The 10 best restaurants in Krakow

Kraków is the home to the country’s only 2 Michelin star restaurant, Bottiglieria 1881, crowned in 2023 to great acclaim. Here Chef Przemysław Klima draws deep on the culinary soul of Poland, and his childhood memories of perfect rural summers, to offer dishes such as pickled beetroot, apple-wood smoked trout and a sauce made from of the milk of walnuts, bison grass and seaweed oil. Whilst Bottiglieria 1881 sets a gourmet bar, there is a good range of restaurants in town which allow the visitor to enjoy simple classics such as  chłodnik, a deliciously pink, chilled beetroot and yogurt summer soup or a plate of pierogi ruskie, dumplings of white cheese and potato, fried crisply and served with bacon cubes and sour cream.

For more Krakow inspiration, see our guides to the best hotels, bars, and things to do.

• Old Town
• Kazimierz

This small restaurant inside the newly arrived Hotel Indigo is a real gem.  Chef Marcin Sołtys offers a menu which draws its inspiration from  Krakow’s oldest farmer’s market, Stary Kleparz, which is nearby.  Think venison with juniper and trout roe or dumplings of crayfish and mushrooms, beautifully presented in unfussy surroundings. Walls are covered with bright artwork from the Polish Poster School, the kitchen is open and banquettes come in powder blue. Breads are baked in-house, followed by seriously good dishes which give a whole new, contemporary take on Polish cuisine.

Contact: filipa18.com
Price: ££
Reservations: recommended

Polish food is more for the carnivore than the vegetarian but this restaurant does its bit to make up the balance with a wide range of vegetable based salads. Situated in a pretty, enclosed, leafy courtyard with climbing ivy and endless pot plants under a canopied ceiling, a long, 30-metre bar offers a huge buffet of dishes such as Greek salad, red cabbage salad, lettuce and avocado salad, chickpea salad and beetroot salad alongside a smaller meat and fish salad selection, such as rice with chicken and curry, smoked fish salad and herring salad.

Contact: 00 48 12 292 12 12; chimera.com.pl
Reservations: Walk-ins only
Prices: £

This acclaimed restaurant is housed in the Hotel Stary, which has won many awards for the way 21st-century luxury has been so skilfully inserted into 14th-century surroundings. Trzy Rybki’s dishes dazzle in their modernity whilst referencing Poland’s culinary heritage. Try the beef tatare with shallot, kohlrabi, chicory, black pepper and potato chip or the Polish dumplings with a twist, filled as they are with goat’s cheese and kimchi with colourful beetroots and a thyme emulsion. The restaurant’s Gothic windows with ribbed, vaulted ceilings add to the elegance of the experience, making this one for a special occasion.

Contact: 00 48 12 384 08 08; stary.hotel.com.pl
Reservations: Essential
Prices: £££

This restaurant, whose name tanslates to ‘under the angels’, is housed in Gothic cellars, complete with original 13th-century elements and exposed thick stone walls. Above it is an 18th-century house served for years as a workshop for Kraków’s goldsmiths; as a nod to its past, some of the dishes are gold-laced. The menu draws on the rich traditions of ancient Polish court cuisine. Try the goose breast carpaccio with plum alcohol, the soup of wild boletus mushrooms, picked in the local mountains or the wild boar in a juniper marinade. But leave room for their famous apple pie with cinnamon.

Contact: 00 48 12 421 39 99; podaniolami.pl
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: ££

On the long, winding street that leads from the Market Square to the Wawel, dominated by the white stone tower of the Romanesque Church of St Andrew, lies Marmolada. It offers affordable and delicious regional specialities in a narrow, long restaurant bedecked with flowers, folk handicrafts and lots of timber under canopied ceilings. Try the potato pancakes with beef goulash, typical for Małopolska, this area of Poland; or the excellent żurek soup, a concoction of sour rye broth with white sausage and hardboiled egg, followed by a Kraków burger made from pork neck seasoned with caraway. 

Contact: 00 48 012 422 02 33; marmoladarestauracja.pl
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: £

Two old town houses on the Market Square have been converted into a stylish shopping mall, Pasaż 13, with a range of designer concept stores. On the bottom level is L Concept, serving contemporary international cuisine with an Italian accent in sleek surroundings which draws on the neighbouring deli and wine shop. An open kitchen sits at the end of arched, exposed stone walls delivering a minimalist cuisine. Try the classic beef tartare, the tagliatelle with shrimps or the entrecôte with pepper sauce before having a Polish lemon cake, Babka Cytrynowa, served here with milk ice-cream and fresh strawberries.

Contact: 00 48 12 617 0212; likusrestauracje.pl
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: £

With its immaculate period furnishings, coffered wood ceilings, ancient tapestries and oil paintings, Wierzynek is a fascinating place to visit during a stay in Kraków for the sheer weight of history that accompanies the food. Taking its origins from 1364, when wealthy merchant Wierzynek entertained the monarchs of Europe on behalf of Polish King Casimir the Great, the restaurant serves regal dishes, such as a delicious cream of crayfish soup or pheasant consommé, followed by duck breast with a gingerbread sauce or saddle of venison with a blackberry essence.

Contact: 00 48 12 424 96 00; wierzynek.pl
Reservations: Essential
Prices: £££

The first – and only, at present – 2 star Michelin restaurant in Poland, this is where you should book if you want to understand the depth of Polish cuisine.  Ravaged by wars and border changes, this country guards its culinary heritage with passion and Klima is definitely one of its guardians. Chef Klima manages to encapsulate the essence of the Polish kitchen in his rural-centric menu which transports you to another time and another place but go with it and you will maybe understand the strength of a nation which has, time and time again, needed to fight to survive.

Contact: 00 48 660 661 756
Price: £££
Reservations: essential

Miodova is located on a popular restaurant street in the old Jewish district of Kazimierz, made famous in Schindler’s List. The restaurant consistently wins praise for its rediscovered classics with a modern twist, inspired by a 19th-century cookbook in which the influences of the time from Austro-Hungarian to Jewish to Russian are all visible in the menu. Amidst exposed red brick walls, try the traditional Krakovian pasta, barszcz – the Polish beetroot soup – or a typical cucumber salad with dill and sour cream. Alternatively, have a fillet of zander fish with pickled cucumber and a white wine sauce followed by a cheesecake.

Contact: 00 48 22 12 432 50 83; miodova.pl
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: £

This hotel restaurant is named after Helena Rubinstein, the international cosmetics queen who was born in the building next door, and offers modern dining in the heart of the Jewish Quarter, with a vast outdoor space for the summer months. The speciality of the house is duck with spinach in blackcurrant sauce, but try their dill cream soup and their oscypek sheep cheese with pear mustard and raspberry first. There is a good selection of wines by the glass, including some Polish options. Start the evening with a drink in the hotel’s skybar, which offers views all the way across Kraków to the Wawel.

Contact: 00 48 12 384 00 00; szeroka12.pl
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: £

Every restaurant in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood favourites to Michelin-starred restaurants – to best suit every type of traveller’s taste – and consider the food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest opening and provide up to date recommendations.