Years ago Burek Olimpija was a typical Ljubljana fast food joint known mostly to locals as purveyors of delicious burek, a typical Balkan savoury pastry. In recent years, however, it has harnessed social media to such an effect that it has been declared the brand of the year at the country's largest advertising festival, a prize typically reserved for large corporate brands.

"Crazy," is how Burek Olimpija greeted the news on Facebook, where it has 14,000 followers. It also has more than 11,000 on TikTok and some 1,500 on Instagram.

The award, conferred on 15 June at the Slovenian Advertising Festival, comes just weeks after Burek Olimpija made a splash by offering free burek for the rest of the year to the man who helped Primož Roglič when his chain fell off in the penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia.

A few months ago, after Croatia replaced the kuna with the euro, it launched burekuna allowing people to pay for burek with their spare kunas.

And when Slovenia's top chefs were lining up to receive Michelin stars on Ljubljana Castle this spring, Burek Olimpija delivered them bureks right after the ceremony, each in a pizza box with the chef's name written on them.

This may have prompted Ana Roš, the only Slovenian chef with two Michelin stars, to reportedly order dozens of bureks in the small morning hours at her recent wedding reception in Ljubljana.

Burek Olimpija launched in 1979 as a hole-in-the-wall on the side of a commercial building in the centre of the city, where it remains to this day. Since then it has opened two branches in the city.

Burek, a pastry found throughout the Balkans, is one of the most popular fast food choices in Slovenia, both as a daytime meal and a late-night post-party snack.