mashed potatoes.
Some crowd-pleasing, non-Balkan items are cheese ravioli and rigatoni.
Brunch, which is served daily, includes a smoked salmon sandwich, lobster bisque, mushroom cream soup, avocado toast and Nutella crepes with berries.
For dessert
All desserts and pastries are made fresh daily by their in-house pastry chefs. In addition to items listed on the menu, such as chocolate chip bread pudding, there is also a bakery in the front of the eatery that houses different items, such as baklava, coconut cake and cheesecake.
What’s special about it?
Sandoval said the Ramovics saw a void of sit-down Balkan restaurants in the area.
“This is one of the first in this area where people sit down and have a meal for a couple hours,” Sandoval said. “During brunch ... it's bright, but during dinner we lower the blinds, turn the lights down, and it's a more romantic setting.”
Once a month, the owners host Balkan Nights, which features a performing artist from the Balkan region.
The inspiration
When choosing the business name, Elvis and Adelisa Ramovic chose to celebrate their heritage.
“We are very proud to be from the Balkan region and wanted to make sure that it was incorporated in our name,” Elvis Ramovic said. “It is our way of showing gratitude and appreciation to the small countries that made us who we are today.”
- 2140 Hall-Johnson Road, Ste. 118, Grapevine
- www.balkangarden.com
