Eating out in Kraków doesn't have to cost much. Skip the terraces on the Main Square and eat where locals have lunch: in a bar mleczny, the subsidised canteen where a plate of pierogi still costs less than a coffee on the Rynek. Here's where to go, what to order and a few street snacks for in between.
Milk bars get state support for dishes without meat. That's why pierogi ruskie, potato pancakes and sweet cheese pancakes are the cheapest things on the board, and often the best.
The zestaw obiadowy gets you soup and a main, often with kompot, for one fixed price. It changes daily and it's what most locals order.
No microwaves and no tourist menus: soups, dumplings and stews made the way Polish grandmas make them. Our What to eat guide decodes the whole board.
Mon–Fri 8–18 · Sat 9–16 · Sun 9–16 · daily set lunches
On the map →Mon–Fri 8–18 · Sat 8–16 · Sun 8–16 · daily set lunches
On the map →The cheapest plates are the meat-free ones. These are also among the tastiest things on any milk bar board.
Home-style canteens (jadłodajnie) and restaurants that cook like milk bars but don't get the subsidy. Still good value.
A restaurant rather than a real milk bar, with a milk-bar style menu of Polish classics, a few steps from the Rynek.
Directions →Tiny home-cooking canteen a few minutes from the Rynek. Lunch on weekdays only.
Directions →No big sign outside. Inside: plants, singing canaries and old dressers full of vintage things. Lunch set around 30 zł.
Directions →Milk-bar look and food, but no subsidy, so a little pricier. Set around 30 zł.
Directions →
Kraków's own ring-shaped bread, sold from little blue carts all over the city, with sesame, poppy seeds or salt. The name is protected in the EU, so the real thing only comes from around Kraków. The cheapest breakfast in town.
Half a baguette baked with mushrooms and cheese, finished with a stripe of ketchup. The classic spot is the round market hall on Plac Nowy in Kazimierz, where hatches serve them until late.
Poles eat their main meal around midday, and that's when milk bars are at their best. Most close by 18:00, so don't leave it for dinner.
Zestaw obiadowy: soup plus a main, often with kompot, for one price. Say the set number at the till.
Pierogi ruskie, placki and naleśniki are subsidised, so they cost a fraction of a pork cutlet.
Pół porcji (poow POR-tsyee) lets you try two dishes for roughly the price of one.
Restaurants right on the Main Square charge for the view. Pod Temidą on Grodzka is a few minutes away.
In a milk bar, a plate of pierogi ruskie costs roughly 8 to 15 zł and a full set lunch with soup, a main and kompot around 25 zł at Krakus. Home-style canteens without the subsidy charge around 30 zł for a set. Prices change, so check the board.
Bar Mleczny Pod Temidą on Grodzka is a few minutes from the Rynek. Pod Filarkami and Targowy are a short walk east, and Jadłodajnia U Stasi on Mikołajska serves weekday lunches.
It can be. Milk bars and home-style canteens are much cheaper than restaurants in the centre, especially for meat-free dishes. Restaurants on the Main Square are priced for tourists.
Yes. The cheapest dishes in a milk bar are the meat-free ones. Soups are often made on meat stock, so ask: bez mięsa? (bez MYEN-sah, without meat?).
More and more milk bars take cards, but carry some cash for the smaller ones and for street snacks.