Food and Drink in Czech Cities Beyond Prague

Brno eats well without Prague's crowds or Prague's prices. This guide sorts the city's restaurants by the meal you want — a cheap Czech lunch, a sit-down bistro dinner or a tasting menu — and explains how to order when the menu is only in Czech.

Brno beer is not one brand. Starobrno carries the hometown history, but the taps pull lagers from small Moravian breweries, and the pubs range from polished beer halls on the main square to standing-room counters where you say pivo and pick your foam.

Brno's cafes split into three useful types: the kavárna for a sit-down coffee, the cukrárna for Czech cakes and pastries, and the specialty espresso bar for filter pours. This guide explains the vocabulary you need, the pastries worth ordering, and where a coffee stop fits into a walking day around Zelný trh, Freedom Square and Špilberk.

The Budvar brewery tour in České Budějovice walks you through the national brewery's grounds and ends with a beer tasting, with departures in Czech, English and German. Here is what the visit covers, which Budvar beers to look for, and how the brewery fits a South Bohemia route.

The best restaurants in Český Krumlov split into two lists: sit-down Czech pubs and burger joints for lunch and dinner, and cafes and bakeries for breakfast and picnic supplies. Here is what to order at each, how the town is laid out around the work, and how to time a meal around castle visits.

Český Krumlov beer is Czech pilsner country: light lagers poured by the half-liter in the old town, with the odd dark lager on tap. The castle runs on fixed departure times, so plan your glass around the tour you book, not the other way round.

Karlovy Vary eating runs from pub kitchens plating svíčková and guláš to grill rooms and casual cafes near the colonnade. This shortlist sorts places by the meal you actually want, explains the Czech menu terms worth knowing, and shows how the listing dollar-sign bands read as relative price levels so you can budget in koruny at the table.

Kutná Hora beer means the lagers brewed in town rather than a Prague brand shipped in: a dark 12 and a cold-hopped golden lager are the two labels to recognize. This guide covers what they are, how a beer stop fits the walk between Sedlec and St. Barbara's, and how to order a half-liter in Czech.

Olomouc cheese means olomoucké tvarůžky, a pungent ripened cheese from the Haná region around Olomouc. Expect a strong smell and a mild, salty bite — served cold with onions and bread, or cooked into burgers, pancakes, pizza, dips and even desserts.

Olomouc eating centers on tvarůžky cheese and Haná home cooking, served in pubs, restaurants and bistros across the city center. Here is what to order, where the eating clusters, and how to read a Czech menu and a CZK bill.

Plzeň is the town that gave the world pilsner, and the Pilsner Urquell Brewery is the reason most travelers put it on a Czech route. This guide covers what pilsner is, how to order it in Plzeň, what the Prague Pilsner Urquell Experience costs, and how the two differ.