Entertainment in Czech Republic
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A
Jáma
Jáma (‘the Hollow’) is a popular American expat bar plastered with old rock gig posters ranging from Led Zep and REM to Kiss and Shania Twain. There’s a little beer garden out the back shaded by lime and walnut trees, smiling staff serving up a rotating selection of regional beers and microbrews, and a menu that includes good burgers, steaks, ribs and chicken wings.
reviewed
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B
Cross Club
An industrial club in every sense of the word: the setting in an industrial zone; the thumping music (both DJs and live acts); and the interior, an absolute must-see jumble of gadgets, shafts, cranks and pipes, many of which move and pulsate with light to the music. The programme includes occasional live music, theatre performances and art happenings.
reviewed
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C
Riegrovy Sady Beer Garden
There’s a good-natured rivalry between this beer garden and the one across the river at Letná as to which one is best. We're not sure, but this one is pretty good. Order beers at the bar and carry them to your table. To find it, go to Polská, turn up Chopínova, and enter the park across from Na Švíhance.
reviewed
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D
Reduta Jazz Club
The Reduta is Prague’s oldest jazz club, founded in 1958 during the communist era – it was here in 1994 that former US president Bill Clinton famously jammed on a new saxophone presented to him by Václav Havel. It has an intimate setting, with smartly dressed patrons squeezing into tiered seats and lounges to soak up the big-band, swing and Dixieland atmosphere.
reviewed
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E
Reduta Theatre
The Reduta Theatre is home to the Black Theatre of Jiří Srnec, who was a founding member of Prague’s original black-light theatre back in the early 1960s. Today the company’s productions include versions of Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, and a compilation of the best of black theatre from the early days.
reviewed
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F
Bukowski’s
Like many of the drinking dens that are popular among expats, Bukowski’s is more a cocktail dive than a cocktail bar. Named after hard-drinking American writer Charles Bukowski, it cultivates a dark and slightly debauched atmosphere – the decor is self-consciously ‘interesting’ (when you can see it through the smoke-befogged candlelight) – but it peddles quality cocktails and cigars, and has friendly bartenders and cool tunes.
reviewed
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G
Radost FX
Though not quite as trendy as it once was, slick and shiny Radost is still capable of pulling in the crowds, especially for its Thursday hip hop and R & B night, FXbounce (www.fxbounce.com; women enter free). The place has a chilled-out, bohemian atmosphere, with an excellent lounge and vegetarian restaurant that keeps serving into the small hours.
reviewed
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m1 Secret Lounge
An American-owned, industrial-chic cocktail den where polished concrete and stainless steel contrast with candlelight and plush purple sofas, M1 attracts lots of English-speaking expats, well-heeled locals and the occasional visiting celeb (absolutely no stag parties). Wednesday nights are ladies’ nights, while Fridays see a regular set from US DJ Big J, a dance-floor-filling mix of R&B, house and hip-hop.
reviewed
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U Malého Glena
‘Little Glen’s’ is a lively American-owned bar and restaurant where hard-swinging local jazz or blues bands play every night in the cramped and steamy stone-vaulted cellar. There are Sunday-night jam sessions where amateurs are welcome (as long as you’re good!) – it’s a small venue, so get here early if you want to see, as well as hear, the band.
reviewed
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Káva Káva Káva
The Smíchov branch of the popular internet cafe Káva Káva Káva in Staré Město is bigger than the original, with two large rooms as well as a garden out the back. There’s a small menu of salads and sandwiches and you can buy local beers by the bottle. There are computers for surfing the net (60Kč per hour).
reviewed
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Zvonařká
Sitting at the far end of a quiet residential street where Vinohrady spills over into the Nusle valley, Zvonařká has a stylish, minimalist interior, but its biggest attraction is outdoors – a broad, tree-shaded terrace overhanging a steep hill, with expansive views across the valley to Vyšehrad, a great place for a beer on a summer evening.
reviewed
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Saints
Sealing the deal on Prague's booming 'gay quarter' in Vinohrady, this British-run bar is laidback, friendly and serves decent drinks. With a multinational staff speaking many languages, for newcomers it's the perfect entrée to the local scene.
reviewed
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Le Clan
A French-accented after-party club, with DJs on two floors, lots of bars, cosy armchairs and myriad rooms stuffed with people who want to party until dawn. It’s usually got a good, decadent vibe, and tends to get more (not less) crowded as the night wears on.
reviewed
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Cafe 87
Locals come in droves to this funky cafe beside the Olomouc Museum of Art for coffee and their famous chocolate pie. Some people still apparently prefer the dark chocolate to the white chocolate. When will they learn? It's a top spot for breakfast and toasted sandwiches too.
reviewed
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Music Bar Anděl
By day a cool, hip cafe, the Anděl is transformed after dark into a rocking live-music venue featuring the best of touring Czech bands and occasional international acts. It also has a good vegetarian menu.
reviewed
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Laterna Magika
Laterna Magika has been wowing audiences since its first cutting-edge multimedia show caused a stir at the 1958 Brussels World Fair. Its imaginative blend of dance, music and projected images continues to pull in the crowds. Nová Scena, the futuristic building next to the National Theatre, has been home to Laterna Magika since it moved from its birthplace in the Adria Palace in the mid-1970s.
reviewed
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Q
Letná Beer Garden
No accounting of watering holes in the neighbourhood would be complete without a nod toward the city’s best beer garden, situated at the eastern end of the Letná Gardens. Buy a takeaway beer from a small kiosk and grab a picnic table, or sit on a small terrace where you can order beer-by-the-glass and decent pizza. From the tram stop it is a five- or 10-minute walk south.
reviewed
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Bunkr Parukářka
Only in Prague… A graffiti-covered steel door in the hillside at the west end of Parukářka park leads to a vast circular staircase that descends into a 1950s nuclear bunker where a makeshift bar serves cheap beer in plastic glasses. This is the unlikely setting for one of Prague’s most unusual clubs, a claustrophobic shrine to all the weird and wonderful avant-garde electronic music genres you can think of. The opening hours vary – check listings on their website.
reviewed
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Bokovka
Owned by a syndicate of oenophiles including film directors Jan Hřebejk and David Ondříček, this quaint little bar is named after the movie Sideways (bokovka in Czech), which was set in the California vineyards. The main attraction (other than the chance of being served by a film director) is the extensive menu of top-notch Moravian wines.
reviewed
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Kuře V Hodinkách
This rock music–themed pub is named after a 1972 album by Czech jazz-rock band Flamengo, which was banned by the communist authorities (it means ‘Chicken in the Watch’ – hey, it was the ’70s, psychedelic drugs and all that…). Decked out in rock memorabilia, and with a choice of buzzing street-level bar or more intimate brick-vaulted basement, it’s more upmarket than most Žižkov pubs and has a classy kitchen to match – the menu includes pasta with buttered sage and pecorino, tofu burgers, barbecued chicken wings in ginger and soy sauce, and a rich, dark and tasty goulash with bacon dumplings.
reviewed
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U Medvídků
The most micro of Prague’s microbreweries, with a capacity of only 250L, U Medvídků started producing its own beer only in 2005, though its beer hall has been around for many years. What it lacks in size, it makes up for in strength – the dark lager produced here, marketed as X-Beer, is the strongest in the country, with an alcohol content of 11.8% (as strong as many wines).
Available in bottles only (122Kč for 0.33L), it’s a malty, bitter-sweet brew with a powerful punch; handle with caution! There’s also Budvar on tap at 32Kč for 0.4L.
reviewed
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La Bodega Flamenca
La Bodega resides in an atmospheric, red-brick cellar. With the Latin music turned down low, the crowd seems a bit more reflective (at least compared with the crew at Fraktal next door). Most people come for a beer or sangria, but there’s also a nice selection of tapas on hand. Also live music and dance some nights.
reviewed
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U Vystřeleného oka
You’ve got to love a pub that has vinyl pads on the wall above the gents’ urinals to rest your forehead on. ‘The Shot-Out Eye’ – the name pays homage to the one-eyed Hussite hero atop the hill behind the pub – is a bohemian (with a small ‘b’) hostelry with a raucous Friday-night atmosphere where the cheap Pilsner Urquell pulls in a typically heterogeneous Žižkov crowd.
reviewed
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Pivovarský Klub
This bar is to beer what the Bodleian Library is to books – wall-to-wall shelves lined with myriad varieties of bottled beer from all over the world, and six guest beers on tap. Perch on a bar stool or head downstairs to the snug cellar and order some of the pub’s excellent grub (such as authentic guláš with bacon dumplings for 235Kč) to soak up the beer.
reviewed
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Klub Újezd
Klub Újezd is one of Prague’s many ‘alternative’ bars, spread over three floors (DJs in the cellar, and a cafe upstairs) and filled with a fascinating collection of original art and weird wrought-iron sculptures. Clamber onto a two-tonne bar stool in the agreeably grungy street-level bar, and sip on a beer beneath a scaly, fire-breathing sea-monster.
reviewed