Rustiko

Probably one of the best places you can eat at Trieste! We have visited two times and both of them were excellent experiences. The food is typical Balkan cuisine, therefore lots of great quality meat, but also amazing appetizers. I would recommend to visit with a large company (4+) just to have the opportunity to try different things. We got the grigliata for 4 people and I think it could be enough to feed 6-7 persons! The staff are super friendly, polite and professional! Highly recommended!

This place exists to wake up all your senses, not just to feed you. Forget clichés of “national cuisine.” The food may be rooted on the other side of the Adriatic, but the way it’s prepared, presented, and served lifts it far above the standard Balkan-roots grill house you might expect. Everything - from the cozy design to the soft-rock soundtrack - creates an atmosphere that feels both nostalgic and surprisingly modern. (Yes, I caught myself humming along to songs I hadn’t heard since my teenage years.) The food is amazing, and you won’t find most of these dishes anywhere else in Trieste. Every plate is crafted with care, beautifully presented, and full of flavor, color and fresh cut veggies - the kind of food that makes you want to come back until you’ve tried the whole menu. And you’ll happily invent excuses: dinner with friends, family gatherings, even business meetings (where you secretly hope the deal includes dessert). The service is just as good: warm, professional, and perfectly in tune with the vibe. You feel taken care of without the slightest trace of pretense. If you arrive expecting only tradition, Rustiko will surprise you. If you come looking for something special, it will give you more than you imagined. A restaurant you’ll remember, revisit, and recommend with a smile.

Great restaurant for Serbian Cuisine with outstanding interior featuring many citations of Yugoslavia’s communist past, and a glass floor opening the view on a small fountain running through the restaurant. The cuisine is very authentic with highlights like Sarma and Gibaniča.

I visited this restaurant when in Trieste last month. It was interesting to dine at an authentic Serb restaurant as we don't have this cuisine in my country Ireland. The restaurant plays traditional Serb music and has an interesting menu on display. The girl with dark hair working there was very helpful and pleasant. Enjoyable experience + nice food and beer 🇷🇸

Rustiko is a great place for reasonably priced authentic balkan food very near the city centre. The street where it's located is a minor one but somehow still quite popular. I am told the place used to be smaller (probably just a take away in its origin?) but it has grown now into a beautiful restaurant. We got into a small internal room that looked very cosy. The food was all good, some really good. Personally I would prefer cevapcici if they were saltier, more peppery and more cooked but I understand it's just a style preference. The other sausages, especially the smoked one, were really good. The Baklava a joy to eat: moist and tasty. I really enjoyed the service. The waitress, who seemed she could have been the owner, very friendly and generous.

This place exists to wake up all your senses, not just to feed you. Forget clichés of “national cuisine.” The food may be rooted on the other side of the Adriatic, but the way it’s prepared, presented, and served lifts it far above the standard Balkan-roots grill house you might expect. Everything - from the cozy design to the soft-rock soundtrack - creates an atmosphere that feels both nostalgic and surprisingly modern. (Yes, I caught myself humming along to songs I hadn’t heard since my teenage years.) The food is amazing, and you won’t find most of these dishes anywhere else in Trieste. Every plate is crafted with care, beautifully presented, and full of flavor, color and fresh cut veggies - the kind of food that makes you want to come back until you’ve tried the whole menu. And you’ll happily invent excuses: dinner with friends, family gatherings, even business meetings (where you secretly hope the deal includes dessert). The service is just as good: warm, professional, and perfectly in tune with the vibe. You feel taken care of without the slightest trace of pretense. If you arrive expecting only tradition, Rustiko will surprise you. If you come looking for something special, it will give you more than you imagined. A restaurant you’ll remember, revisit, and recommend with a smile.