This butcher shop and restaurant specializes in top notch meats with European flair. Even better, the dinner menu has a few items that might satisfy cravings from the old country, like beef stroganoff, stuffed cabbage rolls, sausages (bratwurst, hungarian, knackwurst, and Polish) served with red cabbage and German potato salad, plus a long list of grilled and slow-roasted meats.

The star attraction of this atypical coffeeshop, where the decor channels “the feminine organic flow of Art Nouveau,” is Turkish coffee heated directly on sand the old fashioned way. “Turkish” coffee drifted westward to Turkey and then picked up the Turkish label as it spread throughout Eastern Europe during the Ottoman Empire. Hopefully it will spread throughout San Diego.

The from-scratch prepared foods at this deli and grocer include stuffed bell peppers, salad Olivier (a flurry of chopped meat, potatoes, pickles, peas and more, all bound together by a thin coating of mayonnaise) and several kinds of whole smoked fish. Along with imported cured meats and weiners, the shop also makes and sells sausage (kolbasa and kabanos) and sells German and Lithuanian style breads.

There’s a considerable overlap between European Jewish cuisine and that of Eastern Europe. So at Elijah’s, a Jewish and Kosher restaurant and deli, diners can feast on beef tongue, cabbage rolls, liver, and borscht. (There’s also a massive breakfast menu with American fare like pancakes and omlettes — and blintzes.) 

Chimney cakes have popped up in the U.S. in recent years. In Romania, these tube-shaped street food pastries traditionally made by the Hungarian community are sprinkled with sugar or nuts. In this American offshoot, the cakes can be covered with cheddar and jalapenos or stuffed with arugula, black forest ham, and swiss cheese — or, for a flavor explosion, both. Sweet variations include cinnamon, coconut, and sprinkles. 

This playfully-decorated restaurant has a huge menu packed with iconic Russian dishes like beef or vegetable stroganoff and blini. There are also Georgian specialties and dishes common to neighboring countries, like borscht, stuffed cabbage rolls that are slow cooked until incredibly tender, and Olivier potato salad, which mixes bite-sized bits of eggs, green peas, and carrots. Keep an eye on the specials, too.

This Ocean Beach restaurant, with indoor and outdoor tables, serves German standards like pretzels, spätzle, sausages, and a long list of German (and other) beers and wines. But some of its offerings — particularly, the sauerkraut and schnitzel — are also common across Eastern Europe. Don’t miss the Hungarian goulash and chicken paprika.

This tiny Serbian-style coffee spot near Balboa Park is full of antiques and serves a full coffee menu along with bourek, a Serbian pastry made with fluffy dough and mild cheese that’s baked until golden.

This bakery in the Valle de Guadalupe delivers chimney cakes and and artisan cheese boards to San Diego. According to their website, as these Transylvanian pastries bake on a spit, “the sugar caramelizes and gives the chimney’s distinguished crispiness on the outside, while remaining fluffy and soft on the inside.” The menu has a mix of traditional (covered in walnuts or sugar glazed) and nouveau (one has cranberry, goat cheese, and strawberries and another has smoked salmon and artichoke spread) chimney cakes, as well as party boxes and custom Belgian chocolate signs.