Dining in Prague

Use Rick's as a guide, plus your own eyes and nose. It is very hard to go wrong in Prague. Just avoid anything touristy.

Jeff, we went to Restaurace U Vejvodu on our last trip to Prague. We went on our first night of a three week European trip, and our meal there was our favorite of the entire trip! If you're a meat and potatoes kind of guy... http://www.restauraceuvejvodu.cz/?page=jlistek&lang=EN
I believe we got the "Old Bohemian Pan for Two Persons". Luckily we were in an apartment with a fridge so we were able to take home the leftovers!

What is reasonable to one person is outrageous to another. There are many options in Prague. It is entirely not true that you will be stuck with meat and potatoes everywhere, but you should try to have at least a few Czech meals while in Prague. Even gluten free pescetarians like me eat well there. This city has a variety of restaurants. You can get an idea of what's available at squaremeal.cz or pick up their free guide at the tourist office next to the old town square. Many good options not listed in books are only a few blocks from the main tourist area (royal procession route). Food is everywhere to be had at the full range of prices. I've even had a glass of Czech white wine & huge a salad at Kotva's Department store on their roof during a break from shopping! Try to venture away from the main tourist area and walk around. Arm yourself with a Czech - English dictionary - even though most folks speak some english it helps to have it with you. Don't be afraid to go to a hospoda or restaurance with no english...just walk in and enjoy! I have seen so many unsure folks hovering near a place that would have missed a great experience if I didn't ask them in english if they were going in. I say "Once you are in, you're in!".

My comment about being a meat and potatoes kind of guy was simply in reference to the specific meal we'd gotten at that restaurant which was... meat and potatoes. Jeff, I wasn't meaning to infer that the food in Prague would only be great if that's what kind of food you liked. I can't speak for fusion, vegetarian, vegan, etc types of places as my husband and I are "meat and potatoes" people -- which worked out for us quite well. So others would have to give you advice about the trendier restaurants if that's what you're looking for....

thank you, your comments are very helpful, I did not take meat and potatos to mean there were not other choices, I but reasonable in my question to avoid the $100 per dinner suggestions, although all positive suggestions are welcome thank you again.

$100?
Prague is a most reasonable city to eat in budget-wise. My wife and I never spent more than $35 total for a dinner last year, including one pivo each. Mind you, we are watching what we eat and did not have desserts....

I agree, Larry. Although, I was disappointed to see that beer has gone up a little since we were last there in 2007. Looks like it's $1.50/pint now instead of $1.00. I guess we're going to have to increase our budget!!! ;)

What neighborhood are you staying in? I may be able to give you a few recomendations since I'm in Czech Rep at least once a year. Do not eat in the old town square if you want to avoid paying way too much for a meal. Here are a sample of a couple of places... If you get hungry up near Strahov Monestary there's a brewery/restaurant you can access in the courtyard with live music at night website: http://www.klasterni-pivovar.cz/en/ . If you get hungry for Italian while seeing the Jewish Qtr then Bilkova 13 is a good bet website: http://www.bilkova13.cz/restaurant/menu/ . Havelská Koruna / Czech Kitchen(listed in Rick's book) at Havelská 23 a few blocks from old town is a good place for an inexpensive Czech meal without going to a hospoda.

Blame the exchange ratethe dollar was 15% better last summer when we were in Europe! And a fresh pint at $1.50 still beats hands down any pint elsewhere.

Thank you all for your suggestions

I agree, Larry. I was kidding about our budget. :) And I didn't realize the dollar was 15% better than last year. I wish you hadn't told me that!!! ;) Luckily, only 4 out of 5 of the countries we're going to are on the Euro, so that should still help keep things low in cost! We wanted to hit Eastern Europe before a few of them converted... After going to Ireland and Scotland on our last trip in 2009, this should prove to be much more inexpensive!

Our favorite was: http://www.pasticka.cz/en/index.php?PHPSESSID=u3v9e4r3017s8qrj83hk96tkt1 Neil

See a 6/6/2010 entry on the Feedback for Prague and Eastern Europe, Favorite discoveries or tips, for Pivovarsky Klub, at Krizikova 17 (east of Florenc bus station, north side of street, website http://gastroinfo.cz/pivoklub/). We went on that recommendation, and was best meal we had there. Especially if you have the capacity (and we don't!) to try several different beers.
Actually, our ability to only drink one pivo each per night was the only downer of our trip to the C.R.

Jeff, ironically, I'm sitting here watching "Three Sheets" from Spike TV and the subject is Prague. He was eating and drinking beer in a restaurant that looked familiar. Well, it was U Vejvodu as I'd recommended! If you're interested in the episode (which features other establishments as well), you can watch the episode here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/12781/three-sheets-czech-republic
There's a pretty entertaining portion of the episode about absinthe...

Thank you Amy, we will view it.

Don't get me wrong, Czech food can be fantastic (especailly if you are lucky like me to get it there from the inlaws kitchens - homecooking is the best!!!), but it's always good to know there are other options, especially if folks are not used to heavy mild food. Every year I'm there after about a week I start to get the DTs for the spicy foods I'm used to in the SF bay area. The non Czech food has greatly improved in Prague since 2005 (you can get good pizza there now & they have a Vietnamese area outside Prague), but I would not try it anywhere else in Czech Republic as it can be horrible. As Marc said the fish is pretty good most anywhere in Czech Rep, but stick with fresh water fish like trout or pike, unless you have read recent good reviews of a particular restaurant. If you happen to want a really good fish meal at a bit of a splurge the best is Rybi Trh Fish Restaurant near Old Town in Prague. Only eat there if they have the outside terrace open (the special plate of the day is usually a decent value), as it is a less pricey menu than eating inside the restaurant. But do make sure to hit some of the beerhalls there like U Fleku and U Medvidku just for fun. If unsure of where to go you can also take a pub crawl tour. And if you are really wanting some good Vietnamese, get yourself a guide to take you over to "Little Hanoi". And there's even a few really good Indian restaurants in Vinohrady, that if you speak english instead of Czech you can get the great spicy stuff(most Czechs can't handle too spicy).

I have made 4 trips to CR. The l;ast was in 2005. My experience is that if you stick to Czech food and if you stay off the "Golden Road" you can eat yourself to death on great food for very resaonable prices. Examples from 2003: The menu on the door of TGIF Fridays near Main square showed the cost of a hamburger was about $14.00. My wife and I wanderderd south about 4 blocks and found an attractive Czech Pub. I had a hunters plate (snitzel, sausage dumplings cabage) and two .5 liter beers. My wife had goulash, a cola and desert. The entire bill including the tip was less than $12. The left overs were breakfast the next day for both of us and lunch the next day for me. That averaged out to less than $3 per meal. Fish is also great at most Czech restraunts. They have a long history of fish farming and it is always very fresh and raised in local ponds. I have never had a bad meal at any Czech establishment except when ordering non-czech food.
I had a terrible chinese meal in Kutna Hora and the pizza at most places is hideous.

Was just in Prague over the 4th of July and found the BEST restaurant. It's a bit out of the way of the tourist areas, but easily accessible from the Florec metro stop (just exit towards the Billa supermarkert). The restaurant is called Na Zlaté k?ižovatce and the website is:
http://www.nazlatekrizovatce.cz/cz/index.php It's a 100% gluten free restaurant, but my husband (who is not GF) also agreed that this was one of the top meals we have ever had in Europe! The food is delicious! The servers speak English and have menus in English too. It was so good, we ate here twice and both times, got drinks (the only GF draught beer), entrees and dessert and our bill was about $30. The BEST restaurant in Prague...I would consider revisiting the city just to eat here!

Lisa, Debbie, thank you for the gluten free options. While I fully intend to fill myself silly with knedlicky, my wife cannot partake of gluten, so all suggestions in avoiding it are very welcome. I am particularly concerned about flour-based sauces and gravies, that would be poured on otherwise innocent meat or veggies. As a guide with Rick Steve's told us, Italy would be rather safe, even with their pasta tradition, because they tend to separate in a plate different parts of a meal - while Central Europe has those amazing gravies... Have you heard of Svejk? It will be my wife's birthday when we are in Prague, and I was planning to take her there... svejk-estaurant.cz/en

We chatted up some fellow tourists one evening in Prague, and they recommended Restuarace U Betlemske Kaple . We enjoyed it. A short walk from Charles Bridge.

Yes, I actually ate at Svejk one night. They do have GF dining, but you have to ask specifically for the menu and it was in Czech....we matched it up with the English version to find what to order. Not sure if they had an English version. It's a chain restaurant in Prague, so while it's not a bad choice, it was also nothing in comparison to the food and service at Na Zlate krizovatce. I would suggest eating here for a birthday dinner...the ambiance is much better, as was the food and service. And if your wife is GF, I would highly, highly recommend it. Since the whole restaurant is GF, there is no need to worry about contamination with the gravies/sauces. No need to ask for a GF menu, no need to try to explain either....best dining experience for someone who is GF!