CZECH RESTAURANTS (Do THIS! Don't do THIS!)

🎥 The rules for eating in a Czech Restaurant are different than in your own country, so watch my restaurant tips so you can dine like a local!

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ABOUT ME

👋🏽  Hi, I am Jen! American living in Prague and loving every minute of it. I’ve been living the dream in the capital city of Czech Republic with my American husband and Ukranian dog for 11 enchanting years.
I make videos and tell stories about immigrant life in Prague, cross-cultural mishaps, and give tips on how to live in, work in, and visit Prague.

[zupa]

I'm from Czechia, mostly I agree with you, but two things are (from my point of view) different.
1) It isn't necessary to take a reservation when you want to go to the restaurant, I or my friends don't usually do it. We just come there, choose a table we want and sit there (only check the table isn't reserved - there is no sign "reservation" on it). Only if I am going to the restaurant with a lot of people then I make a reservation to be sure.
2) When a waiter brings you bread with your dish you can freely eat it and don't pay for it. Only if you ask him to bring some then it's more than possible they wants a payment for it. The same is with the ketchup, if it's already on the table (next to salt) when you come it's free to use. Only if you ask for something they don't bring to you automatically you have to pay for it (it's something extra which doesn't belong to your order)

everything else Jane said in this video is 100 % true from my experience

[naiveknight]

Third common way of tipping in a restaurant in addition to rounding up cash or saying a bigger price when paying with card: When waiter brings you the bill and you choose to pay with card, you'll get the bill in a booklet or on a small tray or plate. You pay the exact amount with card and afterwards you can leave a cash tip in the place where bill was brought to you. If the restaurant or pub is not crowded, you can leave after doing this, but sometimes you want to make sure the waiter takes the tray or booklet and only leave after. Enjoy your stay :)

[janiessse]

Jen, did you make a video about diferrences between dog owners in Prague/Czech republic versus Americans? I would love that! ❤

[pavelfara]

About the side dishes.
Certain meals are served with a specific side dish. For example, svíčková is always served with dumplings, so it's going to be listed on the menu with dumplings. You might have a chance to choose between bread and Carlsbad dumplings though.
And then there are dishes that don't have an established side dish, a steak for example. So it's generally listed as it is and you choose the side dish yourself from the ”přílohy“ section. The variety is most usually boiled potatoes, baked potatoes (which we call American), fries, croquette or grilled vegetables.

[aenea]

About the free food - I am native and a lot of restaurants will give you free bread if you´re having soup or something like that, but I guess it´s not the case for "touristy" restaurants. But if you´re unsure, just ask if the thing is for free or not:).

[vitezslavnovak]

Nice video as usual, thank you. I have one small thing to add. I've seen a ton of tourists' videos from Prague. Many tourists let their "elegant" baseball caps on their heads, while sitting in the pub/restaurant. It is considered to be kinda rude, if a man lets his head covered in an inner space. (Excluding a visit in a synagogue.) Ladies are supposed to let their chic hats on, of course.

[TypeFunDay]

You should also add "do not put your knife and fork together unless you are actually finished", or they will take the food away from you before you're finished. :D

[stevenschwartzhoff]

I do not eat out in Prague much, but around the country I really almost never have a problem substituting one side order for another even on a set meal (meníčka) unless they have actually run out of the item or it is a truely industrial-size eating establishment (aquapark...). 30 years ago it was a bit frowned on, but mostly still not a problem. Also, I have noted with satisfaction how more sit down burger places automactically put toppings on the side so you can chooose what you want.

[adamvanek]

I think this "nothing-is-for-free" policy is only in tourist destinations or bigger city centres. I have never experienced paying for bread to gulash (not even after asking for more). But you advice is totally valid! It is interesting to hear about the common things we Czechs simply know although nobody taught us on purpose (except that fork and knive thing, children learn this at school actually as a basic etiquette). :-)

[Honza]

As Czech guy I do not giving tips in percentage of total bill.
If the food was delicious and I am glad with waiter and waiting time so my tip is: come to the restaurant again or recommended the restaurant to other people.
This is in my opinion the best way how to appreciate the whole restaurant and every employee in restaurant.
I am not saying that I never ever give the tip. Sometimes I give some small tip in cash and paying the bill by card.
But it is not typical. Because I am used to pay by card (mean mobile phonein 99% cases) everywhere and not used to use physicall money.

[ZvolskyMi]

About payment. I think usual is following. "Katka" will come to your table to take some empty things or just to ask if you need something more. This is the best time to say "no, thanks, I want pay already". She then asks if you will pay together or for individual persons and often she will say that you should go to pay to the desk/computer (shown in video). If you have not enough time to wait for the communication with "Katka" about payment, and there is such desk/computer, it is quite usual and normal to go there and wait there. Soon somebody will come and you can pay. At the desk say from which table you are, if you want pay using card or using cash, and if you pay everything or just a part (if you are not the last one :)).

[paulnelson]

Wanted to help with what the English term is for Svařák it
Is called mulled wine. I know many people translate it to “hot wine” since it seems to make sense to translate svařené víno to that, but that is the official English name for it.

[pavlamiddleton]

Hi Jen.
In Czech, I always gave tips in cash for the waitress separated from bill.
Now I live in Australia.🇦🇺 We don't tip here, but restaurant meal is a luxury (very expensive). Even coffee costs $8.50

Thank u dear Jen for describing your life in my homeland with such passion. Love to watch every episode.🇨🇿

[Jarda]

Main recomandation...don't go into restaurant in Center of Prague if you want to safe money...Other thing is that may be in California servers are asking about things...in Virginia...not at all...They just ask if you enjoyed meal which is usual everywhere.

[rehurekj]

Just returned from my latest trip to Prague( first snow in the season so everything looked properly touristy there, specially in evening) and I think you should deffo include Vietnamese cuisine( its usually the northern variety in Czechia) as part of Czech traditional food options now, i think after all those years and decades and how well integrated and compatible with Czechs Vietnamese turned out to be( and how good genuine Vietnamese food is- now when they mostly stopped trying to make it look and taste more like Chinese) they deserve to be acknowledged specially when Czech ppl generally like them and consider them and Vietnamese food as one of their own( unlike e.g. trdelnik which is still 99% only tourist thing and just like originally Hungarian langos or how they treat in neighbouring Germany their doner kebab or curry wurst)

[martindrab]

Let's add one PRO tip regarding tips: I sometimes pay by card but give the tip in cash which is more "tax-effective" for the serving guy/lady.

[richardkaba]

Dalsi super dil Jen. Ohledne tech hranolek, ja jsem presvedcen, ze samotne hranolky ve vetsine pripadu vydaji. Kazdopadne pokud ne, domnivam se (a dyztak me pripadni cisnici nebo restaurateri opravte), ze duvodem neni, ze by zbyl steak bez hranolek, ale duvodem je, ze zkratka nemaji samotne hranolky zadane v POS a tedy cisnik to nema jak zauctovat ...

[vh]

The thing with substitutions or asking for some ingredients being taken out of the food you are ordering - well, I have never had a problem with that in any Czech restaurant. As long as it is food from which the thing I dont like can be taken out easily, nobody ever told me it cant be done etc. But when it comes to really customizing your food completely, thats not really a thing here.

[machr]

Very very helpful for foreign tourists! What a good job, you are almost like a local.

[kamikaze]

Just left the Czech pub Kulatak and I asked both my husband and mother in law how to ask for another Sprite because the waiter that waited on us at the beginning avoided eye contact with me every time she passed by. We eventually grabbed another waiters attention 😆