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!