As a journalist, I’ve been living in Prague for over fifteen years. I can therefore point you in the right direction towards the best traditional restaurants where you can discover the generous Czech cuisine that I love so much and that will delight gourmets.
I regularly updatethese good addresses according to my discoveries and your feedback (compiled here). You’ll see, the article is dense, up to date and precise (like my article 3 days in Prague).
Here are the restaurants I always recommend to visitors on my guided tours! There are also food tours of Prague with tastings (in English)
The following list of good restaurants is not exhaustive. I also invite you to read about my latest discoveries of good restaurants in Prague. I systematically test new establishments, and there are always new ones (Czechs don’t eat out much, but they do have a very rich social life outside the home).
Take a look at the following addresses:
- My selection of more „modern” Czech restaurants like Kantýna
- My article on the superb Café Imperial restau ( and much-loved Art Deco hotel; also check out its interesting annex Next Door)
- Also check out Krčma, discovered in 2023 : in the heart of the Old Town and in the Jewish Quarter(Kostečná 4). On weekdays and at lunchtime, you’ll find a good little menu that’s unbeatable at the moment: soup and main course for 160 CZK (less than €7!), at which price take a small beer and leave a tip!
- If there’s no room at Krcma, U Pivrnce (Maiselova 3) in the Jewish Quarter, with its humorous frescoes by painter Petr Urban, is the place to go.
- Still in the Old Town and still in 2023, I also discovered Pivnice Štupartská when my parents visited. Very honest and nice decor!
- In 2024 this time, I discovered U Matěje Kotrby. Very nice setting and pleasant service (it’s rare that someone comes to ask about your satisfaction during a meal and here they do, and with a smile to boot). I had a quarter-roast goose for St Martin’s Day lunch during the week. Very good and very, very hearty!
- Read the article on Mincovna, a very good value for money lunchtime restaurant located right in the center (Old Town Square, no less!) Very affordable daily menu and excellent goulash. Every visitor I send there comes back delighted! Go before or after your visit to theAstronomical Clock.
- Check out my latest discoveries: Bohemia Goose, just a few meters from Wenceslas Square, a clean, spacious restaurant (Vodičkova 20), the successor to a historic brewery. Order the very good svíčková (the national dish) at lunchtime for 189 CZK or 8 EUR. And the beer brewed on the premises (a tradition that dates back to the 15th century in these parts) is very good, with a slight citrus taste for the blond.
- Finally, don’t hesitate to discover the splendor of the Municipal House! The ground-floor restaurant on the right wing is incredibly flashy, with its typicalArt Nouveau lighting fixtures! More affordable at lunchtime, with dishes priced at EUR 10-15, don’t miss out! (And don’t miss the brasserie room in the basement, just as interesting after two years of reconstruction, and also very affordable!)
- For an equally chic address, go to Vallmo in the New Town (Plavecká 4). The restaurant has won awards from Internet users and Google. It offers modern European cuisine based on Czech ingredients, including fish from Třeboň.
- Finally, I also recommend the restaurants in the Ambiente group. They don’t all offer traditional Czech cuisine, but they have excellent reputations and my Czech friends really appreciate them. Make your choice with my article here.
- Also read my article on dinner shows in Prague.
Tip: In this article, I’ll also mention whether there are any nice hotels close to the suggested restaurants. When I travel, I like to combine a nice hotel with a good restaurant. It makes life easier and the stay more enjoyable! Read for example: The best hotels near the Mincovna restaurant.
A selection of 10 excellent restaurants (and a few more, in fact) at great prices
Please note: keep this list of addresses to hand and come back to it during your visit… In Prague, it’s very easy to come across a restaurant for tourists. In this type of establishment, you’ll be charged a lot of money for a bad goulash (and for the food too!)
Tip: Read my article on the 9 mistakes tourists make in Prague, where you’ll learn how to recognize and avoid these tourist-friendly restaurants!
Here’s my TOP 10 of good, traditional and inexpensive restaurants in Prague
In these Czech restaurants, you’ll get a good taste of the local gastronomy. The only downside is that the quality of service isn’t always up to scratch (as is often the case in ex-Communist bloc countries). But this is gradually changing. And if you’re curious and want to eat like a local, you absolutely must visit these good restaurants during your stay in Prague! You won’t regret it!
Follow me to these good addresses where I like to return again and again.
Two good restaurants that aren’t touristy at all
My latest discovery of a traditional restaurant in Prague is U Bulínů. I love its friendly iconoclastic decor and the restau is a real hit with visitors. Here you’ll discover Czech cuisine that’s quite refined and, above all, inexpensive. Czech classics are well represented on the menu: goulash, breaded schnitzel, duck or game… And no chance of seeing a tourist!
Tip: The restaurant is located in the very chic and bohemian Vinohrady district , where I warmly invite you to put down your suitcases (book the charming Hotel Máchova without hesitation. It’s not a luxury hotel, but it’s very comfortable. A good option ideally located for those traveling on a budget).
Two little-known but very welcoming addresses!
In the same vein : a quality restaurant with a warm but unpretentious welcome, I recommend U Mariánského obrazu in the popular Žižkov district (a lively area well worth a visit). It’s just across the street from the Akropolis club, a stone’s throw from the famous TV tower and its amazing climbing babies. You’ll eat well here, surrounded by locals and in a warm atmosphere, especially on TV field hockey nights. Very, very wide choice of Czech specialties, and it’s even cheaper than at the previous address!
The best hotels near U Bulínů.
The best hotels near U Mariánského obrazu.
Address: U Bulínů – Budečská 2
Address: U Mariánského obrazu – Kubelíkova 22
U Veverky, pantagruelic portions!
A little out of the way in Prague 6′ s Dejvice district (behind Letná Hill and near the Hradčanská metro station), this authentic restaurant is well worth a visit! What’s more, it’ll let you discover another part of Prague, quieter and without tourists (where I recommend you stay, here are the best hotels in Prague 6). But the most important part is the food! Because this really is an address for gourmets! I recommend the pork ribs(vepřová žebra) or the pork shank (vepřové koleno). Great portions!
„At the squirrel” (U Veverky), you don’t nibble, you eat!
Good to know: It’s delicious, but the shank only comes with mustard and horseradish… Order some delicious garlic potato pancakes(bramborák) as a side dish, washed down with Pilsner beer of course. Afterwards, you might like to take a break in one of Prague’s good vegetarian restaurants
The best hotels near U Veverky.
Address: U Veverky – Eliášova 14
Tip: If, during your stay, you’re visiting the slightly off-center Vyšehrad hill (which is as good an idea assleeping there!), take a trip to U Kroka (Vratislavova 28) for affordable, refined Czech cuisine and great desserts! Pod Vyšehradem is much less sophisticated, but I always order a fried cheese, one of the most calorific Czech specialties! Yum
The best hotels near U Kroka and Pod Vyšehradem.
Address: U Kroka – Vratislavova 28
Address : Pod Vyšehradem – Vratislavova 4
U Provaznice, a popular Pragu address
I’d been hearing about this address for a while… so I went to check it out! U Provaznice is an unpretentious restaurant located right in the center, near Wenceslas Square. Here you’ll find the traditional atmosphere of typical Czech restaurants, something that’s tending to disappear. Warning: the young woman drawn all over the restaurant haunts the place since she was strangled by her jealous husband (Prague is a city of legends…)
Specialty menu at a very reasonable price for such a central address!
To order from the restaurantmenu: the classic vepřo-zelo-knedlo or literally „pork-cabbage-quenelle”, which is very good here.
Another good deal : when there are two of you, the „Old Prague plate” offers a bit of everything (well, mostly meat!) and a 1.2 kg dish for 2 people. And don’t forget roast quarter duck, pork cutlet or svíčková, the Czech national dish (beef mitre with cream sauce).
The best goulash in Prague: you’ll find it at U Červeného páva nearby (Kamzíková 6), a small restaurant where everything is really, really good!
The best hotels near U Provaznice.
Address: U Provaznice – Provaznická 3
Vkolkovně, an excellent traditional restaurant
To know: This lively address in the Jewish Quarter has long been my preference when my French friends visited and I wanted to introduce them to Czech gastronomy (for some time now I’ve preferred Kolkovna Olympia, which you’ll find further down the article).
At the entrance, a tap attendant pours out liters and liters of beer (it’s a full-fledged profession in the Czech Republic, a bit repetitive but very local!)
Service to review : The service could be better, but the dishes are always hearty!
Worth noting: On all menus, each dish is accompanied by its weight. This is not a legal requirement, but it’s done almost everywhere, so there’s no risk of making a mistake if you’re really hungry!
Czechs are big meat eaters and, for many, a meal without meat isn’t a real meal
Dishes to order : In this Prague restaurant, I recommend the half duck, the breaded pork or chicken cutlet(řízek) served with the inevitable potato salad or the pork shank(koleno). You absolutely must try the latter, a pantagruelian specialty (don’t take a starter in a traditional Czech restaurant) served with horseradish! Please note that the restaurant is often fully booked.
In the evening , it’s best to make a reservation (prefer the first floor, as the basement room is much less pleasant).
Finally, note that in various parts of Prague, you’ll find establishments from the same chain as VKolkovně, such as Kolkova Celnice (V Celnici 4) or Kolkovna Olympia (Vítězná 7), conveniently located in Malá Strana.
The best hotels near Vkolkovně.
Address: Vkolkovně – V Kolkovně 8
Tip: If you’re wandering around the aforementioned Malá Strana district, which I love so much and which is one of Prague’s most authentic neighborhoods (the district’s good hotels are here!), you can also go to Tlustá myš („The Big Mouse”) where you can still eat at lunchtime for really cheap (less than 2 EUR for a soup and less than 6 EUR for a dish) or to Stará Praha where you’ll find roborative Czech cuisine with all the classics. Ideal before or after a nice walk on one of the nearby islands!
Address: Tlustá Myš – Všehrdova 19
Lokál, a trendy restaurant serving local cuisine
This is one of the favorite addresses of young hipsters. This huge restaurant is all lengthwise in a sort of wide corridor. It’s surprising when you walk in, because you’d never expect the establishment to be so gigantic. An acquaintance did the interior design. Here, we like to eat local cuisine while avoiding excess. Here, for once, portions are not huge. We also go for the quality of the beer and the atmosphere.
Tip if it’s full : go to Základna on the same Dlouhá street, at no. 36. It’s less lively but just as good, and very reasonably priced for the location!
Although often criticized for having nothing national about it (goulash is Hungarian, breaded schnitzel is Viennese…), Czech gastronomy nevertheless has its fans (ranked 35th out of the 100 best gastronomies in the world)! For my part, even if I don’t appreciate all the dishes, I do have a few guilty pleasures, such as smažený sýr, a fried cheese (not very good in Lokál, unfortunately!) It has to be a kind of camembert called here hermelín and not eidam as is sometimes the case) or the duck you can try in this establishment.
Serve your duck with bramborové knedlíky, or potato dumplings
The menu also features a few typically Czech cakes, which is quite rare (in most Czech restaurants, you’ll often be offered undigestible pancakes for dessert). Finally, at Lokal, you may be seduced by the original décor, skilfully blending contemporary designs with imagery I’d associate with the 60s and 70s: neon lights, a Plexiglas board listing the dishes on offer (sometimes still found in more authentic Czech canteens like Havelská Koruna, where nothing has changed since 1990!), „lace” on the windows, paper on which the waiter draws a line for each beer brought in (a habit that’s tending to disappear…)
A concept that can be found in the other addresses of the chain owned by the Ambiente group (including this one at the foot of the famous Charles Bridge). A group with many other quality addresses such as Kantýna, to which I dedicated an article, U Kalendů which, perhaps because of its location on the banks of the Vltava, offersgrundle and carp on its menu, or Kuchyň for an exceptional view of the Castle.
The best hotels near Lokál Dlouháá.
Address: LokálDlouháá – Dlouhá 33
Please note : The above-mentioned Castle district is very touristy, so there are fewer small, affordable restaurants to choose from
Restaurace Hybernská, a safe bet
This is the place to go if you want to discover Czech gastronomy, which is particularly refined here, and get good value for money. The clientele is often young and the place is very lively on weekend evenings. The setting is very clean, with gleaming taps for a Pilsner Urquell or Hybernská, the house beer.
Restaurace Hybernská is a safe bet. Here you’ll discover the national dish of the festive season: svíčková
Classics: svíčková is roast beef in cream sauce with a little cranberry jam, accompanied by the famous knedlíky, boiled flour dumplings. Other classics include breaded veal escalope(telecí řízek) or roast pork shank(vepřové koleno).
Other similar addresses include Vinohradský Parlament (Korunní 1), with the pretty Belgian restaurant Bruxx and its children’s corner, or the Potrefena Husa restaurants, a brand name that can be found just about everywhere.
The best hotels near Restaurace Hybernská.
Address: Restaurace Hybernská – Dlážděná 7
Also worth reading: 9 things you shouldn’t do on a trip to Prague
U Parlamentu, a typical Old Town restaurant
Just a stone’s throw from Old Town Square and at the gateway to the Jewish Quarter , this good addressis frequented at lunchtime by local wage earners who come to enjoy the menu of the day and its inexpensive dishes… If you have the luxury of staying in the Old Town, make a point of visiting it.
As is often the case, the daily menu is on a separate sheet from the classic menu, so keep your eyes peeled!
Here, you’ll discover the classics of Czech cuisine, as well as soups, as always in the Czech Republic. In winter and summer alike, you can try the classic beef broth with liver dumplings. The restaurant has a terrace in fine weather.
Caution: If you like beef, beware: Czechs tend to overcook it, even if you ask for it to be „blue” (there was an altercation on this subject between the famous French actor pictured below and a restaurant owner in Karlovy Vary, where a famous film festival is held…) Beef is also generally not very tasty. I therefore advise you to opt for other meats during your stay in Prague.
The best hotels near U Parlamentu.
Address: U Parlamentu – Valentinská 8
Bredovský Dvůr, generous cuisine and authentic atmosphere
I sometimes take friends who visit me in Prague to this restaurant in the New Town, not far from the main railway station. If the service is sometimes a little boorish (nothing to do with the illustrative photo), the vaulted room is pleasant and the cuisine generous (here again and as everywhere: cheap lunch menu and dishes served within a minute).
Superb knuckle of pork served with no accompaniments other than a delicious raifort-apple condiment and a bit of coleslaw
Open kitchen and garden in fine weather. Important note: I doubt Gérard Depardieu will be at the taffy stand to welcome you on the day of your visit… Unless he’s shooting a film at Prague’s famous Barrandov film studios…
Other restaurants in the New Town offering classic Czech cuisine: Srdcovka (Spálená 33) and Hostinec u Rotundy (Karolíny světlé 17) are superbly located and incredibly inexpensive!
The best hotels near Bredovský dvůr.
Address: Bredovský dvůr – Politických vězňů 13
U Dvou koček, a disappearing world
U Dvou koček (At the Two Cats) is perhaps the most authentic of all the addresses mentioned on this page. It’s right in the center and well known to Praguers. Nothing exceptional at lunchtime, but very inexpensive daily specials and an opportunity to discover true Czech gastronomy.
An authentic atmosphere to discover before it’s too late
The beer is excellent and the atmosphere very local and even a little old-fashioned, which is what makes it so charming, because that Prague is disappearing. As soon as you step through the door, you’re greeted by the smell of hops as the brown ale called „Chat” is brewed. Accordion notes in the evening. So this is an establishment that I also mention in my list of good Prague breweries. I’ll be back for lunch, but also to try the dishes on the menu!
Best hotels near U Dvou koček.
Address : U Dvou koček – Uhelný trh 10
Finally, more expensive but highly recommendable!
I recommend these last three addresses:
Restaurant Zvonice in a tower just a stone’s throw from Wenceslas Square. The latest feedback from blog readers is excellent!
U Modré kachničky and its two ideally located addresses, one in Malá Strana, the other in the Old Town, is also well worth a visit, with local specialties including game.
And on Place de la Vieille-Ville, 420 is worth a visit not only for its decor, but also for its food.
Finally, some readers have booked a New Year’s Eve dinner in Prague at La Dégustation Bohême Bourgeoise, one of two Michelin-starred restaurants in Prague. An unforgettable experience!