New Prague Restaurants in 2025

The 2025 was an amazing year for Prague’s food industry. Discounting all the coffee shops, bars etc, we counted 27 new openings the last year that were somehow meaningful to us, and we’re sure we are forgetting or missing some, if not many. That’s a new exciting restaurant every two weeks! Sure, prices are up, rents too, hiring is hell, but hey, that still did not stop at least 27 crazy individuals to open a restaurant in Prague. Let’s get right into it. What are the most exciting new restaurants in Prague in 2025?

NEW PRAGUE RESTAURANTS IN 2025

Let’s start with Prague’s OGs of just about any food concept for a grown-up, the Ambiente group. And What a year they’ve had after a slower 2024 with zero new openings.

First, Eska opened its new location in the Letná district. It may be more a bakery and shop than a full-service bistro like its Karlín sister, but hey, it’s a lean machine that baked and sold about 400 breads from day one and only grew from there, serves specialty coffee, a few sandwiches, some sweet buns and the like, and whole lotta produce and merch from other Ambiente branches. A concept like this on the main street of an affluent neighborhood like the Letná just makes sense.

Second, a sweep at the Michelin ceremony for Ambiente: Štangl has received both a green star and a Michelin star, Ambiente’s second (in addition to La Degustation, which has defended its own). U Kalendů, the best cooking Pilsner pub in town, has been awarded a Bib Gourmand, and Zdeněk Oudes of Marie B was the sommelier of the year according to the Michelin inspectors. Good job!

Finally, the long renovation of two houses in the Holešovice market has been completed, and Ambiente has opened not one, but two new places in the gentrified market halls. The new location of Myšák does not bake per se, but resells Myšák’s pastries, reheats a sandwich or two, and serves good coffee. Four seats only, but again, just like the new Eska, this is a concept with very little fat on it - they will make you coffee and a sandwich, and sell you some great pastries. What more would you want? (Naše maso butcher shop’s new beautiful location next door did not open until January, so they don’t count.)

The other opening is Skô, Prague’s first young Slovak restaurant in a city full of young Slovaks. Headed by chef Tomáš Valkovič (former executive chef at the old Eska and one of Ambiente’s creative chefs), the open kitchen is dominated by an open fire grill. The place is super cute, sits about thirty people and serves comforting dishes that bring back many memories if you have a family that is part Slovak. (Many people in Prague do.) Add cool wines, a nice cocktail program, and a cool soundtrack, and you’ve got yourself a place we may be returning to a lot.

Next big category for 2025: hotel restaurants, as Prague saw some very cool properties open in 2025.

First off, Zlatá Praha in the Fairmont hotel has become, under the eye of chef Maroš Jambor (ex sous-chef at NYC’s Eleven Madison Park), a serious contender for another Michelin star, if not two. Let’s get it out of the way - the view is second to none: when they touch that button to open the wooden sliding door, revealing the view of Old Town’s rooftops, it takes your breath away, and you inevitably pull out your phone to take a picture. The food is a fine dining affair with lots of delicate technique. The wine glasses are beautiful, as is the cutlery. And since Chef Jambor was a longtime chef in NYC’s Eleven Madison Park, their vegetarian tasting menu is really a vegan tasting menu, and it’s great. Is this „fun and casual“? Not exactly, but we don’t really expect that from this sort of fine dining. But if you want a have a date, or celebrate an occasion, with someone who loves and understands food, this is hard to beat. (The Fairmont hotel has more restaurants, including Greenhouse, and Kafka.)

Another fine dining restaurant in the city is Parzival in the Bookquet hotel at Karolyn Světlé by chef Gal Ben Moshe, whose Berlin-based Prism was a Michelin star. We liked some dishes more than others, but the signature dish, stone bass with verjus and XO sauce, was absolutely delicious. What really made the evening for Jan was the „concept“ wine pairing based mostly on Lebanese, Israeli and Syrian wines that are otherwise harder to find on menus of Czech fine dining restaurants. Chef Ben Moshe is a super nice person and seems to enjoy Prague a lot, having relocated his whole family here, so let’s hope he finds happiness in Parzival.

Finally, Eyal Shani, arguably the most famous Israeli chef at the helm of the Miznon group, has opened Seven North in the Sir hotel right across from The Real Meat Society in Náplavní. And it’s great: Middle Easter, vegetable-forward cuisine with a sense of fun and flair that will speak to a younger, hipper audience (at least that’s what they seem to be targeting), but that won’t leave more conservative diners disappointed, either. The Sir hotel is a beautifully renovated property, and the restaurant is a looker, too.

Brothers Ta have opened two new concepts in the renovated Dunaj palace on Národní st - first they reopened Taro, an evolution of the original place in Anděl (now home to Pho 100, the best pho in town and the most franchisable concept the brothers have created to date). The new Taro is a bit more mature, more elegant, darker, more expensively appointed space, and a clear upgrade on the original Taro, allowing the brothers to tell their story better through their beautiful food tastings. Right next door they later opened Paté, a bakery that sells congee for breakfast (yay), banh mi and shokupan sandwiches, and loads of sweets at the intersection of French and Asian baking, along with specialty coffee and matcha. Excellent stuff.

Just two blocks away, pastry chef Jiří Matějka opened Furiant pop up, a pop-up pastry shop in the former Parnas restaurant (that shortly was also Prague’s best jazz club, check out the live album Laco Deczi recorded there) with the best view of the Prague Castle and arguably the most beautiful, albeit unused, bar in the city, with wonderful zodiac-based inlays in the stunning wooden cladding. The pop-up served kolache and the like, along with Czech sweet mains, in the highest quality. We are including it here because while the pop-up was supposed to last until the end of 2025, there are talks of turning it into a permanent fixture.

Two more fun places opened in the city centre: first, La Bottega di Finestra was converted into Finestrina, a more upscale and more elegant restaurant that serves a pretty ample Italian menu in cool, elegant surroundings, reminiscent of some London hotels with their plush seating. And Centraal, located in between U Kalendů and Hostinec na Výtoni, serves the best fried chicken sandwich in town with selected sparkling wines in a tiny restaurants that seems to be more about take outs than the dine-in experience. (That paprika spice mix they but on that chicken…. damn!)

Final place in the historical city centre worth mentioning is Reason, a fine dining restaurant on the top floor of Zaha Hadid studio’s Masaryčka office building. It is run by Jan Horák, former executive chef of The Augustine hotel’s restaurant, and sits 40 inside and about in their 60 rooftop lounge outside. The selling point here is the view, which is almost panoramic. They serve lunch specials and tasting menu or a la carte dinners from Tuesday to Saturday.

More fun things are happening outside of the city centre, too. Bubeneč, the neighborhood that we live in, got not one, but two new pizza places. First, Diskotéka serves smaller Napoletana style pizzas with a sometimes idiosyncratic twist. The place was opened by the good people behind Laforme café and bakery in the same block, and it’s a fun place to get a pizza, some Italian starters and natural wines. Second, Pizza Bici has grown from a pizza pop-up to basically a window near Vítězné náměstí. The take-out only pizzeria serves Napoletana-style pies in a box to whomever walks by and breaths in the smell. Finally, Rakin is a seafood restaurant that has quite bravely based its concept on fresh seafood in a landlocked country, along with natural wines. But we like brave concepts, and Rakin is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. We got some fried shellfish during our visit, but the „bucket of seafood“ that comes with bibs, hot water and the like looks like a beautifully messy affair.

In addition to Eska, Letná also saw the opening of moe, a small coffee shop and bistro where the now iconic Bistro 8 used to be. The place is run by former Letka staff and serves specialty coffee, breakfasts and small dishes in a beautiful, stripped-down room. At one point, their scrambled eggs with smoked trout was our favorite breakfast in town. Café Letka has also opened Studio Letka in the place formerly run by Závitkárna. The studio serves specialty coffee and runs a small grocery store with well curated products and ingredients from local farmers and food purveyors.

Just across the train tracks, the Holešovice district saw the opening of Mexická, a gargantuan project headed by chef Jiří Štift of the Together group that serves a wild medley of Mexican dishes on multiple floors connected by a central golden staircase. The place consists of different work stations that focus on different things (think tortilla making, fish butchery, salsa production etc.) and is serviced by what feels like a hundred servers. The place is packed for lunches, haven’t been for dinner. Was it good? It was honestly better than we had expected. Not Mexico good, but on par with other Mexican restaurants in Prague. In an economy where it’s hard to hire just about anyone, you just have to admire the effort of opening such a huge restaurant… and succeeding immediately.

To finish that part of Prague, Kro opened their Libeň location just across the bridge towards the end of the year. It’s huge and it can feel like a canteen of a big office complex (which it kinda is), but the cooking is recognizably Kro Kitchen, as is the cocktail programme. Plus the bakery on site bakes great bread and other goodies that you may recognize from Kro Kitchen in Moskevská. Given the traffic generated by the offices and residential developments around (and given the lack of any sensible alternatives in the area), we are sure this will be a huge success.

Big things were also happening in Vinohrady and surrounding areas in 2025, putting the district once again at the forefront of what’s up on the Prague Food Scene.

First, the relocation-of-the-year award goes to Maman bistro, where the physical move to a (much) bigger space has also meant a philosophical move from a tiny bistro to a sizable restaurant… and they nailed it: great dishes to eat alone or share, good drinks, and a great presence on social media all make this „mom-and-pop“ Asian restaurant a winner.

Another winner is Lá Bù Lá. Finally a Chinese restaurant in Prague that (1) caters to a younger audience, (2) does not dial down the spice and (3) cooks really well. The chef has staged in Alma (on one of our visits, we saw one of Alma’s executive chefs taking a sous-chef role in Labula) and the cooking is a big step above your mom’s favorite „Chinese bistro“. The menu goes beyond the usual favorites (although the beef noodles are still a dish we’ll be going back to) and the pepper dumplings that make your lips numb are one of our bites of the year.

Another surprise newcomer in Vinohrady is Mazel, taking over the interior jungle space left behind the suddenly closed Gram. Mazel (a combination of Ma - meat, and Zel - vegetables in Czech) is a new concept by the Kolektiv group: Výčep has provided a lot of the know how and inspiration, while the closed Nejen bistro in Karlín has provided the talented young chef. And it works: these are clean, simple dishes that are based on, but not exclusive to, Czech comfort food, with some foreign inspirations (oysters?), and obviously a full section of dishes for vegetarians. The staff is of note, too: the front of house consists of a bit older professionals that we had met in other notable restaurants, creating an interesting alternative to the youth everywhere else. (We mean this as a compliment.)

Talking about Czech comfort food, the Zas a znova restaurant (that is also behind the Di nuovo Italian restaurant in Vinohrady) has taken over the space left behind Ossegg in Římská behind the Vinohrady theatre to open Pivovar Římská, a gastropub with its own brewery. The group has always been known for solid cooking, and this is no different - bear-forward dishes done really well, which just makes a lot of sense in Prague. The Zas a znova restaurant (about a 30-minute drive outside of the city) has always been a destination for sweet buns in hot vanilla custard, a classic Czech dessert. The brewery has brought the famous buns to Prague, which a feat in and on itself.

As if the success of Sugo in Karlín was not enough, chef Andrea quickly moved over to Vinohrady and opened Enoteca JZP, where la vita is dolce, the pasta and steak tartare are delicious, and the wines are natural and - duh - Italian. Their outdoor seating with the view of the church on the currently beautified Jiřího z Poděbrad square was honestly one of our favorite places to spend a summer afternoon: good pasta, simple meat dishes, good Negronis and wines, and the occasional pop-up lunch or dinner with an exciting chef… what more would you want?

Specialty coffee? Good. Just walk over to Blumery, a new specialty coffee/breakfast/bistro place from the people behind Kolektor in Holešovice. The interiors are modern and light, with brushed steel communal tables and decor with modern arts. They started slow but we think the kitchen hasn’t said its last word - right now it’s mostly brunch foods but we expect more going forward. Our favorite place for coffee in the JZP area, actually. (And with Automat Matuška opening a location next door soon, JZP will be absolutely on fire.)

Moving east to the Flora area, Oda opened towards the end of the year, bringing tasting menu or a la carte dinners in a fairly small, minimalist space. You have to root for a place like Oda: this is a true mom-and-pop place, run by two veterans of Prague’s food scene (chef Ondra worked in Field, Gram, and helped us in Šodó, too) who have worked hard elsewhere to finally open their own cool small restaurant that works with carefully curated local ingredients to create simple, tasty dishes, with a side note of Japanese-inspired fermentation. When we walked in, unannounced, we burst into laughter when we saw who runs the bar: Jarda, whom you know as a barista from just about anywhere, because he has worked just about anywhere. (We’re not sure if he understands the concept of „free time“.) A lovely place run by lovely people. If you haven’t been, you have to go.

Moving down to Žižkov, Better Than Clasico (or „BTC“) was pronounced the opening of the year by some (looking at you, Adam Rundus). We’re less hot on this modern Korean restaurant, but we do love the concept and the uniqueness of the interior and concept: if they’ve copied anyone, it surely wasn’t a Prague restaurant. We loved some of the dishes (the white ragout tteokbokki was really awesome) but were less impressed by others. We loved the concept and the people. We wish they used a bit better ingredients. But if you don’t care, or for a night out with young friends, this is pretty cool actually.

Chef Punčochář, a TV personality as one of the judges on Czech Masterchef, got to celebrate twice this year. First, his U Matěje restaurant was awarded the Bib Gourmand award by the Michelin guide. Second, he opened the Šnycl restaurant in the Anděl area that serves - you’ve guessed it - schnitzels. It is difficult to transform the ambiance of U Matěje, a modern-meets-classic pub with wooden cladding in a villa district, to a modern open-space building, but they’ve tried anyway. Šnycl serves traditional Czech and Central European comfort food done really well - let’s see how that matches the dietary rituals of the workforce from the offices around.

Takumi ramen opened a new location in the Quadrio mall (right next to Kafka’s head statue), and the ramen is as good as the original location on Senovážné.

And that’s about all we can remember opening in 2025 now. Have we missed anything? Please let us know.

BAR UPDATE - PRAGUE BARS IN 2025

A quick update onT bars, because there has been some movement. First, Hemingway Bar, the icon that has created a class of alumni who have been opening their own bars in Prague and elsewhere ever since, has moved a bit south Opatovická, and added hot food. New hotels means new bars: Fairmont opened Golden Eye, run by some familiar places (we were served by one of the former beverage people of Štangl), which we recommend for people who want the view of Zlatá Praha but don’t want to spend Zlatá Praha money. Second, Minus One in the W Prague hotel is a beautiful hotel bar with a separate entry from the Wenceslas Sq. run by Luca, whom you may remember from the bar of L’Fleur.

On a more local note, Tomáš Melzer of Hradec Králové’s famed Blind Lion has opened Taigen bar in Vinohrady, a more serene, small place that sits about 20 tops, and serves Tomáš’s classic cocktails based on clean tastes and whole lotta cordials. Finally, Martin Tomášek of the legendary Parlour bar has opened a new place, Sabi & Sip, just a few steps down the street from Parlour. First Krakovská street, then the world? Sounds like a plan.

2025 Christmas and NYE Dining Guide - Where to eat in Prague over the holidays

Our 2025 Prague Christmas and NYE dining guide is out.

Christmas dining can be difficult in Prague - first, the city can be flooded with tourists, so the capacity is strained. On top of that, many restaurants close or at least shorten their opening hours, so finding a seat, especially for Christmas Eve dinner, can be a challenge.

If you’re reading this now, you don’t have a reservation for your Christmas meals, and want to eat a meal that makes sense within the context of Christmas in Prague, you should read the following and act quickly. Some places listed below may already have very limited capacity, or accept bookings on their wait list only.

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING… TO DINE OUT ON CHRISTMAS IN PRAGUE

Czechs celebrate Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day, and the city stops to a halt on Christmas Eve at about 4pm. Most restaurants and businesses will shut down for the day in the early afternoon. So if you don’t have a reservation for a Christmas Eve dinner, act now.

The traditional Christmas dish for the Czechs is a schnitzel made of carp with potato salad. Escargots are also a popular Christmas treat. Fish soup is common, as well as „kuba“, barley risotto with mushrooms. Czechs, one of the least religious European countries, still follow some Christmas traditions rooted in Catholicism, so we not supposed to eat meat on Christmas Eve, and fish and escargots apparently don’t count.

That said, some Czechs ditch that tradition and have meat instead. We’re talking schnitzels, maybe duck or goose, and „wine sausage“ (white pork and beef sausage that needs to be grilled or roasted) is quite common, too. And most restaurants open on Christmas Eve will probably let you choose between fish and meat.

Dining on Dec 25 and 26 is easier - many (but not all) restaurants will reopen for these two days, so there’ll be more options. Retail will still be mostly closed for Christmas, though.

New Year’s Eve is not a bank holiday in the Czech Republic (unlike 1 January), so everything should stay open. Here the choices should be based on your very own style of celebrating NYE - a quiet, fine-dining dinner? Or a wild party at a bar? Somewhere near or above the river to watch the midnight festivities? Only you know the correct answer, and you should do you on NYE. There are options.

WHERE TO EAT IN PRAGUE ON CHRISTMAS EVE & NYE

Enough chit chat, let’s get to it. (Or scroll down for coffee.)

Christmas Eve (Dec 24) dinner:

All restaurants of the Ambiente group, a ubiquitous restaurant in Prague that runs anything from the Lokál pubs to La Degustation Michelin-starred restaurants, are shut down for December 24. As a result, Dec 24 is also the only day of the year when we do not run food tours in Prague.

Here’s what the good restaurants we know have in store for Christmas Eve dinner:

CAFÉ IMPERIAL/NEXT DOOR

Café Imperial is a classic Belle Epoque restaurant headed by Chef Pohlreich, a celebrity TV chef (he ran the Czech version of Kitchen Nightmares). Don’t expect hipster fermentation utopia - this a trip down the Austro-Hungarian memory lane.

What’s good about their Christmas menu, served on 24 through 26 December, is that’s it’s all a la carte, which is great if you don’t want to commit to a full tasting menu with or without restless kids. The menu includes Czech Christmas classics like fried escargot, fish soup, pike perch with mushroom kuba, or goose. What’s bad is that they seem to be fully booked for Dec 24, but you may try your luck.

They may recommend Next Door, their other location… ahem… next door, that also serves Czech classics a la carte, but adds saddle of deer as an option.

Both restaurants add goose to the menu on Dec 24 and 25, and both restaurants offer their own (very similar) flavor of NYE dinner buffet: Café Imperial charges CZK 3990 but adds lobster Thermidor to the menu, while Next Door charges CZK 3500, sans the lobster.

LE PETIT BEEFBAR

The beautiful, renovated Grand Café of the W Hotel on Wenceslas Square is a feast for the eyes, if your eyes like Art Nouveau interiors restored to absolute splendor. They are open from 6pm to 11pm and offer an a la carte dinner.

Their Noël brunch runs from noon to 4pm on Dec 25 and 26 and costs CZK 2,900 per person. We like the brunches at this place. Finally, their doors open at 6pm for the NYE dinner: a 3-course sharing menu and an oyster bar and glass of Champagne will set you back CZK 7500 per person. It might be nice to watch the craziness of Wenceslas Sq on NYE from the comfort of Belle Epoque luxury: like watching a flight erupt in a plane’s economy class over a reclining seat… from the comfort of your business class bed. (Okay, I may have gotten carried away a bit here.)

420

Another great choice for Christmas dining is 420. Despite the double-entendre name (the international dialing code for Czechia is +420), this is actually a pretty conservative-cooking place owned and run by Chef Kasparek who runs the Michelin-starred Field. The main benefit is of course its location, right across the Astronomical Clock on the Old Town Square. Another benefit, especially over the holidays, is the size: this is a big restaurant. So if you’d like Czech comfort food with some modern touches, 420 is definitely an option. (Its sister Field is closed for the holidays.)

Mlýnec / V Zátiší

Let’s star with Mlýnec. While closed on 24 December, they will have some XMas specials. First, their XMas brunches on Dec 20, 21, 25, 27 and 28 start at 11:30 and go until 3pm. Expect proseccos, kulajda, a Czech classic potato and mushroom soup, Prague ham, beef, cod and much more.

They do offer a NYE menu for CZK 12,000, which includes Champagne, a 6-course meal with wine pairing (CZK 8500 without the booze), live music, open bar, post-midnight buffet and, of course… a great view of the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle. (Please note that not all the tables in the restaurant get that view, so ask for them in advance if you can.)

V Zátiší is also closed on Dec 24 but will reopen on Dec 25 with a 7-course tasting menu for CZK 2295. This will include some Czech classics, like sauerkraut soup, fried escargots with Prague ham and parsley, or catfish, suckling pig belly or veal schnitzel. This honestly sounds like a steal - V Zátiší is a beautiful, fancy restaurant.

Their NYE menu is a 5-course affair with a glass of good Champagne (Legras) that will set you back CZK 5450. You start with a snack bar and carpaccio, followed by sturgeon and veal tenderloin, finish with cheeses and chocolate mousse. Sounds lovely.

U Matěje

The beautiful pub U Matěje - a recent Bib Gourmand - in the neighborhood where the rich and famous live, is closed on December 24. Other than, they will be open with their regular a la carte menu. Worth the bus/Uber drive any time, and especially during the holidays. Good stuff by one of the most famous Czech chefs, Chef Punchochar.

ZLATÁ PRAHA

If fancy fine dining is your jam for your Christmas meal, you might have a look at Zlatá Praha, the absolutely stunning restaurant on the top floor of the Fairmont Hotel, Prague’s only recipient of two Michelin keys in the current guide. They are famous for their unparalleled view of the Old Town (it does take your breath away when the sliding door to the restaurant opens, revealing the vista), and their chef has excellent credentials (as a former sous-chef of NYC’s Eleven Madison Park).

The dinners on Dec 24 and 25 include a live jazz band on site. The 6-course menu (Arctic char, pumpkin custard, Czech wagyu beef, desserts, canapés etc.) will set you back CZK 5990, the wine pairing is another CZK 2900.

Sounds pricy? Well, strap yourself in for their NYC dinner: the 9-course NYE dinner from 6pm (that includes Krug champagne as a welcome and midnight drink) costs CZK 16990 per person, with wine pairing for another CZJK 3990. And that’s just the start: the Golden Eye bar next door has a NYE menu that includes a lot of food and unlimited Ruinart champagne. Prices start at CZK 16990 for standard seating and ends at a whooping CZK 24900 for „VIP“ window seating with the best views of the city. All of these dinners include access to the afterparty at the hotel’s Grand Ballroom with a live concert and a DJ later on.

La Collezione group

If you can’t find a place for Christmas Eve dinner, there’s always the restaurants of La Collezione group, the veterans of introducing Italian cuisine to Czechs. They have always been open over Christmas, offering a mix of Italian and local experiences.

Bottega Linka is a beautiful restaurant neat the Marriott/Hilton Old Town hotels, and has a 4-course Xmas Eve dinner menu with foie gras paté, ravioli with escargots and cheeks, beef main dish and semi-freddo for CZK 2000 per person. Amano nearby has a more comprehensive 6-course tasting menu with lobster, cod or veal for CZK 3450. The cool, and the youngest, member of the group, Finestrina, is incredibly well located, and has a simple a la carte menu for Christmas Eve. This is actually our very own choice this year, so come say hi if you happen to be there. La Finestra next door offers an a la carte XMAs menu with stuff like grilled lobster Thermidor, veal Rossini or veal schnitzel, white truffle risotto, octopus, or a whole lotta different fish and steaks. Finally, Aromi, La Collezione’s flagship, offers a tasting menu for CZK 3450 that includes fallow deer, turbot and others. Good stuff!

Casa de Carli

If you crave more Italian, Casa de Carli, which has received its first Michelin star a week ago as arguably the best Italian restaurant in the city, is open on both Dec 24 and NYE (but closes for Dec 25 and 26). No special Christmas menu - they stick to their standart a la carte and tasting menus on both days.

ALCRON

Alcron, the famous restaurant of the Almanach X hotel in New Town, has a lot in store for this holiday season.

On Dec 24, they will host both a lunch and a dinner, both with classics like Zander and carp but also vegetarian and vegan options. The 3-course lunch will go for CZK 1590, and the 4-course dinner will set you back CZK 3290 (includes a glass of Veuve Cliquot.

On Dec 25 and 26, their lunch is a 3-course affair that included beef or turkey for main, at CZK 1750, and their dinner is a 4-course meal for CZK 3290, with Champagne.

Finally, their NYE dinner costs CZK 6500 and includes the likes of caviar, truffle choux, scallops, pumpkin tortellini, lobster, beef, with vegetarian and vegan options available.

NYE dining in Prague

We’ve already included many NYE options above, but here’s a few more restaurant that may not offer much over Christmas, but have something special for NYE:

Alma

Alma, one of our favorite restaurants in Prague that we visit nearly on a daily basis with our Prague food tours, and a recent Bib Gourmand recipient, has a NYE tasting menu that starts at 7pm and consists of either a regular or vegetarian 6-course menu. The dinner in this beautiful and modern restaurant will set you back a measly CZK 4 395, which we think is great, and the low-intervention wine pairing, with a midnight drink, will cost CZK 1995. The manager said they might actually offer an early-bird, shorter 5pm seating at a cheaper price. Call them to find out.

Taro

The nearby Taro - the world’s best modern Vietnamese restaurant in our view - offers two seatings for their NYE menu: the first seating from 5:30pm to 9pm for EUR 190, and a second seating that includes a rooftop midnight Champagne toast from 9pm to 0:30am for EUR 290.

All options include a welcome drink, an amuse-bouche, a tasting menu (4, 6 or 7 courses) and petit fours. The menu is created by our chef Khanh (he recently won the „Young Chef Award“ by the Michelin guide, a running joke in the restaurant and the family - Khanh is 39 years old but the proud owner of an incredibly smooth baby face), featuring festive ingredients such as aged meats, lobster and truffles, balanced with the bright and expressive flavours of Vietnamese cuisine. It will served in a carte blanche style — the full menu is revealed course by course at the table.

Štangl

Štangl, a fantastic casual fine dining restaurant and Prague’s only holder of both the regular star and the green star by the Michelin guide, is closed on Dec 34, but offers a 6-course NYE dinner that will include oysters, mushrooms with bone marrow, potatoes with caviar, halibut, duck with foie gras, and quince. The price? Nearly CZK 6000, with low-intervention wine pairing at 3988. Štangl is an amazing restaurant, and a well-deserved new Michelin star in the city.

The Eatery

The Eatery, a popular casual fine dining restaurant in the Holešovice district, used to be a staple for Christmas dining. Not anymore - they will close for Christmas. That said, they do offer a NYE menu: a 4-course menu at CZK 2399 or 2599 (depending on seating) with carpaccio, foie gras/pumpkin soup, beef tenderloin or zander, and laskonka dessert. The Eatery is a minimalist restaurant with bar seating (excellent for solo travelers) and great, light take on Czech cuisine, and very much a local favorite.

COFFEE IN PRAGUE AROUND CHRISTMAS

We have a coffee routine for Dec 24, because it has become a tradition that a lot of Prague’s food scene meets in the line for Christmas Eve coffee to exchange wishes and sometimes even edible gifts. If you want to be a part of it, or at least be there, make sure you visit any of these coffee shops before or around noon on Christmas Eve: onesip coffee, Kafemat, Solo bakery, format, hrnek café, and kiosek. All of these serve excellent coffee on Christmas Eve.

For specialty coffee over the holidays, you should just download the European Coffee Trip and check the opening times there, or find a place that is convenient for you, and check their opening times on their websites or google.

Prague Food Scene in 2022 Round-Up

So with 2022 finally reaching its end, it is time to look back at some of the best Prague openings of the year.

2022 seems to have been a good year - it was the first year without any major covid restrictions that would have an impact on the food industry at large: no shutdowns, no curfews, no capacity restaurant restrictions. And as a food tour company that makes more restaurant reservations than most, let us tell you: people came back and ate like it was the end of the world. This was a busy year if you were a restaurant that had something to offer.

Yet it also seems to be a year without a truly great, game-changing opening - and we mean no disrespect to the fine, hard-working restaurants and venues mentioned below. 2022 was not a year that saw an opening that would redefine what people wanted to eat and drink and experience, you know, the likes of the first Lokál more than a decade ago, or Eska in 2015, or Kro in 2019, or MrHotDog or The Eatery… well, you know what we mean. Great restaurants opened. But the seas did not part.

We are still waiting for some interesting openings next year - Kro will open their Moskevská restaurant after some serious delays. The same people will open Alma in… May? And we’re still waiting for the seismic event that will be the opening of Mr Kašpárek’s new restaurant concept just opposite the Astronomical Clock on the Old Town Square. (We’ve heard some wild things, man.)

Anyway, here’s notable openings of 2022, and let’s start with drinks… because it’s just easier.

Drinks in Prague in 2022

If there was a scene that actually saw major openings, it was the bar scene. First, the American Bar at the Municipal House opening early into the year, and it was a reason to rejoice: the second oldest cocktail bar in Europe, opened in 1910, was closed for a few years, and it reopened under the careful eye of Mr Tretter of former Tretter’s Bar glory as a stylish, atmospheric place with stylish, atmospheric staff, and solid drinks. A great place for a stop before or after a concert.

On the other end of the tourism-local spectrum is the Liquid Office bar that opened in the Karlín district, rising like Phoenix from the ashes of Cash Only Bar that did not survive the covid shutdowns and curfews. It was a ballsy move - serious, high-end cocktail bars have not done well in residential districts in the past. But despite some slower nights, Liquid Office is on a good track to become a staple of the Prague bar scene, and their Butterfly is one of the best signature drinks in Prague today.

Moving on to wine, The Eatery took over a small, struggling wine bar in Břevnov and reopened it as The Winery, taking advantage of the fact that they also run a wine distribution company, The Delivery. On first sight, this should not be our vibe - the place is an old-school winery with heavy wooden cladding, but you know what? It has its charm and after a glass or two, you start digging the old-school vibe. In Karlín, you will find Flemming’s, the new shop and wine bar of Flemming Laugesen of former Via del vino fame. Expect what you’d expect - great natural wines from small Italian boutique wineries. We like. Finally, Alma Wines may not have a permanent space yet, but it’s a new natural wine distributor by Jan Čulík of the now late Thir, and the people behind Kro Kitchen/Bistro & Bar.

But the biggest opening of the year in terms of wine is the Zilvar winery in Troja. Founded and run by Mr Zilvar, the winemaker who learnt winemaking at California’s UC Davis and made wine in the Mosel region, the winery manages to make some wonderful rieslings and pinot in the tiny vineyard with slates that overlooks the Stromovka park and the Holešovice district. All of that just a 15-min tram ride from the Old Town. Get a small tasting in their nice tasting room, or better, get a bottle and two glasses in the summer and enjoy the boozed-up view. You won’t regret it.

A few nice openings on the coffee scene as far as we’re concerned. Onesip coffee opened a coffee stand at the Ones shop ober at Újezd, but it did not turn out to be a profitable proposition, so they shut that down a few months later. But Lázeňská 14 Café by the good people of Grounds/Rusty Nails roasters has brought good coffee where there was none in the Charles Bridge area on the Castle side - the coffee’s great and the outdoor seating in the small courtyard just steps off the Charles Bridge and the Lennon Wall could be a saving grace for a place overrun by massive tourism.

Letná got a new café in the shape of 25.2rpm, just across the street from Format Coffee, which added a really nice room in the back. 25.2rpm resells bread and sweet stuff by Praktika, and adds vinyl records to the mix. Finally, Kafe Hrneček opened towards the end of the year, occupying the space of the former Traffik Coffee in Petrská. The espresso bar is run by Letná’s Hrnek café and it’s a calmer experience than the Berlin-inspired Traffik. We’ll be happy to pop in there hopefully often. Last but not least, Anežka opened in St Agnes Convent (taking over the space formerly occupied by Chef Kalina) and serves coffee, kolache by Ze mě projekt, and other small bites. It seems to have become a quick favorite among younger crowds and students.

Finally, one last segment: beer. The only new opening that registered on our radar was Automat Matuška by arguably the most famous craft brewer in the country. Joining forces with Karlín’s Krystal Bistro/Bob’s BBQ, they have come up with a concept that combines a modern craft beer pub with a mid-Texas BBQ joint that also likes its vegetables. There is also a nano-brewery in the basement that you can rent for events. The whole thing has become an instant hit for the evenings, while the days seem to be a bit slower for now. Anyway, a great addition to the formerly sleepy district of Bubeneč.

Food in PRAGUE in 2022

OK, finally! How about new restaurants?

If there was a trend in Prague in 2022 - and one could successfully argue there wasn’t - it would be expansion: new locations were opened by Mezi srnky, the popular Vinohrady breakfast/brunch/bistro, which opened a new location in Smíchov, Laforme, the Bubeneč-based coffee shop and bakery opened new locations in Vinohrady and Nusle, and Paprika, the Israeli/Mediterranean fast food place (think whole lotta hummus and falafel), opened new locations in Letná and again in Nusle. Gemüse Kebab Corner, the ultimate kebab experience in Prague, opened a location in Rumunská in Vinohrady, meaning you don’t have to drag yourself all the way to Podolí to get way more of some wholesome kebab that you should ever eat. And Las Adelitas opened a taqueria, their simplified concept of mostly to-go tacos, in Dejvice.

After a less successful stint at Sacra, Bára Šimunková, a young chef with a pretty formidable pedigree, opened her own restaurant, Leaf, in the Strašnice district. The focus is on turning local organic produce by small farmers into tasty dishes that border on fine dining. Think Praktika bakery, but for food. Unlike many restaurants that claim to be farm-to-table, only to clash with the reality, you can trust Bára that she will not back down from her vision.

An Bistro opened in Bubeneč, and it was meant to be the last eatery by the woman who started the whole Vietnamese Pho craze with her first place on JzP: Pho Vietnam Tuan & Lan. (Fun fact: Pho Vietnam was the first place we ever went to on a Taste of Prague food tour way back in 2011.) And boy, have things moved on: An is hip and traditional at the same time, and lightyears away from the simple concept of a cheap pho place. A few months after An bistro opened, the mom moved on and passed the baton to her son Jackie, known thus far in the world specialty coffee (he owns and runs Cafefin, mazelab coffee or Format Coffee).

Going back to Vinohrady, the spring saw the opening of Ragazzi, a fun pizzeria and a joint venture of Bad Jeff of Bad Jeff’s BBQ, and Joonas Mäkilä, who ran restaurants back in his native Helsinki, Finland. And it’s a fun place with solid pizza that is here to stay. Sadly, the same cannot be said of their almost neighbour, Mr G’s Asian, which opened as a Thai-inspired replacement of Bottega Gastronomica with some involvement - and as the first foray outside of the realms of Italian food - of Riccardo Lucque. Well, it obviously did not work out, because Mr G’s closed before we even got there to try it out. Speaking of Italian, the good people behind Zas a znova, the destination dining Czech restaurant just outside of Prague’s main ring highway, opened Di nuovo, an Italian place just about a mile away. Is this still Prague? Who cares - we’ve heard it is excellent.

Two new openings on the more finer dining end of the scale - first the ZEM Prague restaurant opened in the new Andaz hotel over at Senovážné náměstí, with an ambitious menu and a young promising Slovak chef. They’ve put quite a lot of effort into attracting young locals to dine in the restaurant, and it seems to have paid off. We can’t think of another hotel restaurant (with the exceptions of Café Imperial and Next Door) that would welcome so many Czech diners. Second, a fairly remote part of Lesser Town saw the opening of tãst, a small restaurant that offers a really nice looking local menu. We haven’t been but heard great things.

What next? Bakeries? Well, one of the first openings of 2022 was Aux Merveilleux de Fred, a French patisserie in Revoluční which seems to have attracted a loyal following for their signature pastries. SugarMaMa, a popular food blogger, opened a bakery in Žižkov, and Kin & K bakery expanded into the Vinohrady district, opening right next to coffee room on Korunní to the point you’d be excused if you confused the two. Supernova Bakehouse opened in industrial Holešovice and serves great croissants with striking visuals. And Karlín’s Krystal bistro opened a bakery next door. Kolache, anyone?

King Solomon, the best kosher restaurant in Prague, has changed the concept entirely after covid and reopened as Pátá čtvrť, a modern Jewish deli. And Hell Smoke BBQ opened a permanent establishment at Újezd. And Vinobona, a restaurant-wine bar in the New World area near the Prague castle that's serves Czech cuisine and weekend brunches (and whole lotta wine) opened in July.

Finally, while the ubiquitous Ambiente group didn’t open any restaurants per se in 2022, it did, in March, open UM, its training centre for professionals and laymen alike, and their courses for aspiring chefs and restauranteurs, with the occasional pop-up dinners sprinkled in between, have been a resounding success, to the extent that they might be looking for a bigger location for the next year. (They have other big plans for 2023, too.)

So here we are. Obviously, this list does not have the ambition of being exhaustive - we know many more restaurants, cafés and bars opened in 2022, but these just showed up on our radar. Did we miss anything major? Please let us know and we’ll be happy to add it in.

Happy New Year, everyone!

2022 Prague Christmas Dining and NYE Dining Guide

We’re back, baby! 

Yes, after two Covid years, the 2022 holiday season finally feels like a real holiday season in Prague - the Christmas markets are on (and not cancelled two hours before their were supposed to start like last year), Prague is full of tourists, and the shopping craze is not hindered by any pesky shutdowns or curfews. Yay?!

Which also means that if you’re reading this now, frantically trying to find a place to eat out on Christmas Eve, it’s probably too late. But if we were to look for a place to eat out during holidays, it would be one of the ones below. 

So good luck, and here’s our 2022 Prague Christmas and NYE Dining Out Guide.

What to expect when you’re expecting… to dine out on Christmas in Prague

Czechs celebrate Christmas Eve more than Christmas Day, and the city stops to a halt on Christmas Eve at about 4pm. Most restaurants and businesses will shut down for the day in the early afternoon. So if you don’t have a reservation for a Christmas Eve dinner, act now.

The traditional Christmas dish for the Czechs is a schnitzel made of carp with potato salad. Escargots are also a popular Christmas treat. Fish soup is common, as well as „kuba“, barley risotto with mushrooms. (According to tradition, Czechs are not supposed to eat meat on Christmas Eve, and fish and escargots don’t count.) That said, many Czechs ditch that tradition and have meat instead. We’re talking schnitzels, maybe duck or goose, and „wine sausage“ is quite common, too. And most restaurants open on Christmas Eve will probably let you choose between fish and meat.

Dining on Dec 25 and 26 is easier - many (but not all) restaurants will reopen for these two days, so there’ll be many more options. Retail will still be mostly closed for Christmas, though.

New Year’s Eve is not a bank holiday in the Czech Republic (unlike 1 January), so everything should stay open. Here the choices should be based on your very own style of celebrating NYE - a quiet, fine-dining dinner? Or a wild party at a wine bar? Somewhere near or above the river to watch the midnight festivities? Only you know you the best, and you should do you on NYE.

Where to eat in Prague on Christmas Eve & NYE

Enough chit chat, let’s get to it. (Or scroll down for coffee.)

The Eatery

The website of the popular Bib-Gourmand awarded modern Czech restaurant in the Holešovice district says they’re fully booked for both Christmas Eve and NYE. We recommend calling them to see if there are any cancellations or a waitlist. This is a great choice for a quieter, more elegant yet still pretty casual celebration of both.

Café Imperial

Café Imperial is a classic Belle Epoque restaurant headed by Chef Pohlreich who’s one of the most famous chefs around here (he ran the Czech version of Kitchen Nightmares). Don’t expect avant-garde here but a trip down the Austro-Hungarian memory lane. 

What’s good about their Christmas menu, served on 24 through 26 December, is that’s it’s all a la carte, which is great if you don’t want to commit to a full tasting menu or have restless kids. The menu includes Czech Christmas classics like fried escargot, fish soup, pike perch with mushroom kuba, or goose. 

On NYE, they are planning a comprehensive buffet dinner with a la carte main dish from 7pm with live music. The price is CZK 3450 and 1725 for children. Here’s what’s on the menu: lobster Thermidor, venison terrine, foie gras crème brulée, roast beef, Parma ham, salad bar. A la carte mains: duck confit, rack of lamb, pike perch, dear or beef cheeks. Add selection of cheeses, desserts.

Next Door

Next Door is literally next door from Café Imperial and shares the same chef and approach to dining, but the room is a bit more modern, although it tries not to be. 

Again, we’re having a la carte Christmas menu served on 24 through 26 December: marinated trout, creamy fish soup, pike perch with light potato salad or grilled duck breast.

Their NYE buffet shares a lot with Café Imperial: starts at 7pm, has live music, costs CZK 3450 or CZK 1725. A la carte mains: duck confit, daily fish, boar steak, suckling pig cheeks, corn-fed chicken, the buffet looks similar to Café Imperial’s.

Bottega Linka

Bottega Linka is a casual Italian restaurant with a beautiful interior and a great selection of mostly natural Italian wines. It offers nice warm dishes, along with a salad bar. It belongs to the La Collezione group (think Aromi, La Finestra, Amano and all the Bottega bistros.)

On Christmas Eve, they have an a la carte menu that features escargots, lobster velouté, seafood spaghetti or veal ossobuco and pannetone.

For NYE, they offer a tasting menu for CZK 3990 and optional CZK 2500 wine pairing. The five courses include steak tartare, chestnut ravioli, fish with smoked beurre blanc, or Texas-style beef ribs.

Aromi, LA FINESTRA

Aromi, the flagship restaurant of the La Collezione group in the Vinohrady district, is fully booked for Christmas Eve as of the writing of this article, but their sister, La Finestra, still seems to have seats for theis simple yet great looking Christmas menu. The star is the lobster Thermidor for two, escargots and oysters. Served á la carte.

For NYE, La Finestra has prepared a tasting menu for CZK 3995 that includes a lobster toast, pumpkin tortellini, scallops, and a choice of duck or fish. La Finestra is a great, comfortable restaurant that has a fantastic, strategic location - just a few steps off the Charles Bridge, but tucked away is a smaller street.

Amano

Amano is an Italian restaurant bordering between classy and hip/trendy. They offer a Christmas menu that can be enjoys á la carte, or as a tasting menu that goes for CZK 1890 (and a CZK 1690 wine pairing). The main dish can be either turbot or Iberico cheeks.

Taro

The cool and immensely popular Vietnamese/Asian restaurant in the Anděl area with bar seating around an open kitchen  - and the most recent addition to Michelin’s Prague guide - may be closed on Christmas Eve, but they do open on 28 December and stay open on NYE for both lunch and dinner, although they don’t seem to be preparing any special NYE menu. Which does not have to be a bad thing - their dinner menu is excellent.

Dian

The younger sister of Taro in the Brumlovka area that serves cool Asian dishes to share is closed for Christmas, but will be open for NYE, and will serve a NYE lunch between 12 and 3pm, and NYE dinner! The lunch consists of six courses (with the likes of a soft shell crab bao, Robata grill chicken Satay or Vietnamese duck) and costs CZK 2590. Add cocktails and a live DJ, and this could be really fun!

ZEM Prague

The restaurant of the newly opened Andaz hotel in the New Town with a very competent young chef that seems to target not only the hotel guests but also cool, hip and younger locals is serving Christmas set menu dinners from 24 through 26 December for CZK 1995 (with an optional CZK 995 wine pairing). The menu is a pretty traditional Czech affair - kuba, wine sausage and zander. Zem also offers a fun Christmas brunch on 25 December that has plenty of options for food and drinks alike. This is a great idea actually that is unique within the context of Prague.

Finally, Zem also plans a NYE party: dinner at the ZEM restaurant, followed by drinks at the MEZ bar that stays open until 3am. There are different packages available on their website.

VALLMO

The very popular modern Czech restaurant with some fine dining touches by the river (just slightly south of the main attractions of the historical centre) is planning an 8-course dinner for NYE that goes for CZK 3990 or CZK 4990 with wine pairing. The first course is a snack bar, followed by Prague ham stock and whole lotta protein dishes. But Vallmo is a great choice for dinner - the kitchen produces tasty dishes and you can then walk to the river and enjoy the festivities a bit farther away from the craziness, while enjoying a great view of the Prague Castle.

La Degustation and Field restaurants

The two Michelin-starred restaurants are both closed for Christmas and open on NYE but now only accept entries in their waitlist - they are fully booked already. Still, one can dream! (But you have to dream real hard - La Degustation’s wait list has twenty on it people already.)

Krystal

The OG of good eating in the Karlín district will be closed for Christmas but will offer a NYE menu: their charcuterie made in house, Panco-encrusted sweetbreads, steak with foie gras and truffle, and pear crumble with vanilla ice cream. Prepare to shell out CZK 1180 for the entire menu but be ready to be out of the restaurant at 10pm. Not a problem - just finish the night at Liquid Office bar nearby for fantastic drinks and a bit of a quieter evening. 

Vinohradský parlament

The modern Czech pub with a focus on all things dumplings in the Vinohrady district will actually stay open throughout Christmas Eve until 10pm and in addition to their standard menu will serve escargots, which will be available through 26 December.

La Gare

The lively and casual French restaurant will be open for Christmas Eve lunch and have a menu based on escargots - two seatings only until 3pm.

TERASA U ZLATÉ STUDNĚ 

The fancy dining restaurant will a great view of the city was always a bit under our radar - it just seemed to gimicky and too focused on the view and the tourism - but now that the kitchen is headed by Chef Hlaváček, whom we consider to be one of the most promising young Czech fine dining chefs, this might be a fantastic option if you like your dinners heavy on technique and the surroundings luxurious. Their website says nothing about their plans for Christmas or NYE, but definitely give them a try. (And be ready to pay a price for all of that.

Aureole

Aureole is a swanky restaurant on top of a high-rise building in the Pankrác district (don’t panic - it’s just a short Uber ride from the centre). They used to serve great Christmas Eve dinners but apparently don’t serve one this year and will close for the entire holiday.

However, they do offer tickets for their „NYE in the sky“ dinner. The tickets range from Black to Diamond (depending on the seating) and from CZK 8200 to CZK 10000 (part of the difference is whether you get a seating with a view), and they’re nearly fully booked. They include a 7-course meal with Champagne, midnight snack and toast, live music and a DJ. 

Coffee in Prague around Christmas

So morning coffee on the 24th will be easy: both Kafemat and onesip coffee, our two specialty coffee staples, will be open. Prepare to wait though. Bubeneč’s mazelab coffee will be open on Christmas Eve morning, too.

The problem is Christmas Day, when everything seems to be closed right now, with one exception: The Miners in Železná, which is open every day over Christmas, with shorter opening hours (4pm on the 24th and 6pm on the 25th and the 26th.). We think you can also get your fill at restaurants that serve specialty coffee. Right now, only some of the Ambiente outposts come to mind: Myšák and Café Savoy in the centre, and Eska over at Karlín.

Many, but not all, coffee shops will reopen on the 26th, like Karlín’s Etapa bistro. See you there with circles under your yes and a mug in hand!

Prague neighbourhood guide: Bubenec

Bubeneč is a very quiet, green, residential neighbourhood known for embassies occupying large villas, and Stromovka, the biggest park in Prague. This is the district where people settle to start families - it is full of parks, playgrounds and kindergartens, with very few bars or any night life to talk of. It is now na affluent neighbourhood that ticks a lot of boxes - it is near the city centre, but not in it, and while it offers the leaf cover of some fancy districts like Hanspaulka, it does not feel as far away and has everything you’d need.

Now, before we start, we use the term „Bubeneč“ very liberally and do not stick to its precise, administrative borders. So no angry letters please - the are we cover here will inevitably, at times, spill over into Dejvice.

Getting in and out

You will gravitate towards the Hradčanská and Dejvická subway and tram stops. They are both on the green line of the subway that connects you to the historical centre. But you can use the trams, too: the 18 gets you there from Old Town, 20 from Lesser Town, and 8 and 26 from New Town (via the cool district of Letná). Weather permitting, you can also walk to Bubeneč via the beautiful Letná park, or through the Royal Garden if you’re at the Prague Castle.

Staying there

Residential districts of Prague don’t always offer hotels targeting tourism, but bizarrely, Bubeneč does have at least three that come to mind. The Hotel International is an absolute icon, and a beacon of 1950s Communist Social Realism. This is luxury living the way Communists imagined it… and it is… interesting in the best sense of the word. The Diplomat hotel is just off the border of Bubeneč in Dejvice, and it’s a comfortable business hotel with everything you’d ever need. You’ll be at the airport in 15 min, and you’re 15 min from the city centre by subway or tram that stop right in front of the hotel. And finally, Hotel Schwaiger is a small boutique hotel right at the edge of the Stromovka park and right across the street from the ironing Na Slamníku pub. This is a great option if you like your accommodation in a calmer area.

Coffee

Where Bubeneč punches way above its weight is specialty coffee: we literally don’t have to travel outside of the district to get plenty caffeinated… and stay that way all week.

It is no secret that we have our daily morning coffee at Kafemat. Not only does everybody know our name there, but we strongly believe it is one of the top coffee shops in the whole of Prague, with seasoned professionals making delicious cups of coffee even during the morning rush hour. This is a neighbourhood spot that every neighbourhood deserves.

But Kafemat is a small espresso bar with basically no food except some re-sold baked stuff, so if you want to eat with your coffee, or sit with a bigger group, your best bet in the district is Místo, one of coffee shops run b Doubleshot, the OG of specialty coffee roasters in Prague. This place is very popular and for good reason: it serves great coffee and solid food, wine and beer, and can keep you happy from the morning till early evening. Plus they sell their own roasted beans, which are a Great souvenir from Prague.

Within a stone’s throw from Místo you’ll find La forme, which combines specialty coffee with great baking - Laforme may serve our favorite croissants in town, ideally eaten on the small bench or a few tables on the leafy street outside. (There’s virtually no place to sit inside.) Mazelab coffee a few blocks further away, which belongs to the coffee empire of Jackie Tran, serves great coffee in a former garage-turned-designer coffee shop. Think Apple Store simplicity and great coffee to create a zen-like experience. And Café Borzoi a bit further north is a small espresso bar that serves coffee by The Naughty Dog, another local roaster. Finally, Kiosek Kafe is a small stand at the Dejvická bus stop that may be technically in Dejvice, but it is worth mentioning here.

Sweet stuff

Bubeneč is also quite nice if you’re not on a diet. We guess that with all these parks and playgrounds, you need to refuel with carbs.

We have already mentioned La forme, one of the best bakeries in town if you like croissants - plain or filled - or pain au chocolat and the like. Just three blocks away is location of another Prague staple, Oh Deer Bakery, thank sells wonderful cronuts, pastries and now even bread. Speaking of best in town, a special mention must go to Kristyjan Chocolatiers. Founded by a Kristyna and Jan (the former worked in the food industry previously and the latter was a concierge at the Four Seasons), they have successfully turned their passion for pralines and chocolate into what we feel is the best chocolatiers in town. Their pralines and chocolates are delicious and the wrapping is luxurious - the best gift from Prague?

Bubeneč is also great if you crave ice-cream, with both Angelato and Crème de la Crème, the two staples from the city, represented. And you know what? Our little JJ likes the strawberry at Ovocný Světozor, and who are we to argue? Finally, Elvíra is a surprisingly good pastry shop in the lower part of Bubeneč, just across the street from Café Borzoi (they make a great combo together) - their pavlova, for instance, is delicious. And just across the corner is Bakery 60, a Korean bakery serving treats unlike any other in town.

Pubs

There are beers to be drunk in Bubeneč with at least three pubs that can easily claim to be iconic. First, the U Veverky pub is the Czech pub everybody in the neighbourhood likes, with all the staples of a Czech pub - good Pilsner, comfort food, Czech beer hygge in the form of wooden cladding in small rooms, and slightly annoyed staff. What more do you want? Then there’s Nádražka, the absolutely iconic pub at the Praha-Dejvice railway station. To a newbie, this is a puzzling, confusing experience: the beer is incredibly cheap, there is absolutely no table service ever, and the whole thing is a bizarre shrine of Mr Frýba, a late TV announcer from the 70s. But hey, if you’ve ever a teenager with an attitude in Prague, the odds are you loved this place. Finally, the Na Slamníku pub is a classic destination pub with a small hall for concerts and events, and a beautiful tiled oven in the main room. This is a Czech pub the way they looked and operated a hundred years ago. Great outdoor seating in the summer, too.

Fancy craft beers? Not a problem. Automat Matuška may have opened less than a month ago, but it’s already becoming a destination for those who love craft beers and good BBQ. This is a large space at the right spot that serves the entire portfolio what probably is the most popular Czech craft brewery today. Pivovar Bubeneč just a few blocks down Bubenečská is a quieter, neighbourly corner pub that has cute outdoor seating for the summer. And Krkonošská hospůdka is a joy to have a beer at - the place is a simple, friendly craft beer pub with a small but well curated list of beers. And those brave enough will try Basecamp, a craft beer shop, just across the street - there are some beers to be had there, too.

Restaurants

For the longest time, Bubeneč was a desert when it came to good restaurants, but recently things have been changing for the better.

Bizarrely, Bubeneč has one Bib Gourmand-awared restaurant (there’s only a handful of these in the Michelin guide for Prague), Dejvická 34. It is a classic Italian bistro with very skilled chefs that serve lunch specials and fine dining dinners, paired with nice Italian wines. This is a place that will appeal to you if you prefer comfort over adventure. Another popular Italian restaurant is Little Italy/Da Emanuel, formerly run by a famous Italian TV chef, Emanuele Ridi. It is a cosy trattoria that attracts some of the rich and famous here, and has a really nice outdoor seating in the summer. If you still crave more Italian, you can have something nice - or buy something nice - at the Italians Wine Food bistro, or just get a slice or a whole pie of pizza at the no-nonsense Fresh Point across the street.

Besides the pubs mentioned above, there’s not many Czech restaurants in the area, and the slightly cosmopolitan atmosphere (remember, embassies!) lends itself to foreign cuisine. So you can have a nice dumpling lunch at the Ukraininan Váleček bistro, a cool brunch or a bowl of pho or bibimbap at the An bistro that combines modern Vietnamese fast food with specialty coffee and craft beers, have something French at A Table in Mařákova, something Lebanese at U Cedru, Greek fast food at Fresh Greek or a longer Greek meal at Kavala, or a Japanese dinner or sushi at either Katsura in the Diplomat hotel, or Mash Hana just behind the Hradčanská subway stop. The Puškinovo náměstí is a twofer, with Na břehu Rhony offering French wines and food, and Na Urale pub serving fresh Pilsners and Czech pub fare to refuel as you watch your kids go nuts at the playground just across the road.

Shopping

So besides the Kristyjan pralines, if you want to get a souvenir from Bubeneč, it’s easy: you have to go the In August Company, founded by our friends Karolína and Teo, to get beautiful ceramics, a tote bag, tea cups or stationery famous among the locals. This is a gift that will fill you with happy memories for years to come. Pokojovky sells beautiful home plants for your home (in case you’re moving in)… and that’s about it we’re afraid.

What to do

Obviously, the parks genuinely call for a nice walk: the Stromovka is the biggest park in Prague with wonderful lakes, paths, jogging routes and playgrounds. You can use it to cross the river north and continue to Císařský ostrov island with equestrian centres, or take the pedestrian bridge further to reach Troja with the ZOO, the botanical garden and vineyards.

The newly opened Museum of Literature is a great destination to finish your walk through the villas of Bubeneč (check out especially the Slavíčkova street for that) or start your walk through lower Bubeneč towards the International Hotel. If you plan a walk from there to the National Technical Library in Dejvice, you’re in for a quiet, interesting stroll.

Finally, there’s the playgrounds. Prague does playgrounds well, and Bubeneč is at the forefront. Virtually every square will have something, from the shielded sand box and playground at Puškinovo náměstí, to the leafy playground at Lotyšská, or the trampoline at Náměstí Interbrigády, the bronze horses and splashy pools at Šabachův park, or the secluded park at the end of Václavkova. Follow that with ice-cream (see above), and you’re in for some quality family time.

Introducing Šodó, our joint bistro with PG Foodies

Not sure if you’re following us on Instagram or Facebook, but you may have noticed our big announcement: we will be opening Šodó, a bistro in the Dejvice district (which is roughly where we live), with Gabi and Petr, aka PG Foodies, of Etapa. We will be hiring in September, and we hope to welcome you all in our new place some time in November.

We’re sure you’re having questions. Let’s answer some of them.

How the heck do you pronounce this thing?

You pronounce it „sho-doh“. (Basically the first syllable of „chauffeur“ with the last syllable of „Bordeaux“. And no, it’s not a French restaurant.)

WHAT WILL IT BE?

A small (smaller than you think) neighbourhood bistro with a welcoming vibe, specialty coffee, a small menu with tasty breakfast, a few lunch dishes, and later some easy fare that goes well with wine. And baking. And alcohol - Jan has insisted. It’s a celebration of the local tastes we’ve known and loved since our childhoods, mixed with a few inspirations through our travels. All that wrapped in a streamlined concept manageable with just a few members of great staff.

How it started?

So the year is 2021 and we are getting pretty desperate. Taste of Prague relies on open restaurants and open borders, and this was the second year we weren’t getting either of those things. So we were thinking, we need to so something else, something for the locals, too.

Our initial idea? A great grocery shop with great local produce and awesome things from abroad we tasted in our travels. We found a really nice place that reminded us of the small town shops of our childhoods. And with great landlords who loved the idea and gave us full support.

Turns out small grocery shops are very, very, very hard to do. But we still loved the space, and the landlords. Enter Gabi and Petr. They were playing with the idea of opening a new space, and were even scouting locations in Dejvice. Maybe they might like our space? Take it over from us? Let’s ask!

Turns out they liked the space. And the idea of running a small bistro… with us! Okay, a few deep breaths, we’re in.

How it’s going?

You mean except the sleepless nights and the anxiety and the self-doubt? Oh, it’s going splendid.

Anyway, we are now finishing the shell and core part of the reconstruction. The place is tiny (I think we bought a dozen chairs?) but was an office so needs to be converted and approved as a place to eat. We’re choosing the fit out and finishes, the kitchen equipment, the coffee infrastructure. We hope to be opening in November. Did we mention the sleepless nights and anxiety?

We are also trying to figure out how to make great things on such a small footprint. But hey, if Atelier September can cook on a single counter and still have lines outside of the joint, there must be a way. The concept should be very simple, manageable with just a few members of staff.

Speaking of staff, we will be hiring very, very soon. If you know anyone who’d love to become a part of the team and set sail on a joint adventure with us, let us know.

Oh yeah, and the address is Wucherlova 1. It’s not on the main street but hey, that did not stop Etapa from being a hit. The street is quiet, near the Praha-Dejvice train station, and there’s trees, benches, a nice square and a playground all nearby. We love the vibe.

What the heck is Šodó, anyway?

If you didn’t grow up here, šodó is, broadly speaking, vanilla custard that used to be a staple of Czech school cafeteria lunches. Basically a bunch of baked buns served in a plate of the custard. Everybody wanted more šodó, right? So that’s why.

Moravian wines to have in Prague in 2022

Are you in Prague this year, love wine and want to get into Moravian wines, but don’t know where to start? We’re happy you’re here. First of all, good job you for knowing about Moravian wines. They are hardly ever exported (the entire wine production of the Czech Republic satisfies only about 40% of its consumption) and definitely worth looking into. Second, good job finding your way here. Because we have a few ideas. A starter pack, if you will.

We won’t lie to you: this list is heavily biased by our very own Moravian wine tours and whatever it is we taste on our explorations of the Moravian wine country. But we do believe that the winemakers we visit are the best we can visit, and we choose them very, very carefully to be a true representation of what great Moravian wines and winemakers can be. (BTW, if you want to book a spot, don’t hesitate - it’s an awesome weekend out of Prague that sells out quick and is always guided by Jan, who happens to write these words.)

So without hesitation, here we go - a few wines you should try in Prague while you’re here.

Vinařství Petr Kočařík: Cabernet Sauvignon 2018

It’s funny that when you’re talking to winemakers, climate change is not a matter open to discussion: it’s just an undisputable fact of life. The old “wisdom” was that Moravia, one of the northernmost wine countries anywhere, is great for whites and not so good for reds. Well, that’s just nonsense. If you want to be wowed by a Moravian red, just order this 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon - not your typical variety for Moravia - by Mr Kočařík... while they still last. Having a red Cabernet Sauvignon from this winery, which is very careful about its brand and the high standards associated with it, is rare - in the last ten years, they have only released three red vintages, and the 2018 is the best one. (The rest of the vintages, they just make a fantastic rose Cab Sav if they feel the red would not be delicious.)

Mr Kočařík is hands down our favorite Moravian winemaker. Started as a hobby winemaker and now still operating from home and producing some 10 to 12 thousand bottles a year and not wishing to expand, Mr Kočařík is a natural winemaker without any of the trendiness, “funkiness” or shock value sometimes associated with natural winemaking today. His wines are traditional, well made and free of any excesses. You should also try his Traminer (with longer skin contact and hypnotising notes of rosewater), Hibernal (everybody looks down on that resistant grape... until they have Mr Kočařík’s version) and the red Odměra, a fruity “table red” that is a reminder of what traditional Moravian reds tasted like in the old days, while being immensely fun and drinkable.

BTW, we are probably the only non-professionals allowed to have tastings with Mr Kočařík, and his sometimes brutal honesty and clarity of expression are one of the highlights of the tour.

Plenér: CMYK

We wanted to visit Dominika Černohorská of Plenér winery because we wanted to show a female winemaker in a field traditionally dominated by men. But this isn’t one of your derogatory “Female Chef of the Year” category - Dominika is a fantastic winemaker in her own right, gender aside, avoiding all dogmatic divide between the conventional and natural winemaking. She just wants to make great wine true to the terroir and history of that terroir, and also have fun in the process. And she succeeds - her wines are clean, crisp, fun, and challenge all dogmatics views of the present and the past. And her cellar in Pavlov that mixes traditional layout with modern art is the coolest in all Moravia.

Why CMYK? Because you can find it in many restaurant. After all, it was designed as “house wine” for the restaurant business, modelled after the “one-liter Müller Thurgau” that dominated the food industry under Communism. Dominika wanted to follow on that tradition, but with a modern sensibility. The result is a non-complicated, super fun, don’t-think-about-it wine that is very approachable yet still way above the rest in terms of quality of wine making and vineyard keeping. The same actually applies to her Frankovka, aka Blaufränkisch, which shoiuld resemble the light, fruity and drinkable reds of the Czech yesteryears.

(As a fun experiment, try her Riesling next to Sonberk’s riesling of the same vintage - Dominika buys grapes from Sonberk, so this just proves that you can make two very different wines from the same produce.)

Pavel Springer: Merlot Family Reserve 2018

The visit to the Springer winery is one of the highlights of our Moravian wine tour: this is what Czechs imagine when you say a Moravian wine cellar. A small cellar in the middle of a cellars lane behind the village, with seating outside and a view, without traffic... and loads and loads of wine. And also barrel tastings, which is unique, super fun and very educational at the same time. And Mr Springer and his two sons (lovingly dubbed by our guests as the Franco brothers to reflect their good looks) are the perfect hosts, not shy to taste every barrel and open every bottle. (”That’s why we don’t have an archive,” says Mr Springer, half-jokingly.)

What sets the Springers apart is just the sheer quality of their wines. Seated in Bořetice, their forte is in the reds. While they are most famous for Skale, their Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot blends, their Frankovka (Blaufrankisch) are delicious too, and their Pinots are lovely... and never enter retail - the 600 bottles or so only go to private clients. But the crown takes the Merlot 2018 Family Reserve. Unfiltered, unclarified, aged in French barrique barrels, this is as good as it gets for a Moravian red. Again, Mr Springer (who shared a desk in high school class with Mr Kočařík, btw) says he could not have never been able to make a red like this when he started some 30 years ago. If there’s a silver lining to climate change, it’s in this bottle.

Vinařství Gala: Chardonnay 2016 sparkling

There’s one major problem when we visit the Galas at the foot of the Pálava hill, the most iconic piece of land in the Mikulovsko sub-region: nobody wants to leave. You really think there must be some Nazi gold involved, because everything is so damn perfect: the Galas are strikingly good-looking, the kids are self-publishing their own book (yup), they have the cutest dog Lotti and a cat and baby lamb in one of the nicest wine houses that looks like it was transported to the Pálava from a fancy nordic design magazine... and that’s before you notice the horses prancing around free before Mr Gala uses them to plow the vineyards. And then there’s the wines.

And the wines look expensive, and taste expensive. Mr Gala became famous because he made the highest-awarded Czech wine according to the Decanter magazine (98/100 points for his 2015 Welschriesling - and if there’s a classic wine and terroir from the Czech Republic, it’s the Welschriesling from the Pálava hill), but all his wines are classy, pure and complex at the same time. But we always go for his bubbles. The Galas have always been famous for them. For the longest time, we really loved - and drank a lot of - his rosé Pinot / Merlot blend, but right now our choice would be his classic Chardonnay. Beautifully balanced, creamy mouthfeel, crisp acidity yet fuller body. As far as Czech sparklings go, this is perfection. Get the whole bottle. You’ll finish it easy.

Vinařství Marada: Madam Pinot

Our visits to Mr Marada are memorable for two reasons. Number one, he’s one of the winemakers hit heavily by the early 2022 tornado (which destroyed a lot of his production facilities and nearly all his archived and warehoused wines), and seeing that destruction for your own eyes is striking. Number two, as the leader of a famous dulcimer folk band that plays gigs ate Czech embassies around the world, he forces you to sing Moravian folk songs in the cellar, which makes for truly awkward and/or bonding experiences, as our Czech guests struggle with the lyrics and melody and our foreign guests just hum along politely.

Mr Marada is a natural winemaker (as the son-in-law of Mr Osička, the icon of Moravian natural winemakers, he must be) famous for still and sparkling wines. His single-fermentation pet nats, like the popular Legally Blonde, are easy to drink and funky at the same time, but our heart goes to Madam Pinot, a Champagne-style blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Binot Blanc, Riesling and Chardonnay that aged sur lie for 15 months. If you can’t find it, try their Révovous, sparkling riesling made in the very same way. And try to sing a Moravian folk song when you finish it. Make Mr Marada proud.

Sonberk: Pálava

It’s funny what counts as a “big winery” here in the Czech Republic. Sonberk winery produces short of 150 thousand bottles a year, which makes it the biggest winery we visit by far. Yet, it is one of the few “big wineries” that is universally respected by the smaller winemakers we tend to visit - their architecturally awarded winery is smack in the middle of the vineyards, and despite the size, they pick all grapes manually and the vineyards are organic. Also, it’s the perfect “Instagram winery” thanks to the splendid view of the Pálava hill from the winery’s terrace.

Their portfolio is just the right size: focused, but still offering lots of variety. Worth noting is their Merlot, the only red in the portfolio, or the noble rot and straw wines, which are sweeter but retain lots of character. While their flagship is definitely the riesling, we want to point your attention to Pálava. Crossed in the Czech Republic in the 1970s to combine the powers and qualities of the Traminer and Müller Thurgau, Pálava is traditionally associated with sweeter, lower-quality wines. However, Sonberk’s dry, high-quality Pálava is always the biggest surprise with its incredible aroma on the nose and complexity in the mouth. To taste a grape unique to the Czech Republic, give Sonberk’s Pálava a try.

Where to taste these wines? In one of our favorite wine bars in Prague or, better yet, in person with the winemakers in Moravia during one of our weekend tours! Click here to book your spot now. We promise you won’t regret it.

Best Cocktail Bars in Prague, 2022 edition

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Everybody knows about the beer. Some know about the wine. But where Prague really punches way above its weight, it’s artisanal cocktails. (And specialty coffee - just see for yourself).

And after two plus years of covid that feel like twenty regular ones (btw, have you seen my hair? I seem to have lost it some time in 2020), we all need a drink. (If you’re reading this later on, this was written days after Mr Smith “slapped the sh*t out of” Mr Rock.) And in that sense, Prague delivers. So where do you go to have a drink? Just read below... and enjoy. (Another Prague’s hidden gem: our Prague food tours, of course. [End of shameless plug.])

What follows is a shortlist of what we think are…

The Best Bars in Prague

But first, a few general observations that apply to nearly all the good bars in Prague:

• Why are cocktail bars in Prague so good? We think that it all boils down to what we’ve heard someone call the“Czechoslovak bar mafia”: a group of Czech and Slovak bartenders who headed some of the best cocktail bars in the world: Alex Kratena at the Tayer + Elementary, Mr Lorenz at Kwānt or Mr Tvaroh at Lounge Bohemia, all in London, or the Atlas Bar in Singapore, or Martin Hudak at Maybe Sammy in Sydney, among many others. These world-class bartenders have been continuously raising the bar of mixology around the world and - by extension and through friendships, internships and sharing of know-how - in Prague. As a result, Prague can boast mixology at a level that clearly offers more than the price tag would suggest.

• That brings us to the second point: cocktail bars in Prague can offer some fantastic value. “…The quality of the drinks, service and ambience is not reflected in the price, which is way too low, but hey, that’s Czechia,” said Martin Zufánek, the most famous Czech distiller, in an interview he gave us for our Prague Foodie Map. (BTW, did you already get your copy?)

• Reservations are generally a good idea. Bar-hopping? You may not get a seat in the best bars in town. Places like Hemingway Bar or Tretter's can get really crowded. Otherwise, walk-ins are fine in some of the bars listed.

• Finally, Prague benefits from a friendly community of high-end bartenders who know, like and support each other. Everywhere you go, you can feel the respect bartenders have for each other. Again, Mr Zufánek says that the Prague bar scene is run by “a group of real aficionados who never stop learning and who are bound together by camaraderie and mutual support: when you finish a drink in one bar and tell the bartender what bar are you visiting next, they will say some like “oh, great place, say hi and enjoy!” You should take advantage of that.

Must-visit Bars in Prague

Hemingway Bar

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Ask anyone in Prague what’s their three favorite bars in town, and Hemingway Bar will inevitably pop up. A medium-sized two-story bar, Hemingway Bar has been a local favorite for years. As the name suggests, the bar has a slight focus on rums but the seasoned professionals behind the bar will fix you a drink out of just about anything. The bar uses quality ingredients, with many bitters made in house, and the bartenders make sure you understand what goes into every drink and why. They use dried egg whites for their sours. Our suggestion? The Becher Bitter Sour, which highlights Becherovka, the most popular liquor of the country and one of the most popular Prague souvenirs.

Also, Hemingway Bar is THE place for Absinthe in Prague: the bartenders will explain all the possible varieties and the differences between them and tell you how you should drink it. Hemingway Bar is clearly very popular so get in early: the last time we were leaving at about 11pm, about a dozen people waited to get in on the street outside. The best seats? Top floor at the bar: just talk to the bartender, explain what alcohol and flavors you’re looking for, and enjoy the sight and the drink. The atmosphere is lively but a bit subdued: they like their rules at Hemingway Bar (there’s a list of them at each table), which smooths out all excessive behavior. Clearly one of the best bars in Old Town.

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Parlour

Parlour is a tiny basement place in Krakovska street, a truly uninspired street just three minutes off the top of the Wenceslas Square. We would not blame you if you had a hard time finding it: out of all the Prague bars listed, this one truly fits the bill as a “hidden gem" and they don’t go out of their way to advertise they’re there. It is also fairly small: the bar sits about twenty max.

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This is basically a community-forming place for local “philosophers of mixology”, as they sometimes call themselves (all of the few signature drinks they have are named after the regulars’ nicknames) where many of the radical decisions they’ve made were inspired by budget restrictions or the fact the two founders were reluctant for a long time to hire anyone else. But this “club” is very warm to the one-time visitor, and they have completely cut down on the slightly patronising approach to novices because somewhere along the way, they realized they needed to make some money, too. Sitting here is like sitting in your old-school friend's living room, if he or she also happened to have a big bar in it. Given these qualities, Parlour wins the prize as the place to visit if quiet contemplation is what you like with your drink. The soundtrack helps: usually jazz classics (think Kind of Blue by Miles Davis) spinning on the turntable. Simply said, if your want to party like it’s 1999, look elsewhere. (They also don’t accept reservations for larger groups.)

But the drinks are fantastic. (They served cocktails at our wedding. ‘Nuff said.) The owner-bartenders subscribe to the Japanese school of mixology and avoid all disturbances: no cherries, no lemons, preferably no egg whites, and… wait for it… almost no bitters. The bar is a great place if you want to get nerdy about cocktails. But their drinks are the best and cleanest in town in our book, and if you are a serious cocktails aficionado, you might find yourself coming back to Parlous every single night. (No, really, we have had guests who did exactly that.) Also, their use of and interest in vintage cocktail glasses reaches near-fetish levels. In short, one of the best places to go in Prague, regardless of category. Also, the fact that the owner-bartender is fluent in three languages and incredibly well-read and cultured helps, too.

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American Bar at the Municipal House

After a few years of hiatus, the 2nd oldest cocktail bar in Europe has opened again in the basement of the Art Nouveau Municipal House under the auspices of one of Prague cocktail scene’s veterans, the venerable Mr Tretter of Tretter’s Bar fame. Honestly, if you’re seeing a concert in the Smetana Hall upstairs and don’t have a drink in the American Bar down in the basement, we can’t be friends. This is simply a must.

You’ll be excused if you take a million pictures even before you get to the door: the Art Nouveau interiors are simply stunning, and there’s barely a soul in the basement, so you’ll have plenty of time to nail the perfect Instagram shot. Inside you’ll find cocktail waitresses from the original Tretter’s Bar, and it’s special to see women and men with experience serve you drinks in a town where the bar (and food) scene is dominated by sometimes extreme levels of youth. The drinks are great, but it’s really all about the ambience and the atmosphere of the place that opened in 1912 and had remained nearly intact ever since. You’re basically mixing your booze addiction with culture and history, which is a great form of rationalising your drinking if you ask us. A must go.

Other Favorite Bars in Prague

L'Fleur

L’Fleur has become so popular over the years it had to swap places with its bigger sister, the Steampunk bar. And no wonder: the owner, Mr Danihelka is one of the veterans of the Prague cocktail scene and one of the main importers of boutique Champagnes, focusing on the growers rather than the négociants. (If you know what that means, you should definitely go.) The interiors are geared towards the classic 1920s bar, incl. wooden panels and a stained window in the back. We’ve tried a few of their signature drinks and the flavors were great, and the friendly waiters explain all the drinks, including their history or motivation behind them. And they will fix you whatever you like, of course.

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Over the years, L’Fleur has crossed over from the serious, sombre bar to a more approachable place accommodating to visitors of the infamous V Kolkovně street, with a modern soundtrack, some meals and the abolition of the seat boxes that offered more privacy to those who wanted it. But still, if you want a great cocktail, L’Fleur will deliver. And if you like bubbles and don’t mind spending on them, L’Fleur is the place to go for a splurge.

Liquid Office Bar

The hip Karlín district always lacked a good cocktail bar until now, when the good people behind the Cash Only Bar, the sister of Hemingway’s Bar that feel victim to covid shutdowns, decided to open a new bar in the Butterfly office building at the end of Pernerova street. So now you don’t need to take a cab back to town after you’ve just had dinner at Eska, located just a block away.

But there’s more to Liquid Office Bar than just evening drinks - the place is open nearly all day and boasts a respectable coffee program, with small dishes coming soon. Their drinks are smart and mostly pre-mixed and just finished on the spot. Their aged Negroni with local apricot brandy is a great local twist on the immortal classic. The space cannot disguise the fact it’s in a modern concrete-and-glass building, but the furniture taken over from Cash Only and the dim lighting schemes do their best. This is an absolutely great place when in the area.

Bonvivant’s Cocktail Tapas Café

Barely anyone now remembers the old Bonvivant’s in the Old Town, which had a loyal following thanks to the quality of drinks and the old-school vibe of both the decor and the white overcoat-clad bartenders... and that means that the new location in the Mánesova street in the Vinohrady district has caught on... and while way off the beaten track, it still has the loyal following of local residents.

Many features have remained - the entire decor has been dismantled and adapted to the new location, the bartenders still look like they came here through a time machine from the 1940s, and the soundtrack just reinforces that feeling. But the drinks don’t play second fiddle here: under the supervision of Tomáš, the manager/bartender, the display includes many Czech specialties and there is a clear inkling towards Czech and Slovak local ingredients. A great place to start, or end, your exploration of the Vinohrady district.

Schody Home Bar

Imagine you have a home bar. Maybe that globe that opens to reveal the booze. Or a cart full of liquor. Now imagine the bar actually comes with a professional bartender. And that’s exactly what Schody Home Bar is. Sure, they don’t have ALL the alcohol, but how much do you really need? Given the size and concept, the place feels super cosy and home-y, and the best part is the location: at the foot of the Lesser Town stairs that lead up to the Prague Castle. The bar is tiny and you have to be buzzed in, but the location is simply magical. We honestly can’t think of a better thing to do in the Lesser Town at night than just to wander around and then have a cocktail or two in this secluded space. Could be the best memory of your Prague stay.

Banker’s Bar

Banker’s Bar may be one of the youngest bars on this list, but you’d be fooled if you’d think it’s run by novices or amateurs. Instead, it was opened as a sister to La Casa de la Havana Vieja, one of the oldest bars in town. Designed as a bank vault, it retains a banking / stock market feel throughout. What we like about Banker’s Bar is that the drinks are rock solid and use great liquors. Sure, they do have a fairly extensive seasonal menu of their own originals, and we do like the drinks they make, but they can also fix you a classic drink with a wide array of choices for the alcohol. Which can also drive the cost fairly high: Jan once ordered a Boulevardier with a great whiskey and the drink ended up costing somewhere in the vicinity of USD 20. And it was worth every penny.

Additional pros include a great location near the “Dlouhá foodie central” (which includes La Degustation, Lokál, Naše maso or Bokovka), or their private room in the back that offers more privacy for larger groups. One last thing: the bar serves commented tastings of whiskey - standard or fancy bottles.

ANONYMOUS BAR and ANONYMOUS SHRINK’s OFFICE

With a strong “V for Vendetta” theme, secret menus and otherwise playful touches, Anonymous Bar may seem like a gimmick that lures in a younger audience in the Old Town’s Michalská street. Bat that would be incredibly unfair to a well-established and sophisticated bar that is one of the best in town. Being fun doesn’t have to mean you’re worse than anybody else. We took George Nemec’s Tour de Bar (which is awesome, btw) and Anonymous Bar was a surprising highlight of the entire event. So go, just expect to get involved into some playful interaction with the bartenders, the menu, or the space in general.

Also, check out their speakeasy in Jungmannova, called Anonymous Shrink’s Office, where the gimmickry is turned to eleven: the menu is a Rorschach test, where each ink blot represents a drink, so you choose based on your subconsciousness. Fun for one night, and the drinks are super solid. And no, you don’t have to talk about your mother. (Especially on a date!)

BUGSY’S Bar

Buy any Prague bartending veteran a drink and let them speak about their beginnings, and Bugsy’s will inevitable pop up somewhere in the story. Bugsy’s bar was undeniably the first artisanal cocktail bar in Prague when there were none other, and you have to respect that. It is a well oiled machine that may look flashy and glitzy on the outside, but on the inside, it’s really a wooden-clad old-timers cocktail bar that relies on rock-solid basics and is really the founding father of all the other bars around it. When it comes to looks, we feel it visually looks for inspiration in Singapore rather than NYC, but maybe that’s just us. Also, some “molecular” mixology is involved in here, along with a strong Champagne program.

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Tretter’s

Calling Tretter’s a “meat market” would be a degrading label that would not give justice to a great cocktail program with a fairly long tradition and a strong base of signature drinks. But then again, it is totally a meat market. Critics say that the bar went down a bit since it was sold by the original owner, Mr Tretter (who now leads the American Bar in the Municipal House, see above), but it’s still a great choice if you’re looking to socialise in a more party-forward vibe.

Explore Prague's Wenceslas Square and New Town

When we started our Prague Foodie Tours at the top of the Wenceslas Square in Prague’s New Town, showing its historical importance was easy: we’d just whip out our iPad and show photos of people celebrating Czechoslovakia’s independence in 1918, the Nazi troops parading on the square in 1938, the Soviet tanks in 1968, and the Velvet Revolution that ended Communism in late 1989. 

Yes, Wenceslas Square, one of Prague’s natural crossroads and a place when the locals meet to venture into the historical centre, where they work and shop (but rarely live) is a place where history was repeatedly made. It has been losing its splendour in the past decades as it lost some high-profile retail shops to Old Town’s Pařížská street and as it became the nearest Prague had to a red light district at night. Think Champs-Élysées, but in Prague. 

So the locals may be a bit grumpy about the current state of the square, and look forward to plans of its revitalisation, which - after years of empty promises - seem to be finally picking up speed. 

The Wenceslas Square is not just a photo opportunity to capture the monumental National Museum towering at the top of the avenue (year, the „square“ is not really a square), but a great place to spend a day, or a half of it, breathe in the history, have a meal and a drink, and wonder through the webs of walkthroughs that connect the buildings around it. So if you’ve done the Old Town and the Castle District during your Prague trip, the Wenceslas Square is a great place to explore, especially on a rainy day in Prague.

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What to see in Prague’s New Town and Wenceslas Square?

Drake may have started at the bottom. We’re going to start at the top… with the National Museum. Reopened recently after a long and comprehensive reconstruction, the National Museum is a thing of beauty. No wonder they shot Casino Royale on the central staircase of the building. The museum itself is a natural history museum (think „Hall of Minerals“, which is actually quite stunning in a beautifully old-school way, and dinosaurs) that is hours of fun. Just ask our 4yo JJ. 

Make sure you take the underground tunnel with pretty cool video art to the museum’s new building next door. The former Federal Assembly building is a striking Brutalist building from the late 1960s, and you’ll know it was a parliament - just the amount of marble used is pretty admirable. Make sure you visit the interior courtyard by the Myšárium play area. The top floor now (January 2022) hosts a cool exhibition about Czechoslovakia’s 20th Century history.

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Walking down, you will notice two things: first, a small memorial to Jan Palach, who set himself on fire on the square in 1969 in protest against the Soviet occupation, and then the statue of St Wenceslas which gave the name to the square. Yes, he’s the guy from the old English Christmas carol, and no, that Christmas carol does not exist in Czech culture. But you’re welcome. Many locals have, in their lifetime, set a meeting point „behind the tail“ of the horse, so you may see people waiting for others there around the full hour.

The Wenceslas Square is a mixture of all different styles of architecture from different periods of time (the square was founded, along with the entire New Town, as the horse market in the mid 1300s) but there are a few notable ones. Starting from the top, Hotel Jalta is a classic example of Socialist Realism (think 1950s Communist luxury). Hotel Evropa, the neighbouring Hotel Meran and Peterkův dům are classic Art Deco structures from the Belle Epoque. The Lucerna palace is a modernist structure with hints of cubism. The Debenhams department store is brutalist, while the Baťa shoe store and the Lindt palace right next door are functionalist/constructivist. So feel free just walking down the square and enjoy the juxtaposition of different styles, forms and sizes.

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The one thing you must explore are the walkthroughs prevalent around the square. These are commonly used by the locals and rarely explored by the tourists, but they’re great little quirky passages and arcades that will protect you from the rain or heat depending on the weather. Here’s some of our favourites: 

Walking from the top, the walkthrough next to the KFC leads to the Studio Dva theatre. Note that the ceiling at the end of the arcade in front of the ticket box sports a really cool face watch, so that you know if you’re on time for a show. The most famous arcade is the Lucerna Palace. Mostly know by the „upside down horse“, a statue by Czech artist David Černý that echoes the statue of St Wenceslas on the square, but with the horse upside down, the arcade hosts a few shops and, most notably, the oldest cinema in Prague (built in 1909 and still in use), the „Big Hall“ under the arcade that was home to concerts by Ray Charles or Louis Armstrong and today hosts high school proms, or Lucerna Music Bar, home of the popular 80s and 90s nights and concerts by many cool Czech and foreign performers. If open, take the paternoster elevator to the roof of the building with some great views and vibes.

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The Lucerna extends along Vodičkova street into Dům U Nováků, built in 1904 to mimic big department stores in Western Europe (think Galleries Lafayette in Paris). Today, it is home to Divadlo ABC theatre and a variety of shops. Crossing the Vodičkova street, you’ll enter the Světozor arcade with an art cinema that includes Terry Posters, a cool shop that sells old Czech and foreign movie posters. (Czech posters are different from the ones you know, so check them out.) At the end of the arcade, you can turn right into the Alfa arcade, one of our favourites: the floor and the ceiling are quite stunning. Too bad the Palác u Stýblů building isn’t used. We strongly believe that if Soho House ever builds a hotel in Prague, it should be here. 

If you turn left at the end of the Světozor arcade, you’ll enter the Franciscan garden, a little green spot hidden in the middle of the busy streets around it. The locals come here to sit on a bench and enjoy the view, eat ice-cream or lunch, or take the kids to the playground in the corner. (Want a super hidden indoor playground? Get to the top floor of Hotel Juliš on Wenceslas Square for a cute play area with some stunning views of the city.) If you walk through the garden, turn right into the Church of Our Lady of the Snows. The interior is classic Prague as it mixes two completely different styles: Baroque altar and decorations inside a Gothic church. Oh Prague, you’re so beautiful.

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On the other side of the square, walk towards the Henry Tower (and now the Andaz hotel) and pop into the Main Post Office in the first block of Jindřišská street on the right. You’ll be happy you did. Completely hidden from view unless you know about it, the post office must be one of the nicest in Europe. The last arcade for you to explore is the Koruna arcade, probably the most monumental one, at the very bottom of the square. You’re done with sights, let’s go eat and drink.

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Where to eat and drink in Prague’s New Town and around Wenceslas Square

Let’s get the drinks out of the way first. There are two or three great cocktail bars in the area: OMY (Oh My Yalta) in the Jalta hotel is a showcase for the country’s most famous and respected distiller, Mr Žufánek. You will find his entire portfolio there, including some very limited items. Swim in Štěpánská street serves great vegetarian food but also artisanal cocktails in a pretty cool constructivist building. But our heart belongs to Parlour in the otherwise uninspired Krakovská street. It’s difficult to find with very little in the way of signage, but that’s not a bug - that’s part of the design. With a huge following among local cocktail aficionados, this little bar without a cocktail menu (you have to tell the bartender what you fancy, and they’ll fix you a drink) and with vintage glasses is an oasis for the thinking man and woman. If you’re introverted but love cocktails, you’ll be here a lot. Fancy a drunk crawl? Go elsewhere. Finally, the Be Bop Bar in the Alcron hotel is a classic bar with surprisingly delicious and creative drinks.

If you want beer, head to Lokál U Jirátů with fresh Pilsners and a pretty cool bar that opens and slides out into the street in the summer. U Pinkasů is an iconic  Pilsner pub bordering on a tourist trap. And if you want wine, you’ll probably like Špejle that serves a lot of them with a side of tapas-style food.

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Now, where do you eat in Prague’s New Town? Let’s go.

For the finest food in the area, head over to the Alcron hotel (the first independently-owned boutique hotel in the world, btw) to La Rotonde. Chef Lukáš Hlaváček may be young but he cooked in London’s iconic The Ledbury and in Napa Valley’s three-Michelin-star Meadowood. The restaurant is mostly empty, as the locals usually shy away from hotel restaurants, but that may change over time, as the young chef’s reputation grows. A bit down the fancy-meter is Čestr in the Federal Assembly building. A frequent stop on our Prague Foodie Tour, the modern restaurant slow-cooks local heritage breed of cow and adds delicious local sauces. The logo and plates tell the whole story: Czech tradition, updated. Great before or after a performance in the State Opera nearby.

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Yalta Craft Bistro in the Jalta hotel puts a modern spin on some Czech classics, like the dill sauce with beef, and the results are delicious. Add local craft beers and outdoor seating on the terrace, and you must be a happy camper. Kantýna in Politických vězňů street is a place for meat lovers: the former bank is part steak house, part butcher shop and part deli with meat cutters and a ticket where the cutters record your order. Add fresh beer and you have Czech nirvana. Not a meat eater? Visit Swim just behind the Alcron hotel for vegetarian fare by one of the best vegetarian kitchens in town, Estrella. 

Want something quicker? Have a bowl of ramen at Kitchen the Address, probably the oldest ramen shop in town. For a classic quick bite, have a chlebíček, the Czech open-faced sandwich, in Ovocný Světozor in the Světozor arcade, or at Lahůdky Zlaý kříž at the beginning of Jungmannova. On a nice day, get a few in a box and eat them al fresco in the Franciscan garden nearby. 

Wenceslas Square is a great place to have pastries. In a country where continuity is hard to come by due to 40+ years of Communism, you’ll be pleased to know that Myšák in Vodičkova street opened in 1911 and has been great ever since. Come here for great classic Czech pastries, their iconic ice-cream sundae, and specialty coffee. Erhart Café in Dům U Nováků across the street adds a cool 1930s Constructivist aesthetic. And Ovocný Světozor serves ice-cream and whole cakes if you need them. Also, Grom may not entirely be the small artisanal ice-cream from Italy it purports to be (it’s a big company) but the ice-cream is legit.

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And if you need coffee, the vicinity of Wenceslas Square won’t let you down. Most of local coffee is brewed around the Franciscan garden - Kavárna truhlárna is located in one of its corners, and Headshot is in another. Goodlok is just a few steps away on Jungmannovo námšstí and in addition to coffee serves cold-pressed juices and small dishes with a focus on fermentation and health. Kavárna Růžová just two blocks away is a cute espresso bar without any proper seats, but well-prepared coffee by Coffee Source, local roasters. Spell Coffee is tucked away in a courtyard and is a combination coffee shop and beauty parlour. Myšák may be a pastry shop, but their coffee is solid, and Cafe Susu has the best bingsu in town.

Finally, let’s talk shopping, because the Wenceslas Square has some retail therapy options.

First, Wenceslas Square is home to not one, but three bookshores. Neo Luxor is the biggest one - it spans four floors and has probably everything you may ever need. Academia is more about non-fiction, and Knihy Dobrovský may have a kitschy front, but a vibe of a small bookstore behind it. One of the coolest shops in the area is Foto Škoda, a true palace of photography that spams three floors and provides comprehensive printing services, too. For used and vintage cameras, check out the camera store in Dům u Nováků.

Two great shops for kids: Hugo chodí bos is a shop that sells Czech toys of our childhoods - we’d buy everything here… for ourselves, while Hračkotéka adds high quality and artisanal toys from Czechia and abroad, modern and old-school. Freshlabels is a fashion store with a focus on street wear and backpacks, while Queens is a great sneaker store. Finally, Les houbeles sells all things mushrooming, which is a Czech obsession, and Fransýr sells great French cheeses. 

New Prague openings of 2021 - Have you been?

At the end of every year, we write a piece on new openings in Prague. And every year we’re surprised by how many good or decent places actually opened. And boy oh boy, while 2021 sure was a difficult year, we have edited our count down to 52, which means one opening per week. Not too shabby. And this list is by no means exhaustive - it’s just a list of places that have entered our radar and are or are supposed to be good.

And like every year, we’ve made a cheat sheet for you to print out and out it in your wallet or on your fridge, in an attempt to remind yourself that there are still places in Prague you haven’t been. Feel free to scroll down for a download.

Anyway, let’s go down recent memory lane and see what opened in 2021.

The best of

We really stay away from compiling any rankings or awards but we think that four openings were truly notable this year. 

It all started with the Dian restaurant by bothers Ta of Taro and Gao Den, who have decided to gentrify the Brumlovka area with good food. And they succeeded: Dian is a fun place with sharing plates of delicious Asian-inspired dishes, mostly natural wines and cocktails. Think Taro, but less intimidating given the more generous space and more intimate seating.

The second notable opening was Kro Bistro & Bar in Karlín, the second location of Vinohrady’s Kro Kitchen. You’d think it’s more of the same, but you’d be wrong. In a town where great food and great cocktails coexist but rarely meet, this is a place that tries to change all that. So you have all the delicious and smart fast food that made Vinohrady’s Kro famous, with a few twists of its own, and great cocktails for lunch or dinner. And the outdoor seating in the summer is really nice. Can’t wait for Alma next year!

The third must be the all-new Le Terroir in Kozí in the Old Town. Fun fact: when we met online, Jan tried to get Zuzi to join him for a dinner date at Le Terroir, back then with a kitchen headed by Chef Punčochář, now a TV personality as a Masterchef Judge and the owner of the U Matěje pub. Anyway, Le Terroir is now a wine bar/bistro headed by Vít Hepnar, a legendary sommelier that serves traditional French food with traditional French wines, and his choices are hard to fault. We don’t often dine like this, but our light lunch and Le Terroir was honestly one of the best meals of 2021 in Prague.  

Finally, U Kalendů, an old pub near the Náplavka farmers market, reopened - after some delay - in December under the auspices of the Ambiente group. It is headed by Chef Všetečka, while Chef Grigoryk, Mr Všetečka’s colleague in Ambiente’s former Creative Chefs team, is heading the bakery. The pub focuses, perhaps surprisingly, on nose-to-tail cooking, and it’s delicious. We loved the pig ears, pork tongue with carrots, or his now famous tripe dish. Add fresh Pilsners and you’ve got a winner. (More fish should be added later.)      

Coffee shops

We probably write this every year, but Prague punches way above its weight when it comes to specialty coffee, and while a few years back it was a revelation when a place opened and served specialty coffee, it is now a surprise when a place opens and DOES NOT serve specialty coffee. And the number of Prague (and the Czechia’s) roasters is only rivalled by the number of its brewers. 

What we’re trying to say is coffee is good in Prague. New openings in 2021 were mostly expansions of existing businesses, or additional concepts to some well established ones. Take Metok, a small espresso bar/flower shop in the Palmovka area by the owners of Holešovice’s Ca Phe. Or Ye’s Kafe and Wine, a more wine-centric coffee shop opened in the new developments of Rohanské nábřeží in Karlín by Ye’s Kafe & Studio over at Holešovice.

The Miners Coffee & Characters opened two new locations: one in Železná street that connects Old Town Square and the Estates Theatre, and another in the newly developed Bořislavka retail centre on the way to the airport. Mamacoffee opened Café Nezisk in the area of Pohořelec just under the Strahov Monastery, and will take all their profit and give it to a non-profit organisation of their choice every month. Speaking of reclaiming touristy areas, Kafe a hrnky is a new coffee shop just a few blocks below in the super touristy Nerudova street. And remember Pauseteria, the coffee shop and bistro just by Malé náměstí in the Old Town? Well, they are reopening after shutting down during the first wave of covid, and they have a coffee stand right in the Old Town Square, so specialty coffee is now becoming commonplace even in areas that were before dominated by touristy ripoffs. Talk about a silver lining of the two Covid years.

Finally, two more place a bit outside of the historical centre: first, 20m2 is an expresso bar in Břevnov, an area that needs more places like this, and the FLAT Café has brought specialty coffee and breakfast with London vibes to the Vršovice area between Krymská and Kodaňská streets.  

Wine, beer and spirits

Not sure if Prague needs more wine bars, but we need more wine in our lives, so whenever a new wine bar opens, we’re happy. And there were some notable openings when it comes to booze in Prague.

First, Vinograf, the OG of good wine bars in Prague that was the first to serve Czech wines with pride again, has opened a new location at Korunní in the Vinohrady district (sadly, they did shut down their original shop at Míšeňská in the Lesser Town). We did mention Le Terroir before as a bistro, but we should not forget it’s a wine bar too, and a great one at that. And to enjoy some mere traditional French wines, head over to Merlot d’Or just two blocks away at Dušní. It’s a beautiful wine shop that looks like an old apothecary of wine. Finally, Lot of Wine, again just two blocks away, is serving French wines and delicacies in the Ungelt area. So the Old Town just added three great places if you enjoy more traditional French wines. 

The bar scene in Prague added one notable place, the OMY (Oh My Yalta) bar in the back of the Yalta Craft Bistro of the Yalta hotel on Wenceslas Square. The bar, with its central circular bar, is a collaboration between the restaurant and Mr Žufánek, arguably the most famous and the most popular Czech/Moravian distiller, who presents his entire portfolio, including some very limited items, in the bar. Expect great drinks and frequent pop-ups by some big names of the global cocktail scene. At least that’s the plan.

And finally, while the Ambiente group did not manage to open the new Lokál at Vodičkova (it must open in early January 2022), they did manage to open Pult, a craft beer spot in U Celnice street right next to the Sia restaurant. The highlight? Six local lagers on tap, including Pilsner Urquell and (the Czech) Budweiser on the same tap, a Prague first. (It’s like getting Coke and Pepsi in the same place.) Add three more specials on tap, loads of other craft beers in bottles, and some pretty delicious bites to go with that. Pult immediately became very popular, with improvised closing times well into the night. 

2022/1/1 EDIT: It seems that a new Lokál U Jiráta in Vodičkova street opened on 31 December, after months of delays. This will make it Prague’s seventh Lokál. The kitchen is headed by former chef of Lokál Dlouhá, so expect more of the same, really. (Nobody’s complaining.)

Bakeries and sweet stuff

Good bread is on a roll (see what we did there? haha) just about anywhere, and Prague is no exception. Just like with coffee though, most new openings were new locations by established businesses.

The opening of the year for us was definitely the Karlín location of the Praktika bakery, which didn’t just open a new shop in Karlín like they did in Letná before. Oh no, they moved their entire production to Karlín, meaning they mill their own flour there and bake all their bread there. And they are working on their bottlenecks: their crowdfunding project was a success and they are now the happy owners of a new stone flour mill, so we can expect more and more delicious bread going forward.

Speaking of new locations by established businesses, the popular Artic Bakehouse opened a new location on Štefánikova street near Arbesovo náměstí in Smíchov, while our favorite sugar and fat pushers, Oh Deer Bakery, opened a new location to sell their cronuts on Dejvická street in Bubeneč - yet another location after their Malostranské náměstí spot, and yet another piece in their evil plan to make the country morbidly obese. Helping them is Defidu, a Žižkov bakery, which opened a new location on Vinohradská.

In terms of pastry shops, the opening of the year must be the brand new IF Café in Werichova vila at the edge of the Kampa park. After a bitter separation and divorce, Iveta Fabešová (the IF in IF Café), having lost everything except the brand name to her ex-husband, has pulled herself together and opened a new and better, more adult pastry shop that is a joy to shop at. Other new sugar-forward spots include Kookie, which sells - you guessed it - cookies and specialty coffee at Ostrovní in New Town. And then it’s ice-cream: both Créme de la Créme and Puro Gelato (the latter probably merging with 360 Pizza) opened their shops in Bubeneč, to loud cheers especially from our 4yo son - we live in the area. And Lunar ice popsicles opened a shop in Vyšehrad.   

The only properly new baking business in Prague was probably Zrno a zrnko, a concept of bakeries that has the ambition to take the city by storm, just like Antonínovo pekařství before it. While it does speak to a crowd interested in artisanal baking, Zrno a zrnko is a huge investment by experienced investors with a strategy. (Nothing wrong with that.) They seem to be keen on expanding really fast and get some real economies of scale going.   

Back to food

We highlighted four openings of the year above, but there were other interesting venues opening this year.

Ansámbl in Krymská street is a tiny place and a collaboration between Bad Flash Bar next door and former La Degustation chef. The result is a casual dining bistro with some fine dining techniques and sensitivities. They are just at the beginning of their journey, and there are a few obstacles ahead (like a kitchen that is not connected to the dining room otherwise than through a food lift), but there is some promise here given the quality of the food we tasted.

Brambory na Pankráci is the newest addition to the Together restaurant group, and the name is a bit misleading because you’d be wrong if you expected a vegetable or potato-forward kitchen. Sure, there are some potato-based dishes, but this is mostly traditional Czech protein-forward comfort food with potato sides. Still, it’s nice to see a professionally run kitchen in more remote areas like Pankrác.

One of the most common questions we get from the guests of our food tours is for restaurants with a view. We rarely know what to respond because these tend to be quite touristy in Prague. Enter Atelier Petřín right next to the Petřín tower, which is run by Atelier Red & Wine just at the foot of the same hill. The views? Check. The food and wine? Check. This could be a no brainer when it gets to dining with a view.

Kus koláče has become a covid sensation, drawing crowds to taste their kolache and sweet baking from near and afar. Další kus, which opened next door, is more about savoy baking and deli stuff - think pigs in a blanket (but really good ones), deli salads, salty rolls and such. If you come to Kus koláče, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were hiring at Eska’s team building exercises, and Další kus, headed by Eska’s former executive sous chef Kateřina Jakusová, is no exception.

Sensa bistro in Senovážná has an ambitious menu spanning from Asia to South America (never a good sign) but it is run by seasoned professionals with CVs that include the Mandarin Oriental or Orea Hotels and they could just pull it off. It’s fairly new so we’re yet to see if the concept is right for the time and area, but the menu does look quite nice actually.

Fast food

Fast food is the new black in the pandemic world, and 2021 did bring us some nice concepts. Burgerman became a sensation early in the year, to the point where he had to leave his shared kitchen in Žižkov and found refuge in the Point Gallery at Betlémské náměstí. Random Sandwich Bistro opened at the edge of Vinohrady, and the menu looks quite nice, too. Porkchaps deli opened at the very end of Lublaňská and served some pretty great sandwiches, but we’ve heard they had to shut down already. What a shame. Smoke Heaven is a new BBQ in Karlín with its very own experienced pit master. Bon Fresh Ramen and Soba didn’t open one but two new locations in 2021: one on Letenské náměstí and the other right across the street from Taro at Na Knížecí. Chef Kalina, formerly known from Prague’s fine dining district, opened Kalina food truck, a rotisserie chicken and porchetta sandwich truck, in the parking lot of the Macro store in Stodůlky. And Holešovice’s Fatfuck Smash Burgers are serving - you guessed it - smash burgers that have gained quite a following… to the extent that they managed to open a second location on Bělohorská already. 

The rest

Sure, this is not necessarily in Prague, but we’ll allow it: Papilio opened in a golf resort in Vysoký Újezd, some 5 miles behind the Ikea in Zlličín. The restaurant is headed by Jan Knedla who has amassed loads of experience in Michelin stars and multistars abroad, and offers ambitious tasting menus that only present the finest to the finest. Think Paloma in Průhonice, without the bitter aftertaste about you know who.

Two food shops caught our eye in 2021: Casa de Andalucía opened in Karlín’s Šaldova and in addition to classic take out, they will also put together a cheese and charcuterie platter to eat - and wine to drink - at the bench outside of the shop. Nice stuff. And George’s Delicatessen opened recently at Italská. They offer bread by Artic Bakekouse, dairy and charcuterie of all kinds from France and Italy, complemented by wines from the same traditional regions.

One of the most interesting openings of the year must be Goodlok on Palackého náměstí. The guys have been juicing stuff forever, but now they’ve added food (they consulted the food with ex-Ambiente’s Jan Bilíková) and loads of fermented goodies prepared or designed by our very own Martin Blum, so woot woot! Go check them out. 

Masaryčka opened in the building of the Masarykovo nádraží building on the Hybernská side and it looks awesome. Can’t report on the food but the menu looks like the classic modern pub like Červený Jelen or Potrefená Husa in its immediate vicinity. The Borsch brings Ukrainian food to Vinohrady, and that can never be a bad thing. More like this, please! 

Finally, we’re finishing the with some bistros - Lokálně is a collaboration between Eliška, a Le Cordon Bleu graduate, and her friend who ran the Lokálně shop. They decided the shop into a little bistro right near the CAMP centre and Emmaus monastery. Jídlovice is a small bistro/restaurant in the Bubemeč area for the budget-conscious. Layla was one of our faves when we found it in the summer: it’s a Lebanese restaurant run by a genuine Lebanese family. It’s literally a heart-warming experience to sit at one of the outside tables and eat proper food as if made by the Lebanese grandma you wish you had. Finally, our fave Radua Crystal opened a studio/bistro to present her glass works and cooking. Enough reason for us to go to Podolí.

And that’s it for us. Below is our 2021 cheat sheet. Print it out, put it on your fridge, in your wallet. You know what to do.

Have fun exploring in 2022! January will be pretty amazing from the rumours already.

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