How to survive Krakow’s nightlife with the best food in the city!
Discovering Krakow nightlife can be exhausting, so remember to eat decent meals in order to have the strength to handle everything the city has to offer. Besides that, Polish food is just delicious, so trust us, you don’t want to miss it. We will include some Polish restaurants but also give a range of cuisine options to suit everyone’s needs! This list is written by tourists who live in Krakow so there will be a range of Polish options but also a range of options when you want something to remind you of home.
Solid breakfasts to cure hangover
Milkbar Tomasza
One of the pubcrawl guides favourites, Milkbar Tomasza is a great option for a hangover cure (especially if you’re not keen to try new food on a hangover). It is a nice Irish cafe with very friendly staff. The most popular option (especially with pub crawl guides) is the full Irish breakfast which includes eggs, sausages, beans, tomatoes, toast and bacon and is a great option to soak up the alcohol from the night before, they also include a range of other dishes including Polish pierogi which is also a must try while you’re in Krakow!
Cafe Charlotte
An all day venue serving dishes based on its own breads & baguettes. This is a great spot for all breakfasts including breads, croissants, tasty jams and chocolate spreads! The interior and atmosphere in this cafe is very welcoming and great for relaxing in after a night out. As Milkbar Tomasza, they offer food all day so no rush to get there either after your night out! It can however be a little busy and might include a queue so it’s worth having a few options ready if you’re in rush to get inside and eat.
Tamam Cafe & Restaurant
Another great option for all breakfasts in Krakow is Taman Cafe & Restaurant which is a Turkish cafe located in the Main Square. If you want some Turkish cuisine (other than kebabs on the way home after a night out!), this is a great place to try it. The Turkish breakfast is a great option which includes cheese, olives, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, jam, honey as well as sucuk (a spicy Turkish food similar to sausages). The breakfast also gives unlimited bread and Turkish tea which is great for a hangover cure after a heavy night out in Krakow! The food portions here are huge and can be shared between 2 people (We recommend it!).
Amazing lunches to recover energy
If like a lot of our pub crawl guests you spend time in your Airbnb / hostel etc. to nurse your hangover and want some great place to grab some lunch to recover from the night, we have some great options below!
Coco / Bordo
Here we’ve included 2 great options for food if you are looking to recover some energy, especially if you spent too much money in the night and are now on a budget! Here they include great homemade food options including chicken dishes, Pasta dishes and soups offering a deal which includes a soup and a main dish for just 16 zloty (roughly £3 or €3.5).
Pierogarnia Krakowiacy
If you’re looking for some Polish atmosphere and some nice Polish cuisine this a great place for you to try out and is in a great location in the city centre so very accessible if you’re already exploring the centre of Krakow! If you are in a group we would recommend ordering multiple variations of pierogi including the meat pierogies, cheese and dessert pierogies and share them out in the group so everyone gets to try the different flavours.
The best pre-night out dinner options
Am Nam
A great option and again very accessible (just next door to our previous suggestion) on Szewska (one of the most popular streets in the centre) is a great oriental bar which includes a great range of Chinese, Asian, Thai and Vietnamese food. The food here is great to fill you up before a big night out in Krakow and the customer service is great. The portion sizes here all include rice and are also very generous.
Warsztat Restaurant & Cafe
If you are living closer to Kazimierz (Jewish quarter) and are looking for more of a Polish cuisine, this is the restaurant for you at any time of the year. In the summer enjoy your food outside and in colder weather enjoy your food inside in the retro designed restaurant. We recommend trying the different variations of pierogi but if you’re opting for something more substantial before a night out, the pasta dish portions can be split between 2. This is considered a hidden gem by Krakow locals and a must try if you are in the area. Around this area there are also a lot of great bars you can check out and have a drink before heading to the Main Square to join the pub crawl or find a club to settle at for the night.
Okraglak
If you want to try the Polish zapiekanka, we would highly recommend Okrąglak. Again located in the Jewish quarter, this a great place for some street food as well, including Belgium fries, pierogi and a range of Polish desserts. The zapiekanka is a sandwich made with baguette topped with a range of ingredients from sauteed white mushrooms, cheese, chicken etc., and then melted and served with a sauce of your choice. You also have the option of halving your sandwich, so you can try out each half with a different topping. At Okrąglak you will be presented with a range of different vendors selling the street food and depending on who you speak to, everyone has a different opinion on the best vendor, however all are pretty good (generally better than at the Main Square) so we would recommend looking for the one that is busiest or trying a range of them yourself and finding your favourite, be sure to comment below with your favourite, if you do this!
Food trucks
There is a bunch of really cool food trucks all around Krakow and we would highly recommend trying them out, these can be great to grab a quick bite to eat if you’re in a rush before heading to the pub crawl or night out. These also, like in other countries, have a good range of foods. Depending on what you like, you can try some of the more traditional Polish foods and snacks (zapiekanka and pierogi are our recommendations) or you can try the multiple vendors selling Belgium fries as well as meat vendors and desert vendors and this is a great way to suit everyone if you are in a large group, because they can all decide what they want individually. We would recommend the street slow food area to check out the food trucks. This is very close to the Galeria Krakowska, which is also a great place to go while you are visiting Krakow to check out some of the stores and it also has a range of food options as well.
Bars with great atmosphere
442
Still looking to keep up with your favourite sports while in Krakow and looking for somewhere to eat and also watch the game? 442 is the newest (and best) sports bar in Krakow located on Tomasza street which is very close to the centre. 442 offers extremely friendly staff, good prices and a great range of food options and snacks that you would find at a sports venue including hot dogs and burgers to fish and chips etc. They offer a range of different sports from football to cricket and even UFC / Boxing etc., so this is definitely a great place to check out for any sports fan!
La Bodega del Ron
If you’re looking for a great place in the centre to drink, you can check out La bodega. It is perfectly located in the centre, with great staff and prices, and also serves pizza, while the food isn’t the main priority here, if you are looking to drink and relax and also grab a bite to eat. You can also expect a range of tourists and locals to be here and it’s generally a great place to hangout and try while you are in Krakow, later on in the night this also turns into a club so if you’re not into exploring too much, this is a great place to check out.
Perfect night eats
After you have finished your night in Krakow you will definitely be looking for something to eat and recover from the Polish vodka! Instead of rushing to the nearest Mcdonald’s and KFC, you can try out some of the options below.
Pierogi 24/7
If you didn’t get a chance to try out the pierogi before your night out, this is a perfect time to try them. Przypiecek is the name of the restaurant we would recommend and it serves anything from the usual meat or cheese pierogies to desert pierogies including a mix of berries or ice cream. They also have other options such as soup etc., if you’re not the biggest fan of pierogi. Be sure to leave your favourite variations of pierogi in the comments below!
Zapiekanka
We would usually recommend trying the zapiekanka in the Okrąglak area we recommend earlier in the article, so if you didn’t get the chance to visit it yet, we would still highly recommend it and this is very popular in many different places in the centre (and a great option to try out in the night) when there are limited options open there will always be a shop selling these on most streets in the centre.
Amazing sweets to boost the mood
A lot of time when you are visiting Krakow will be spent walking around, especially viewing the Vistula river, the Wawel Castle and the Jewish quarter and you will definitely see a bunch of sweet options to keep your energy up while exploring. Here are our favourites.
Paczki
If you’re doing a lot of walking during your trip in Krakow, you will most likely at some point smell this delicious Polish treat and we highly recommend you stopping to try them! Paczki are the Polish doughnuts, usually filled with a sweet filling including caramel, jam or jelly, but there is a huge range of flavours including some more strange options you might not find elsewhere. Traditional paczki also contain a splash of Polish vodka which is definitely a great way to boost the mood while travelling around the city! In Poland they also have a day here dedicated to paczki called Fat Thursday, aka Paczki Day which is just before Ash Wednesday and will have people queuing up all around poland to get their hands on some paczki.
Chimney Cake
Similar to the paczki, Chimney cakes can be found all over Krakow and are often found in the food truck spots we recommended earlier in the article. While this amazing treat native to Romania not Poland, here they have really perfected it and have included their own little twist. They also offer a huge range of flavours including (but not limited to) vanilla, coconut, peanut butter and also ice cream in a Chimney Cake.
Other things to do
After all these delicious meals, you will have a lot of energy to continue exploring the city. If you are looking for more tips on things to do, go take a look at our blog and build your perfect to do list for your day and nightlife activities in Krakow.