Krakow stole my heart—not just with its charming streets and history, but with its food. My first trip to Krakow was by chance, as I was visiting a friend in Wroclaw and had to make myself busy whilst he was working. So I went to Krakow for a few days. As a foodie, I had no idea how much I would fall in love with the city’s cafés, restaurants, and bars. From the first morning coffee to late-night cocktails, every meal felt like a little adventure through Polish cuisine.
I’m not here to give you a generic list of places to eat in Krakow. These are the spots I genuinely loved, the ones that made me pause and savour the moment. Whether it was a cosy café where I spent way too long people-watching, a restaurant that served the kind of food that warms your soul, or a bar where the atmosphere was just right—I’m sharing them all. If you’re heading to Krakow and want real recommendations from someone who actually ate their way through the city, this is for you.
Where to Eat in Krakow
Breakfast
Sekret Smaku
It was my nose that stumbled upon this restaurant, one morning, on my way to the train station. The alluring smell of the coffee led me inside, to get my caffeine fix. Their breakfast menu looked amazing, with so many mouthwatering-sounding dishes. I couldn’t decide between a savoury and a sweet option, and, because I was visiting Krakow with a friend on this occasion, we decided to share both between us. We ordered the fried eggs over potatoes and sausages, and the pancakes with vanilla, fruits and apple sauce.
I have never been to a restaurant where the dishes that came out of the kitchen were more beautiful than the ones presented on the menu. The savoury dish came with a lettuce and cucumber salad, and a glass of silky kefir, which gave a fresh twist to the pan of carbs. The pancakes were made with apples in the batter and were so tender and sweet. Together with the vanilla sauce, they were just the indulgence we both needed before jumping on the train to visit the salt mine in Wieliczka.
Nakielny’s Coffee & Cakes
Nakielny’s is my favourite café in Krakow and I am proud to say that I’ve been having coffee and eating cakes here ever since they had only one location. Now, they have branches all over the city centre. Their prices have gone up, but their cakes are still as delicious as I knew them – maybe just a bit smaller.
My favourite cake here is the chocolate and sour cherries one. It’s so indulgent, with dense chocolate mousse and juicy sour cherries that balance the sweetness. It’s just perfect. Another cake I can recommend is the pistachio cube – which has a raspberry cream filling. It has delicate flavours and it’s not at all as sweet as it looks like.
Lajkonik Bakery
Lajkonik is one of those places where there is always a queue. But also a place where they have so many goodies that it’s hard to decide on just one pastry/cake/sandwich for breakfast before your turn comes. Everything looks so good, even their plain loaves of bread.
After a lot of back and forth, I decided on an onion and cheese slice, and a sour cherry-filled pastry. They were both so good and filling that I struggled to have lunch afterwards.
Kawiarnia Fornir
Fornir is a small coffee shop inside a residential building, a little bit hard to spot from the main road. I passed by it quite a few times before finding the exact location. They have a cute courtyard and a small café in the back where you can hide when the weather is bad. I came here for their cardamon bun, which did not disappoint.
Restaurants
Pod Wavelem
If you are looking for a place that offers affordable big portions and simple but delicious food, then this is the restaurant for you. This is actually the first restaurant I ate at in Krakow, recommended by a friend of a friend who was kind to show me around the city on my first day here. I remember that beautiful spring day, walking with her from the castle back to the city, between the pink blossoms trees lining the street.
Living in the UK but growing up in Eastern Europe, I am a big fan of pork. And I can’t get good pork in the UK. So every time I travel back to Eastern Europe I eat my weight in pork – so at Pod Wavelem I just had to order the pork knuckle.
The portion was ridiculously huge, with the meat so soft that was falling off the bone. It was accompanied by mashed potatoes, pickled cabbage, pickles, grated horseradish and plenty of mustard. Not too much, because the main event was the knuckle.
I also ordered a big beer, without realising that this meant an entire litre.
Domowe Przysmaki
I discovered this restaurant on my most recent trip to Krakow, on my last day. I went here for a late lunch, before taking the train and heading back to the airport. I loved their menu which included a lot of pork dishes, as well as other classic typical Polish platters. I opted for the trip soup, followed by the kielbasa sausage served with caramelised onions and horseradish mustard. I wish I was hungrier, as the pork dishes really, really called my name. But I had to leave them for my next visit.
The soup was lovely, especially with the extra sour cream I added to it. It was quite different from the traditional Romanian tripe soup I am used to, but still very good. The sausage was definitely the star of the lunch – such good quality and so well cooked, with a slight crunch on the outside and soft on the inside. The taste was complemented perfectly by the sweetness of the caramelised onions and the punch of the horseradish in the mustard.
Morskie Oro
Morskie Oro is said to be one of the best traditional Polish restaurants in Krakow, so I just had to try it out. Due to its popularity though I wasn’t able to get a table inside, which is beautifully decorated with wood and folk motifs, where they also play live music. I had to be grateful for a seat on the terrace.
Here I tried the Polish potato pancakes, which were served topped with beef goulash, loads of cheese and an egg yolk. The potato pancake was very crispy – more than I expected it to be. I loved the combination of the hearty beef goulash with the salty sheep cheese that cut through the rather bold flavour of the meat. It was delicious and extremely filling.
W Starej Kuchni Restaurant
I loved this restaurant so much that I ate there several times during my trips to Krakow. The décor is rustic, with a replica of a bread oven, pans and pots hanging from the ceiling, and simple white and red checked cloths covering the tables. The portions are huge and I was offered bread and lard (a typical Polish starter) on the house every time I dined here.
I tried quite a few dishes on their menu, starting with the beetroot soup with potatoes and sour cream which was so big I could barely finish. I loved the sweet taste combined with the freshness of the sour cream. The potatoes gave it the texture it needed.
This is the restaurant where I tasted the best pierogi in Krakow. Pan-fried to perfection and served without too much oil, topped with caramelised onion, fluffy but still very delicate – they were simply perfect. I enjoyed each bite but again, struggled to finish the entire portion.
The Hunter’s Stew was another highlight of this restaurant. Served in a bread bowl, with an abundance of pork meat and sausages, mixed with the most delicious pickled cabbage stew, it put me into a food coma. It was so good that I couldn’t stop eating, even when my stomach was full and I couldn’t take another bite.
Smaki Kuchnia
I loved the experience at Smaik Kuchnia, which is more like a traditional Polish milk bar than a restaurant. I entered the establishment, got a menu from the door, found a table, and then decided on what I wanted. I then returned to the front of the restaurant to place my order. At the counter, there were a few already-made dishes, in larger quantities. The pierogis and steaks were made to order.
I decided on the day’s special, pork tenderloin in a chanterelle sauce, with mashed potatoes and dill, accompanied by a small beer. The meat was so tender and soft, perfectly paired with the earthy and plentiful mushroom sauce. I used the mashed potatoes to mop the sauce from the plate, leaving it completely empty when I finished.
This is a very affordable restaurant, with prices almost half of what other restaurants in the town centre charge for the same dishes.
Chłopskie Jadło
This is a very rustic restaurant with old-fashioned benches, long tables and great local food. I had a full lunch here, starting with lard, pickles and bread. This is a very humble, Polish appetiser, that some restaurants will offer free of charge. Despite the thought of it – lard – it’s actually very good spread on fresh bread and topped with pickles.
Next, I tried two soups here: the classic Zurek and the Barszcz – beetroot soup. It’s funny how years later I was served the same soups at midnight, at a Polish wedding in Poznan. I found it quite amusing how the soups arrived after the wedding cake, but it made sense, as the main drink on every table was vodka.
Next, the pierogi ruskie. You cannot not love pierogi, served with caramelised onion, dunked in creamy, high-fat sour cream. These pierogi were very good, not greasy at all – and trust me, I’ve had pierogi floating in a bath of oil before.
Bars
Czeczotka Bar
When I couldn’t get into Piano Rouge because it was full, I looked for an alternative nearby, as I didn’t want to call it a night yet. And this is how I ended up at Czeczotka, a wonderful cocktail bar with live music, on the corner of the main square in Krakow. I spotted it the night I came to Krakow when my taxi passed by on the way to my apartment. I was surprised that it was after midnight but the bar was full with people eating and drinking.
The bar is very cosy, with comfortable armchairs and a lovely atmosphere. Their cocktail menu is quite impressive, so between me and my friend, we shared four different drinks and a Persian pistachio ice cream. I will definitely come back here to try their food, as the ice cream was phenomenal.
The cocktails were great – my favourite being the lavender gin sour.
Pijana Wisnia
If you love cherries, then this is the bar for you. It’s tiny, and it sells only cherry-flavoured liquor served with sour cherries in the glass. In winter, they serve it hot as well.
Piano Rouge
I unfortunately didn’t get the chance to have a drink at Piano Rouge because it was full. However, a lot of people recommended it to me. I even asked a few locals if it was indeed worth it or if it was just a tourist trap, and they confirmed it was a good place to go. It’s not cheap compared to other places in town, but the experience seems to be worth it. The restaurant-bar is located in the underground and it’s very red and retro. Every evening at 8 pm they have live music.
Extra:
Zapiekanka from Plac Nowy
You can’t visit Krakow without having at least one zapiekanka from the famous round building in the middle of the New Square, in Kazimierz.
Zapiekanka is the Polish answer to pizza and it has its origins in the 1970s, when the country was struggling with food shortage. The humble dish consists of a baguette sliced lengthwise, topped with sauteed mushrooms and melted cheese, and drizzled with a generous amount of ketchup. However, these days the menus include all sorts of toppings, from sausages to smoked cheese, from bacon to pickled cucumbers, from feta cheese to even pineapple. The ketchup has evolved as well to a range of different sauces. The more toppings you want, the more expensive the zapiekanka is going to be – but don’t worry, it’s still going to cost you under a fiver for a large one.
Bunny Café
I didn’t add the Bunny Café in the breakfast section because it doesn’t open until 11 am. But it’s a place that you must visit, especially if you love bunnies. I spotted this café a couple of years ago, one evening, whilst walking back to my apartment, and I knew I had to come back.
I’ve visited cat cafes before, but never a bunny one. The front of the café has tables and chairs, where you can enjoy a hot drink and a cake until your time with the bunnies arrives. You have to pay extra to get to the pens, where you will have 20 minutes to give treats and play with the bunnies. Some of them are very friendly and come to you straight away, some are more on the shy side. The ticket to see the bunnies costs 21 zloti extra (around £4.5).
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mmm.. This post is making me so hungry! So many great options!
Clearly shouldn’t have read this while I was hungry…
But in seriousnss, I went to Krakow back in 2005 and it did not have this vibe! Clearly I need to go back!
I’ve never seen a Krakow post before and you found some treasures! Thanks for opening my eyes to a new destination.
Okay, this is totally not what I pictured for food options in Krakow. It all sounds delicious!
I never knew Krakow was such a paradise for foodies. Yum, everything looks so good… I’ll save this list for a future trip
I know how much you love trying new food. You must have been in foodie heaven in Krakow!
These all look very tasty. I know polish food gets a bit of a bad reputation for being stodgy, but I love it. Even as a vegetarian I usually find something/ and definitely how can someone not love pierogi? Mushroom is my favourite.