Prague Travel Guide
Prague Food and Beer Guide
How to eat and drink well in Prague — the classic Czech dishes, tank beer and pub etiquette, beer gardens, cafés and pastries, the tourist traps to avoid, and how the night-time pub crawl ban changes things.
Czechs drink more beer per person than any other nation in the world, and in Prague beer is not a novelty but a way of life. Czech food, meanwhile, is hearty, comforting and much better than its reputation, especially in the new generation of pubs and bistros that cook the classics with care. Here is how to eat and drink well, and what to skip.
Beer: the basics. Czech beer is mostly lager, and the most famous style is the golden pilsner, first brewed in the town of Plzeň in 1842. Pilsner Urquell is the classic, but there are dozens of other breweries large and small, as well as dark lagers and a thriving craft scene. In pubs, beer is usually served in half-litre glasses, and the waiter will often bring another as soon as yours is nearly empty unless you put a coat on top of the glass. Look for pubs serving tank beer, unpasteurised and delivered fresh in tanks, which is a point of pride. Learn the three classic pours: hladinka, with a firm head; šnyt, a smaller pour with more foam; and mlíko, a glass of almost pure creamy foam drunk in one go.
Where to drink. The best experiences are in ordinary Czech pubs, hospoda in Czech, where locals sit at shared tables, the beer is cheap and the food is simple. Some historic pubs, like U Fleků, which has brewed its own dark lager for centuries, and U Zlatého tygra, the haunt of the writer Bohumil Hrabal, are famous in their own right, though popular with visitors. Modern beer halls in the Old Town serve tank beer and well-made Czech classics. In summer, the beer gardens are a highlight: Letná Park, with its view over the bridges, and the gardens of Riegrovy sady in Vinohrady are the most loved. For craft beer, look for the small brewpubs and taprooms in Vinohrady, Žižkov and Holešovice.
The pub crawl ban. Since late 2024, Prague has banned organised pub crawls throughout the city from 10pm to 6am, after years of complaints from residents about noise and drunken behaviour in the centre. You can still drink in pubs and bars as late as they are open, and brewery tours and tastings run during the day and early evening. The best way to explore Czech beer is in any case at a leisurely pace in a good pub, not on a guided crawl.
The classic dishes. Svíčková is the great Czech Sunday dish: marinated beef sirloin in a creamy root-vegetable sauce, served with bread dumplings, a slice of lemon, cranberries and whipped cream. Vepřo knedlo zelo is roast pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, the national comfort food. Guláš, the Czech take on goulash, is thick and rich and perfect with beer. Smažený sýr, fried cheese with tartar sauce, is a guilty pleasure. In season, look for duck with red cabbage and potato dumplings, and in winter, game. For a snack, try chlebíčky, open-faced sandwiches topped with ham, egg, potato salad and pickles, sold in delis and bistros, and nakládaný hermelín, a pickled camembert-style cheese with onions and peppers, the perfect beer food.
Sweet things and cafés. Prague has a great café culture, inherited from the Austro-Hungarian era. Historic cafés like the Café Louvre, where Kafka and Einstein are said to have met friends, and the Café Slavia, opposite the National Theatre, are lovely for coffee and cake. Try koláče, round pastries filled with poppy seed, plum jam or sweet cheese, buchty, and větrníky, choux pastries with caramel cream. The trdelník, the sugar-coated rolled pastry sold all over the Old Town, is a recent tourist invention rather than a Czech tradition; try one if you like, but it is not a taste of local culture.
Other drinks. Becherovka, a herbal liqueur from Karlovy Vary, is the national digestif. Slivovice is a strong plum brandy. Moravian wine, from the southeast of the country, is excellent and underrated, especially the whites; look for wine bars in Vinohrady and Malá Strana. Kofola is the Czech cola, created in the communist era and still loved.
What to skip. Avoid eating on Old Town Square and along the main tourist routes, where terraces charge high prices for mediocre food and may add hidden charges. Be wary of restaurants with touts outside or menus in many languages with photos. Check your bill, and do not be surprised if bread, condiments or water are charged. Walk a few minutes off the main routes and prices fall while quality rises.
Practicalities. Lunch menus, polední menu, offered on weekdays in pubs and restaurants, are excellent value. Many restaurants accept cards. Tipping is around ten per cent for good service; tell the server the total you want to pay. Smoking is banned inside restaurants and pubs. Reservations are a good idea for popular pubs and restaurants on weekend evenings.
A simple food plan. Eat lunch where the locals do, from the weekday lunch menus in pubs; have one long dinner of Czech classics in a good beer hall, with svíčková and a tank pilsner; spend one evening in a wine bar with Moravian wines; and leave a summer evening free for a beer garden. Add coffee and koláče in a historic café, and you will have tasted the city properly.
Markets and food tours. The Havelská market in the Old Town is touristy, but the farmers' markets at Náplavka, on the riverbank, on Saturday mornings, and in Vinohrady and Holešovice are full of local produce, street food and beer. A food or beer tour with a local guide is a good way to start your trip, especially if you want to understand the beer culture; choose one that runs in the daytime or early evening and focuses on tasting rather than quantity.