What to Eat in Prague: Local Dishes, Where Locals Eat, Tank Beer & the Best Food Tours

The short version: in Prague, eat svíčková (beef in a creamy root-vegetable sauce with bread dumplings), guláš (goulash) with dumplings, smažený sýr (fried cheese) and a plate of chlebíčky (open sandwiches), and drink the beer: unpasteurised tank Pilsner Urquell is poured all over the city. For Czech pub food go to Lokál Dlouhááá in the Old Town; for modern Czech cooking, the Bib Gourmand kitchens U Kalendů by the river or Výčep in Vinohrady. Drink your first beer at U Zlatého tygra and your first Moravian wine at Vinograf. And if you only have a weekend, a food or beer tour is the shortcut to the right pubs and the right orders. Below: what to eat, exactly where to eat it tonight, where to drink, and the food experiences worth booking.

What to eat in Prague, and where to eat it

A note on trdelník: the sugar-rolled chimney cake sold on every corner of the Old Town is a recent arrival for visitors, not an old Prague recipe. Eat one if you like, but locals do not queue for it.

Where to eat in Prague

The rule for eating well in Prague: walk two streets away from the Old Town Square and Charles Bridge, and eat where the beer is good, because the pubs (hospoda, pivnice) are where Czechs eat Czech food. Lunch is the cheap meal: many pubs and restaurants serve a weekday daily menu (denní menu). The best-value modern Czech cooking is in the Bib Gourmand places, which need a booking at weekends.

Old Town (Staré Město)

The busiest part of the city, with some of its best pubs on the side streets. Lokál Dlouhááá is the long, white beer hall that is the flagship of the Lokál pubs, pouring tank Pilsner Urquell: order fried cheese with boiled potatoes, schnitzel with potato salad or grilled sausages, and at night a pickled sausage (129 CZK) or marinated camembert (145 CZK). It is open from 11:00 every day and gets full, so book online. U Zlatého tygra on Husova is the city’s most famous pub, made famous by the stories of the writer Bohumil Hrabal: Pilsner, beer cheese and pot goulash, from 15:00 daily. It fills up fast in the evening, so arrive at opening or reserve ahead, and bring cash. U Medvídků is a brewery pub with Budvar and its own beers, including the very strong dark XBEER 33; eat goulash with dumplings or chicken liver pâté. On Dlouhá, Naše maso is a butcher’s shop with a counter for tartare, sausages and burgers, and Sisters in the same passage makes modern chlebíčky from around 53 to 65 CZK each. For a special dinner, La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise holds one Michelin star (Michelin listing) for a set menu built on seasonal Czech ingredients.

Malá Strana and the Castle

Across Charles Bridge, the Lesser Town is quieter at night than it looks by day. Lokál U Bílé kuželky is the Malá Strana branch of Lokál: svíčková is the signature dish, tripe soup the one regulars praise, and the evening kitchen takes last orders at 21:45. One street from the bridge, U Hrocha is a small, local pub with tank Pilsner Urquell at around 55 to 65 CZK a half litre. On the main square, Malostranská beseda pours tank Pilsner Urquell with Czech classics. For a smarter dinner, Coda in the Aria Hotel is listed in the Michelin Guide (Michelin listing) for refined Czech cooking; its signature is kulajda, and its roof terrace is the place to be in summer. Up by the Castle, U Černého vola is a 1965 beer hall with Kozel and Pilsner Urquell and old-school snacks such as pickled cheese and head cheese with onions, open 10:00 to 22:00. Five minutes away, the Strahov Monastic Brewery brews its own St. Norbert amber, dark and IPA beers in the monastery courtyard.

New Town (Nové Město)

The New Town, around Wenceslas Square and down to the river, mixes old beer halls with some of the best new Czech kitchens. Café Imperial is a tiled Art Deco hall listed in the Michelin Guide (Michelin listing), with Czech favourites on a classic menu; book, it is always busy. Across the street, Next Door by Imperial, also listed in the Michelin Guide (Michelin listing), serves beef in creamy sauce with bread dumplings and rabbit kidneys in mustard sauce, from 07:00 to 23:00 daily. Kantýna, in a former bank, is a butcher’s counter, canteen and beer bar in one: take a card at the door, order at the stations and pay on the way out. It is walk-in only; steaks are priced by weight. Alma holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand (Michelin listing) for relaxed modern cooking with dry-aged beef, sourdough from KRO Bakery and a courtyard terrace. Down by the river, U Kalendů, also a Bib Gourmand (Michelin listing), has a short menu of regional classics such as braised hare leg, pork cheeks and sweet yeast dumplings, with bread from its own bakery. Further along the river towards Vyšehrad, Hostinec Na Výtoni is the place for duck: crispy half duck, duck pâté and duck liver.

For the beer-hall classics: U Fleků has brewed its 13° dark lager on site since 1499 and is open 10:00 to 23:00, with prices around 100 to 120 CZK a half litre; it is busy with groups, so go early in the afternoon. U Pinkasů was the first Prague pub to pour Pilsner Urquell, in 1843, and is open 10:00 to 22:30 daily.

Vinohrady and Žižkov

The residential districts east of the centre are where Praguers go out, and prices drop. Výčep on Korunní holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand (Michelin listing): a loud, modern pub on long benches, with langoš topped with bryndza sheep’s cheese and smoked cracklings, short rib buns and větrník for dessert. Book ahead. A few minutes down the same street, Lokál Korunní does the Lokál menu with tank beer, and Vinohradský pivovar brews unfiltered 11° and 12° lagers and an amber Jantar 13° in old brewery cellars; it is busiest on weekend evenings, so weekday lunch is easiest. For a break from dumplings, Pho Vietnam Anglická is a quick, cheap bowl of pho or bún chả from Prague’s large Vietnamese community. Over the hill in Žižkov, U Sadu is a shabby, much-loved pub with its own unfiltered Sádek 11°, its own take on pickled hermelín and a kitchen that serves into the early hours; book on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Holešovice and Letná

North of the river bend, Holešovice is the city’s creative quarter, with a food market in an old slaughterhouse. The Eatery holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand (Michelin listing) for strong-flavoured contemporary Czech cooking at fair prices, such as duck breast with pumpkin purée and braised beef with celeriac; it is ten minutes from the centre on tram 6, and the lunch menu is shorter than dinner. Inside Holešovice Market, Skô cooks Slovak-style wood-fired meats, langoše and lokše (potato flatbreads), and the Holešovice branch of Naše maso Holešovice does tartare, meatloaf sandwiches and sausages. In Letná, Eska Letná is the bakery for breakfast: sourdough rye with butter, eggs, ham or cheese. Lokál Nad Stromovkou, by Stromovka park, serves svíčková, schnitzel and goulash with tank Pilsner. On the river in Holešovice port, the Marina Holešovice Brewery brews its own beer, including a roasty dark special, and is open 11:00 to midnight daily.

Quick picks

• Classic Czech dinner: Lokál Dlouhááá in the Old Town, Lokál U Bílé kuželky in Malá Strana, or Next Door by Imperial in the New Town.
• Cheap and fast: chlebíčky at Sisters, the counters at Kantýna or Naše maso, pho on Anglická.
• Special night: La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise for a Michelin star; Coda for the terrace.
• Modern Czech for fair money: the Bib Gourmand places U Kalendů, Výčep, Alma and The Eatery.
• Best for the signature dish: svíčková at Lokál U Bílé kuželky, goulash at U Medvídků, duck at Na Výtoni.

Names link to Google Maps for directions. We checked these places in October 2026. Opening days change, especially out of season, so check before you go.

The markets

Holešovice Market (Pražská tržnice) fills a 19th-century former slaughterhouse. Hall 22 is the produce hall, open Monday to Saturday from 07:30, closing at 14:00 on Saturdays; around it are bakeries, food and wine stalls and the market’s restaurants, so it is a good place for a cheap lunch. On Saturday mornings from 08:00 to 14:00, the Náplavka Farmers’ Market runs along the river embankment below Vyšehrad, with more than 90 stalls of bread, cheese, sausages, pastries, cider and wine, and live music. It runs until mid-December. In Vinohrady, the Jiřák market on Jiřího z Poděbrad square is a neighbourhood favourite, Wednesday to Friday 08:00 to 18:00 and Saturday 08:00 to 14:00. To take home: Becherovka, Moravian wine, a jar of pickled hermelín and Czech honey cake.

What to drink in Prague

Beer first. Czechs drink more beer per head than anyone, and the thing to look for is tankové pivo, tank beer: unpasteurised Pilsner Urquell delivered by tanker and kept in cold tanks behind the bar, so it tastes as fresh as at the brewery. Look for the sign outside, order “jedno pivo” (one beer) and you get a half litre; a stroke on your beer mat counts the round. The degree on the tap (10°, 11°, 12°) measures the strength of the brew before fermentation, and 12° is the classic full-bodied lager. The tank-beer pubs to know: U Zlatého tygra, Lokál (Dlouhááá, U Bílé kuželky, Korunní, Hamburk in Karlín and Nad Stromovkou), U Pinkasů, U Hrocha and Malostranská beseda. For beer brewed on the premises: U Fleků (dark 13°), U Medvídků, the Strahov Monastic Brewery, Vinohradský pivovar and Marina. For craft beer, BeerGeek in Vinohrady has around 30 taps and a flight of five for about 250 CZK, and Dva kohouti in Karlín brews its own lager in a courtyard taproom. In summer, take a beer to the Letná beer garden for the view over the river and bridges, around 50 to 60 CZK a half litre.

Then wine. Almost all Czech wine comes from Moravia in the south-east: dry whites from Ryzlink rýnský (Riesling), Veltlínské zelené (Grüner Veltliner) and the aromatic local Pálava, and reds from Frankovka (Blaufränkisch) and Svatovavřinecké (St. Laurent). In autumn, look for burčák, cloudy, half-fermented young wine sold by the glass. Vinograf on Senovážné square is the place to learn Moravian wine: sommeliers, a wine wall, and a Czech and Moravian pairing for each course; it is closed on Sundays. Bokovka, in a courtyard off Dlouhá, pours Czech and international bottles with cheese and charcuterie; it fills up quickly at weekends. Autentista on Řetězová specialises in natural wines from Bohemia and Moravia, and Veltlin in Karlín has no wine list at all: the staff open natural wines from the old Austro-Hungarian lands each day. To finish: a shot of slivovice (plum brandy) or Becherovka, the herbal liqueur from Karlovy Vary. If you are here in December, see our Prague Christmas markets food guide.

Food experiences to book in Prague

Prague’s best food and beer are in pubs with Czech-only menus and unwritten rules, which is why a guided tour pays off on a short stay: a local guide takes you through the Old Town and New Town pubs in an evening, orders the right dishes and beers, and explains tank beer, the degrees on the tap and what to eat with it. A beer tasting or a dinner cruise on the Vltava are the other easy evenings. These are the best-rated options on GetYourGuide.

Our pick: the Prague Food and Beer Tour, rated 4.9 (394) on GetYourGuide.

Ratings as shown on GetYourGuide in October 2026. Check the listing for live prices and availability.

Food day trips from Prague

The beer day trip is Plzeň, the home of Pilsner Urquell, around an hour and a half by train, where the brewery runs tours that end with unfiltered beer from the cellar barrels. Moravia’s wine villages are a long way for a day, so drink Moravian wine in Prague’s wine bars instead. See our Prague beer tours and Czech Republic food and beer tours.

Frequently asked questions

What is the one dish to eat in Prague?

Svíčková: braised beef in a creamy vegetable sauce with bread dumplings and cranberries. It is the signature dish at Lokál U Bílé kuželky in Malá Strana, and Next Door by Imperial serves its own version all day.

Where do locals eat in Prague?

In pubs and neighbourhood kitchens away from the Old Town Square: Lokál on Dlouhá, U Sadu in Žižkov, Výčep and Vinohradský pivovar on Korunní in Vinohrady, and The Eatery in Holešovice.

Where is the best tank beer in Prague?

U Zlatého tygra in the Old Town is the classic, and every Lokál pours tank Pilsner Urquell. U Hrocha in Malá Strana and U Pinkasů in the New Town are the other names to know.

Where can I eat cheaply in Prague?

At lunch: look for the weekday denní menu. For quick food, chlebíčky at Sisters, the counters at Kantýna and Naše maso, pho on Anglická, and the stalls at Holešovice Market and the Náplavka farmers market on Saturdays.

Do I need to book restaurants in Prague?

For the Bib Gourmand places (U Kalendů, Výčep, Alma, The Eatery), Café Imperial and La Degustation, yes. Book Lokál Dlouhááá and U Zlatého tygra for evenings, or arrive at opening. Kantýna takes walk-ins only.

Is a Prague food or beer tour worth it?

Yes, if you have two or three days: in one evening you taste the classics, learn how to order beer, and know where to eat for the rest of the trip. Compare them above.

Plan your Prague food trip

Prague food tours · Prague beer tours and tastings · Prague dinner cruises on the Vltava · Czech Republic food and beer tours · Prague Christmas markets food guide · What to eat in Vienna · What to eat in Budapest · What to eat in Kraków