Free Food Tour Sofia: Trying Bulgarian Food with Balkan Bites

A free food tour sounds almost too good to be true, but in Sofia, Bulgaria, it really does exist.

Balkan Bites runs a tip-based walking food tour through central Sofia, stopping at local eateries for small samples while learning about Bulgarian food, history and culture along the way.

I joined the tour during my time in Sofia and loved the concept.

Rather than sitting down to one big meal, we wandered through the city trying everything from traditional Bulgarian mekitsa and yoghurt-based dips to burgers and local wine.

The restaurants and food can change, so your experience may be quite different to mine.

Here’s what we ate on our tour, some of the quirky things we discovered along the way, and what you need to know to join the Balkan Bites Free Food Tour today.

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Our Balkan Bites Food Tour

The Balkan Bites Free Food Tour currently runs every day at 2 pm, except on Bulgarian national holidays.

The meeting point is at Park Crystal, in front of the distinctive Stefan Stambolov head sculpture.

When we did the tour, we hadn’t booked and simply turned up. There were enough guides to split everyone into two groups of around 15 people.

These days, I’d recommend reserving your place. You can still turn up without a booking, but walk-in places depend on availability.

One thing to know before you go is that this isn’t a full meal. The food at each stop is a small taste rather than a full serving, so don’t expect it to replace lunch.

Our two groups didn’t even visit exactly the same places. At the end, we were given a map showing all the participating locations, giving us a few more places to try later.

On our tour, we visited five food stops.

Lavanda

Our first stop was Lavanda, a slightly hidden restaurant inside an old house on Tsar Shishman Street.

The restaurant was spread through different rooms of the house. We ate in what felt like the living room and were also shown a cinema room, where black-and-white movies were projected onto the wall in the evenings.

Our first taste was a mixture of cow’s cheese, yoghurt and herbs, wrapped in zucchini and served on a cracker. It was only a small bite, but most of us would happily have eaten a few more.

This was also our introduction to Bulgarian yoghurt, something we quickly learnt Bulgarians are very proud of.

Our guide explained its importance in Bulgarian cuisine and told us about Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Its connection with Bulgaria goes back to Bulgarian scientist Stamen Grigorov, who identified the bacterium involved in yoghurt fermentation in the early 1900s.

Whether or not Bulgaria can claim to have invented yoghurt, there was no mistaking the national pride surrounding it.

We finished with tiny lavender-flavoured meringues that were incredibly light, very sweet and almost crumbled in our fingers.

Update: Lavanda has since closed, so don’t expect it to be included on the current tour.

Skaptoburger

Our second stop was Skaptoburger part of the Sofia-born Skapto burger chain.

This wasn’t traditional Bulgarian food, but that was part of the point. Balkan Bites wasn’t only showing us what Bulgarians had eaten for generations, but also what people were eating in modern Sofia.

We tried the classic Skaptoburger, a beef and bacon burger with cheese, salad and a spicy sauce.

I liked this one so much that I immediately opened Google Maps and saved the location so I could find it again later.

Skapto is still going today, and the Skaptoburger is still on the menu, so this is one of our stops you can still seek out for yourself.

Mekitsa & Kafe

Our third stop took us back to traditional Bulgarian food at Mekitsa & Kafe.

Here we tried mekitsa, a Bulgarian fried dough often eaten for breakfast. Ours was served simply with icing sugar, although mekitsa can also come with toppings such as jam, honey or cheese.

Our guide told us mekitsa had gradually disappeared from Sofia’s cafes as it became something more likely to be made at home. Mekitsa & Kafe was helping to bring it back into the spotlight.

The little pieces we tried were crispy outside and soft inside, with a texture that reminded me a little of churros.

Simple, sweet and very easy to eat – I would happily have gone back for more.

Mekitsa & Kafe is still operating in Sofia, so this is another of our stops you can still visit.

Hadjidraganovite Izbi

Before we were allowed inside our next stop, our guide had us all attempt to say its name: Hadjidraganovite Izbi.

Luckily there was no test afterwards because I’m pretty sure I would have failed!

The restaurant is decorated in a traditional Bulgarian style, with interiors inspired by different regions of the country.

We tried three Bulgarian dips on small rounds of bread.

Two were made with cow’s cheese and yoghurt with different herbs and spices, while the third combined sheep’s yoghurt, goat’s cheese, red peppers, walnuts and garlic.

Our guide suggested the third was usually the favourite, but not for me. I preferred the simplest one.

We also tried pelin, an aromatised wine traditionally made with herbs. I’m not usually a huge fan of sweet wines, but this one surprised me. It was sweet without being overly so, and I would happily have had another glass.

Hadjidraganovite Izbi is still operating in Sofia, so you can visit independently.

Ribs Brothers

Our final food stop was Ribs Brothers, which had only been open for about six months when we visited.

My heart sank a little when I realised we were about to eat pork ribs. Pork has never been one of my favourites.

My husband, on the other hand, thought he’d hit the jackpot.

We were each given a BBQ pork rib. I had a small taste before handing the rest of mine over to him – something he certainly wasn’t complaining about.

I found it a little dry, although everyone else seemed to enjoy theirs, so perhaps this was simply a case of the pork-loving people appreciating it more than I did.

That’s one thing I liked about this tour. Not every stop had to be somewhere I would have chosen myself.

Ribs Brothers has since closed, but it was part of our tour and the Sofia food scene at the time.

Cultural Stops Along the Food Tour

Despite the name, Balkan Bites wasn’t only about food. As we walked between stops, our guide pointed out some of Sofia’s more unusual sights and shared stories about the city.

One of my favourites was Sofia’s squat shops.

These tiny shops operate from basement windows at around knee level, so customers literally have to squat down to buy something.

Our guide explained that they appeared after the fall of communism, when people found creative ways to start small businesses, including selling goods from basement spaces.

We also spotted some of Sofia’s poetry walls, where poems from around the world have been painted onto buildings in their original language and Bulgarian.

Another stop was the Church of the Seven Saints, or Sveti Sedmochislenitsi. Originally constructed as an Ottoman mosque, it later became an Orthodox church.

But the story our guide shared was about a man rather than the building.

Dobri Dobrev, sometimes called the Saint of Bailovo, became a familiar sight outside Sofia’s churches.

He lived very simply and collected money that he donated to churches and charitable causes, including a substantial donation to Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

He was still alive when we visited and our guide told us he’d recently celebrated his 104th birthday. Dobrev died in 2018, officially aged 103, so it seems the age we were given wasn’t quite right!

It’s these unexpected stories that made Balkan Bites feel like much more than simply a food tasting.

How to Join the Balkan Bites Free Food Tour

The Balkan Bites Free Food Tour currently runs daily at 2 pm, except on Bulgarian national holidays.

The meeting point is at Park Crystal, in front of the Stefan Stambolov head sculpture in central Sofia.

The tour and food samples are free, with the guides supported by tips, so bring some cash to tip at the end if you’ve enjoyed the experience.

You can reserve a place in advance through the Balkan Bites website. Walk-ins are possible if space is available, but I’d book ahead rather than risk missing out.

Allow around two hours, wear comfortable shoes and remember that the food samples aren’t intended to replace a full meal.

And don’t be surprised if your tour looks completely different to mine. Restaurants and tastings can change – even the two groups touring on the day we went visited different places.

Reserve your place on the Balkan Bites Free Food Tour here

More Free Walking Tours in Sofia

Food wasn’t the only free walking tour we did in Sofia. We joined two others during our stay and found them a great way to explore the city on foot.

You can find a range of free walking tours in Sofia on Guruwalk, from general city and history tours to more specialised options.

See more free walking tours in Sofia

Is the Balkan Bites Free Food Tour Worth Doing?

For me, absolutely. The Balkan Bites tour was one of my favourite things we did in Sofia.

Over a couple of hours we tried things I probably wouldn’t have ordered myself, discovered restaurants I wanted to return to and learnt about Bulgarian food and culture along the way.

Years later, I still remember the Bulgarian pride in their yoghurt, those tiny squat shops and immediately saving Skaptoburger to Google Maps so I could find it again.

The restaurants may have changed, but that’s not really the point. Go along with an appetite, some curiosity and cash for a tip, and see where Balkan Bites takes you.

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