Where can you have good coffee in Prague to go when indoor dining, and sipping, is not allowed due to the coronavirus pandemic? That is the questions we have asked - and answered - for you.
We love specialty coffee, and we write about Prague coffee shops quite regularly here: the last time we did it was in January 2020. Oh, those were the happy, innocent days: little did we know how great the 2020 would turn out to be. Still, the January 2020 is a good resource on specialty coffee in Prague and if you have not already, you should check it out now. The first part describes the specialty coffee scene in Prague in general, while the second part list our favorite specialty coffee shops in Prague one by one and then by districts.
Anyway, in reaction to the second wave of the coronavirus spread, the Czech government has shut down all restaurants, bars and coffee shops until at least November 3. (We say “at least” because most professionals in the food industry we have asked don’t expect the ban on indoor dining to be lifted before December.)
Therefore, the only way to get specialty coffee in Prague right now is from a take out window or - God forbid - via a delivery service. But what coffee shops are open and what are the opening hours? Will I just get coffee there or can I also buy some food there? And will they sell me beans for me to prepare great coffee at home? We wanted to know, too, and we put in the work so that you don't have to.
The following table is your cheat sheet for coffee take out spots across Prague, or at least the ones we remembered. It includes the opening hours, what else do they sell apart from coffee, and if they sell coffee beans for your home brewing. You can click here to download this as a pdf file.
A few interesting facts we have discovered:
Despite the "soft lockdown" (or whatever you want to call this), there are some 70+ specialty coffee shops with take out windows open every day of the week. (Our definition of a “specialty coffee shop” is quite loose here.)
Over 50 of them sell beans by more than 30 (!) specialty coffee roasters. This is quite impressive. Let us put it this way: even if the lockdown lasts until Christmas, you don't have to drink coffee from the same coffee shop twice, or make coffee at home from beans by the same roaster twice (unless you drink more than half a bag's worth of coffee daily, in which case you have a serious problem).
Since we published our January 2020 Prague coffee guide, there have been some new openings on Prague's specialty coffee circuit: namely Acid Coffee, Café Borzoi, Format Coffee, Prokop Croissant, Traffik Coffee & Sandwich, Kafe Omylem, Café Hrnek, the new EMA Espresso Bar in Karlín, and the Botanica coffee truck. That's nine new specialty coffee shops in Prague opened in 2020. Nine! During the coronavirus pandemic! Just over five years ago, that was the Prague specialty coffee scene in its entirety.
Sadly, other coffee shops have not made it. Urban Café near Florenc, Tricafé on Anenské náměstí, and Mou Ltd. are the three biggest examples of the effect the coronavirus has had, and will continue to have, on Prague coffee shops.
Many coffee shops bake, cook meals, or at least resell things baked somewhere else. Sure, not many coffee shops or espresso bars make money by selling only espressos, but it is still a testament of the fact that you could live off Prague coffee shops for sustenance for years.
We do not have a definitive answer whether reusable cups, like the ones from the fantastic Otoč kelímek project, are allowed or not. Some coffee shops have been accepting and even offering them, while others refused to handle them for sanitary reasons. So while we understand you don’t want to generate waste with paper cups, but your mileage may vary here.
You do have to admire the coffee shops for not just shutting down and crying a river about the current situation. These are some challenging times, and Prague coffee shops have faced it head-on. One more reason to support them right now.
Anyway, we hope you will find this helpful. One disclaimer: in this fast-pacing world and a news cycle of mere hours, some of the claims made in the table may be old by the time this is published. But we checked everything and put it out there with good intent. Please support your local coffee shop. It needs it now more than ever. See you around and stay buzzed!