5 Best Budget Restaurants in Prague

5 Best Budget Restaurants in Prague

Prague is beautiful in more than one way.  When I hear the city’s name, my mind is filled with the vague feeling of something medieval: the warm colors of the evening lanterns, the smell of řizek, flowing through the cobbled streets… It is easy to forget that it is not only a capital of culture and tourism, but also a center of business and education.

For this reason, there are many students in Prague – and like many students here, I was once broke. Despite this, I still went out regularly, watching with increasing worry the depletion of my savings. The approaching prospect of spending the rest of the semester consuming nothing but bread, boiled beans and sadness, drove me to the resolution to find cheaper places to eat with friends. My research yielded amazing results, which I am happy to share with the world.

Whether you are on a budget, saving for something or, like me at the time, you are a broke student,  the places below can help ease your financial struggle and leave you with a full belly.

1. Try some cheap Chinese food at Lotos Zahrada

The first place I found was right in my own back yard. Lotos zahrada (or “lotus garden”), is a cheap Chinese restaurant close to Andel metro station.

You can find it on Stroupežnického 516/7, Praha 5

There you can get away with meals as cheap as 90 crowns.  For reference, that’s around 3.52 EUR. Not bad, right? I frequented it quite often. While I rarely stayed inside to eat my food, I loved to get it as takeout for home. They move quite fast and if you live around Andel, like me, you can pick up some warm, tasty food without paying for delivery.

Source: restu.cz

I can personally recommend you their chicken noodles, especially if you match them with a cold, cheap Gambrinus (one of the more popular and cheap Czech beers). The soups and salads are a great unknown on my side, because at the time I was leaning towards the heavier dishes – fried duck, chicken and beef, all of which, by the way, I recommend. Their fried rice is quite decent, too. To be honest, decent is the best I can describe the food there – it is not amazing, but certainly not bad. Exactly what you would expect for a price range of 90-120 crowns.

I was left with the impression that the people running the place are a family. The older ladies don’t speak much English, but we always managed to get our stories straight. Worse comes to worse, they would call upon someone from the personnel or the kitchen to translate!

2. Hybernia – the most central place for lunch

Hotel Restaurant Hybernia before restoration Source: Wikimedia Commons

I hope our Czech readers were not offended by me starting with a Chinese restaurant.

This second place, however, is a typical Czech restaurant that (unfortunately) sometimes likes to experiment with foreign cuisines. Do they do it well? Ehh…. they try. For what they fail in authenticity, they compensate with relatively cheap prices. Of course, that’s only in regard to international dishes, as they do cook Czech food very well!

The real value of Hybernia is, however, that it is smack in the center of the center of Prague, next to Náměstí Republiky metro station. It is a very convenient place to take a break from touring the city center (on that note, why don’t you check out our tours?)  and support yourself with some traditional Czech cuisine. And if you are an adventurous spirit, sure, roll the dice on the Czech interpretation of Chinese food or a Burrito – those unfortunate fusions are sometimes present in the lunch menu.

An important note here – when I say to have lunch, I mean that if you are on a budget you should go there only  for lunch.  As in use their daily lunch menu, available every work day. Their regular menu is definitely not cheap, but their lunch offerings will cost you around 130 crowns, which is close to 5 EUR.  Drop by between 11-13 o’clock and you will have a good chance of having the full lunch menu available, as the huge demand sometimes results in the best offerings running out.

Personal recommendation: if you happen to be there on a day they have schnitzel, definitely try it out – it is huge and well-prepared. Otherwise, I’d advise their goulash, Caesar salad or dumplings.

You can find the place on Hybernská 7/1033, Praha 1

3. Coloseum for the pizza lovers

Pizza Coloseum at Vysočany
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Pizza Coloseum is a chain of restaurants with pretty much the same prices and offerings all around, so no matter which branch you find this review still applies. The one I used to go to was on Ovocný trh 8, Staré Město (Old Town). Much like Hybernia , it is a good choice for tourists roaming the center. After seeing the Old Town you can go there to inspire yourself with some Czech beer and Italian food at a reasonable price.

Pizza Coloseum prides itself as an Italian restaurant with a rather fancy-ish atmosphere, which attracts both tourists and expats that work in the center. As it is the case with Hybernia, I don’t recommend you to visit outside of lunch hours (11-15 for this place), as the regular menu can be quite expensive.

For lunch, you can again expect the range of 130-150 crowns, which is 5-6 EUR.  One thing I love about the place is that they include pizzas on their lunch menu. They differ day to day, so depends on your luck. The main advantage to that is that you could enjoy a pizza at up to half the usual price.

Honestly, I cannot give you any specific recommendations – every time I went there I had a pizza. All of them were decent, none of them were spectacular – I don’t think you can go wrong. I mean, you won’t be amazed but you also won’t be disappointed, given the price.

4. Czech, American and Mexican vibes = Fiasko

I have really saved the best for last on this one.

Fiasko is an interesting fusion of a traditional Czech bar and a burger place  that offers Mexican food. That’s a bit… diverse. I know. But somehow they have managed to combine all that and make it work.

Source: fiaskoburger.cz

As opposed to the two places discussed above, Fiasko doesn’t have a lunch menu, but their regular offerings are more than decently priced. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that you can have a burger for as little as 124 CZK (4.84 EUR). I have tried almost everything on the menu and I can honestly say nothing was bad.

Off the top of my head: chicken wings for 109 CZK (4.27 EUR), Burrito for 145 CZK (5.70 EUR),  tortilla for 129 CZK (5 EUR)… it is all both good and cheap.

There is really not much more to say – I wholeheartedly advise you to go and see for yourself.

You can find the place on Stroupežnického 570/9, 155 00 Prague 5 – Anděl

5. Anything “typically Czech”

You have noticed that the 4 places I reviewed above are either in the center or at Andel (some people consider it an unofficial second center on the other side of the river). Since I don’t know in which part of Prague you might end up, I will refrain from pointing out specific places outside the center – we simply won’t have the time to cover every area worth exploring. I can do you one better though – I can guide you to what to look for.

Source: Flickr
Labeled for reuse

It is those “typically Czech” restaurants  that I want to drive your attention to. I am talking about the peculiar, small bar-restaurants where local Czech residents go in order to avoid tourist crowds and drink their beer in a peaceful, Czech-speaking environment.  For this reason do not expect that the waiters will speak good English (or any) or that the locals will be very pleased by your presence.

On the other hand, I’ve had a beer in such a place for 22 crowns, which is around 86 EUR cents and a goulash for 70 crowns (2.74 EUR).

Restaurant Klid Source: Wikimedia Commons

So what to look for?

• They usually have a beer brand’s crest proudly hanging outside the establishment, signifying what is their main beer offering.
• They have a rather simple, plain, wooden interior with undercoated tables and benches, symmetrically organized in the place.
• Usually not very full, but also not completely empty, they seem to always have at least 2-3 regulars at any point during the day.
• It is likely that they will also have a menu in Czech hanging outside the door, which I’d advise you to examine before entering in order to avoid surprises. Even if you don’t understand the language, you can at least make sure you are okay with the prices. Depending on how adventurous you are, I can even advise you to close your eyes and pick at random one of the hlavni jídla, or main dishes.

Czech cuisine is generally safe for the tastes of the average traveler, if you don’t have any specific dietary requirements.