How to spot a TOURIST TRAP (and not be tricked)

0:00 How to spot a tourist trap
0:31 Fake "Large" Beer
1:25 "Free" pretzels on the table
2:16 Compulsory tip
4:05 Reviews
5:00 There are exceptions
6:01 No name or prices
8:58 Interview with the restaurants owner
10:54 Czech Word

Thank you for your support!
Janek Rubeš & Honza Mikulka, Prague based journalists
#HonestGuide

[jamjam]

For any tourists reading this: There are countless pubs/restaurants outside the city centre that charge you around 150-200 Kč (6-8 euro) for a meal: usually a full plate of food and you can get a beer to wash it down for 50 Kč (2 euros). As a Prague local, I almost never go to the pubs or restaurants in the immediate centre of Prague as their pricing is ridiculous

[Areinu]

Each time I was in Prague I usually went by "is it full of locals and are there barely any free seats?" to avoid tourist traps. There was one place where we went where as soon as we sat down they brought us those 1L beers and put them on the table, and left in an instant. Next time a waiter came we told him "we didn't order these", the waiter got red on face and got pretty angry at us. It took us near a minute of arguing before they took the beers away, and then we just left (we didn't order anything yet, as we didn't even get the menu yet). While on our way out we saw a pair at the table looking baffled on their bill, and pointing at the empty beer glasses. We also saw the waiter putting "our" beers at a table some new tourists sat at. Recycling at work!

[giovannil]

As a guy from Rome I would like to contribute to this video by saying that most of the times the photos of the dishes outside of the restaurant are a give away to a tourist trap, and also waiters inviting you to come in.
Regarding the historical centre of Rome, be careful to restaurant that have a lady making handmade pasta in front of a window, I’ve seen them a lot recently but it’s just impossible that one lady makes it for a whole restaurant, I know it’s tempting for a foreigner but watch out for the other clues that Honest Guide gave us, since it’s probably a trap.

[WoWBaxter]

You recorded some of the footage for this on the 9th!
My girlfriend and I bumped into you and Honza on the Charles Bridge. It was so amazing to meet the people who inspired us to visit your city, and it made our day!

[ggjwest]

The Svejk bars have been a trap for decades. My last visit to one of them, two years ago, was terrible. I was screamed at by the waitress because I didn’t have cash to pay. “The machine is broken”, she said. It wasn’t.

[Hybinette]

"We're just waiters"
"And I'm just a youtuber"

Nice one, Janek :D

[PraetorianAU]

I'm a Czech person living in Australia. I travel back to see my family every few years and on occasion I make a day trip to Prague. Whenever I go into a store which is on the main touristy area's, as soon as I start speaking to them in Czech, the prices significantly reduce.

The last item I remember buying was a replica of Orloj to take back home. The price I paid was less then half of what was on the label. They had a price list under the desk which they pulled out when giving my the price at the counter. They even told me not to look at the labelled prices of anything but rather ask for the real price.

If that's not proof of a tourist trap, I don't know what it is.

[endeuinable]

We need someone like you for Barcelona. Very much needed. If the owners of these places hate you is the sign that you're doing a great job!

[twodoorcinema]

I think its awesome how you are honest enough to talk to the staff, just to question why they do business that way. I just thought that was really respectful of you! keep it up

[walroz]

Janek is a master of this balance - Honesty is a hard thing to make pretty but Janeks honesty is so graceful you cant hate him for saying these things out loud - and us tourist *LOVE* him for this!!!! Another homerun boys <3

[stmark]

This channel is really a blessing for us tourists who are thinking about going to Prague.
I love how Honza and Janek EXPOSES the bad places.

[iguanaman]

I can't remember the exact figures. I was in Prague's main square and had one beer. I called the waiter over and asked for the bill. I gave him a large note that was at least double the cost of the beer. I didn't have any smaller notes. I waited and waited for him to bring my change. In the end I called him over and said where's my change. He said, oh I thought you give me tip. I said, uh no! Not double the cost of the beer! He went off and brought my change back and slapped it on the table and walked off.

[neychev]

I love how Yanek starts each video explaining who he is and what Hones Guide do like it is their first video :)

[Nadia]

I'm in Prague right now and I've been constantly dodging those restaurants. And my rule of thumb is a) if all the signs are in English or b) there is no menu with prices, run!
Other thing I noticed is that a lot of places have thick walls that cause interference with phone signals, and if you can't pay with your phone the waiter will persuade you to pay in cash. Luckily I had the physical card, otherwise I'd be toast.

[orany]

I'm Polish and when I asked for menu with prices in restaurant seen on 6:05, they just said they're closing for today. They were not closing. It was 4pm Saturday :D

What surprised me is how many things are hidden underground in Prague. There are places where you are going at least 15 metres underground to eat, I even found a Lidl supermarket which was hidden underground (24 Na Porici street)! It was crazy to see, but I learned it is like it is because of Czech very strict building laws. I was on Retail Summit 2023, where Kaufland supermarket displayed a presentation about their target of "5 new subsidiaries every year" and they struggled for 7 years with Czech law, zoning decisions and courts before they started the construction. Well, 5 new subsidiaries didn't work out. But this is what makes Prague and Czechia a very beautiful and unique place!

[dantesteele]

I ate at this exact Svejk restaurant a few years ago and paid with cash. The waiter walked away and never came back with my change. When I asked for my change, the waitress said it was her tip. It was about 200 czk! So after demanding my change a few times, she finally gave it back to me. Prague is the worst in the world for restaurants/stores keeping change or giving back the wrong amount. Always count your change!

[federicomauri]

Italian living in Prague here. Generally, when I would like to try a place for the first time (both in Czechia or anywhere else), I always make a double check between Tripadvisor and Google reviews about that. If they have at least 4 stars, I can give them a chance.
But for Prague 1 I am always very careful and go always in places that I know by experience or the ones suggested by Honest guide, of course!

[Kellestial]

You should make an “honest to trap scale” and rate places in Prague. Maybe even put them on a website or app so people can see check places before they go in. Maybe also have tags like “don’t have/have menu prices”, “don’t have/have service charge” etc. would make Prague a lot more accessible for people who overly worry about these traps

[RicoBanani]

In Croatia I sat in a Slastičarnica with my friends but didn't want to have anything. When the waiter came to take orders I told him "nothing" when he asked what will I have. When the orders arrived he brought me a glass of lemonade with a ball of ice cream in it. I asked whats this, he said "nothing", that's what you ordered. And sure enough, there it was in the menu as well 😂😂😂

[Pascalocopter]

I've been to Prague with my college students a few years ago and we did a guided city tour.
Our tour guide was good and likeable and at the end she recommended us a "great" place to eat at. She also told us that we can mention her name there for a discount.
As we had a great experience with her so far we went to the recommended place and ate there. It was pretty hidden in an alleyway.
The food and service was one of the worse we had and the price even after the "discount" was pretty steep. Turns out, pretty much every guest there was also recommended by a tour guide.
Tourist trap!