Filip’s guidebook
Food scene
Home-style and affordable dishes of East Slavic origin: generous portions, friendly staff, super cosy interior with a unique vintage feeling. Sometimes they stage small concerts during weekends. Russian meat dumplings with sour cream and (extremely) spicy mustard is a must. $$
15 locals recommend
Skamiejka
37 ZąbkowskaHome-style and affordable dishes of East Slavic origin: generous portions, friendly staff, super cosy interior with a unique vintage feeling. Sometimes they stage small concerts during weekends. Russian meat dumplings with sour cream and (extremely) spicy mustard is a must. $$
A hidden gem: family owned winery with a nice selection of wines from Eastern Balkans and beyond. You can also stop by for food treats with Moldovan touch. $$
Veranda - Mołdawska Kuchnia & Wino
36 BiałostockaA hidden gem: family owned winery with a nice selection of wines from Eastern Balkans and beyond. You can also stop by for food treats with Moldovan touch. $$
Unique small resto to enjoy Warsaw's working class dishes of old at very good prices: thick noodles topped with meat or veggies (leniwe or pyzy), tripe soup (flaki) and a selection of Polish cakes. Herb infused vodkas help in digestion. The family who runs the place speaks decent English and are extremely polite and easy going. $
19 locals recommend
Pyzy Flaki Gorące
29 BrzeskaUnique small resto to enjoy Warsaw's working class dishes of old at very good prices: thick noodles topped with meat or veggies (leniwe or pyzy), tripe soup (flaki) and a selection of Polish cakes. Herb infused vodkas help in digestion. The family who runs the place speaks decent English and are extremely polite and easy going. $
Tiny coffee roastery with coffees from around the world. Selected coffee beans can be ground on the spot to a fine or large grain and packed for you. You can also enjoy your Arabica or Robusta on the spot whenever tables are free.
3P Kawiarnia i Palarnia Kawy
11 TarchomińskaTiny coffee roastery with coffees from around the world. Selected coffee beans can be ground on the spot to a fine or large grain and packed for you. You can also enjoy your Arabica or Robusta on the spot whenever tables are free.
Nice spot for enjoying fresh pizzas and other Italian dishes. Good selection of wines. You will feel rewarded for the waiting time with food quality. $$
Pizzeria Piu
Nice spot for enjoying fresh pizzas and other Italian dishes. Good selection of wines. You will feel rewarded for the waiting time with food quality. $$
Soup Culture - siedziba
24 BrzeskaVegan and vegetarian soups in edible bowls! $
A laid back spot run by a friendly and easy going couple. All (or almost all) of their dishes are vegan yet inspired by Polish and Warsaw food traditions: quite inventive and very tasty! Try their craft beers too. Gets crowded on weekend evenings. Every now and then they stage small concerts, so go and check their calendar. $$
Psota
A laid back spot run by a friendly and easy going couple. All (or almost all) of their dishes are vegan yet inspired by Polish and Warsaw food traditions: quite inventive and very tasty! Try their craft beers too. Gets crowded on weekend evenings. Every now and then they stage small concerts, so go and check their calendar. $$
Already a legendary place, one of the few remaining old boheme bars which has been running in the area since late 90s. Packed during most evenings, including weekdays. Not to be missed. $$
34 locals recommend
W Oparach Absurdu. Pub
6 ZąbkowskaAlready a legendary place, one of the few remaining old boheme bars which has been running in the area since late 90s. Packed during most evenings, including weekdays. Not to be missed. $$
Neighborhoods
Some 230 years ago a little town known as Praga was incorporated into the city of Warsaw. A generation later, the Napoleonic Wars brought destruction upon the new neighbourhood, leading to its transformation in both landscape and people. The first permanent bridge was built over Vistula in mid 19 century, as the Industrial Revolution was gaining pace. The development of railway, coupled with sprouting factories, determined the character of the place for generations to come. Before and following Poland's independence from Russia in 1919, Praga expanded north- and eastwards. Thanks to dismantling old Russian fortifications, Szmulowizna - where my flat is located - was among several locations incorporated into Praga Północ at that time. For more than 100 years now, the western border of Szmulowizna has hosted a huge vodka factory (called Koneser), today turned into a museum.
Exit Nieporecka street by turning right. A little walk further west over the old cobblestones of Zabkowska, past the Koneser compound, strolling toward the riverbank, you will come across Warsaw's oldest existing bazaar. The Rozycki Market has earned its place in Poland's literature classics, while the elderly local folks will recall the bazaar's heyday of the communist era, as it played its part linking the former to the free market of the 1990s through the notorious lords of the local mafia. Nearing Targowa avenue, you can wander into cool neoclassicist courtyards, many of them renovated over past two decades.
The Jewish heritage of the area comes to light under a closer inspection: Mezuzah scars on old wooden doorframes, "men's tailor" written over a century-old plaster... The buildings of Jewish schools and a ritual bathouse are among the highlights of the oldest chunk of Praga, sandwiched between Targowa and the shores of Vistula. The townhouse at Targowa 52 has had a Jewish prayer hall re-discovered within its walls in the 1990s: today it is open for visits, as part of a well-done Museum of Praga. In the opposite direction, in Mala street, Roman Polanski once arranged his movie set when shooting "The Pianist".
At the bridgehead, opposite the Warsaw Old City panorama, you will find the picturesque Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene, the central temple of the Orthodox Church of Poland and, also, the best-smelling church in the city thanks to a generous burning of incense by local priests. Owing its proud existence to the condition of Warsaw as the westernmost metropoli of the Russian Empire up until 1916, today the cathedral is frequented by the Poles as well as the Ukrainian minority, the latter recently swelling given the tragic war developing in the East since 2022.
Even though the local dialect has largely died out,there are enough reasons to call Praga Północ a city on its own right. It is away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre and close to the charming Skaryszewski Park (make sure to take a tour of the National Stadium, too!). This is Praga: a bridge for ethnicities, cultures, religions and languages. As it is now fully safe and gentrifies quickly but without losing its DNA, prepare good shoes for hope for a sunny weather!
In my flat you will find a few monographies, guidebooks and photo albums on Warsaw in general and Praga in particular. If you wish to learn more about the surroundings, just shoot me a message and I will be happy to help.
11 locals recommend
Praga Północ
Some 230 years ago a little town known as Praga was incorporated into the city of Warsaw. A generation later, the Napoleonic Wars brought destruction upon the new neighbourhood, leading to its transformation in both landscape and people. The first permanent bridge was built over Vistula in mid 19 century, as the Industrial Revolution was gaining pace. The development of railway, coupled with sprouting factories, determined the character of the place for generations to come. Before and following Poland's independence from Russia in 1919, Praga expanded north- and eastwards. Thanks to dismantling old Russian fortifications, Szmulowizna - where my flat is located - was among several locations incorporated into Praga Północ at that time. For more than 100 years now, the western border of Szmulowizna has hosted a huge vodka factory (called Koneser), today turned into a museum.
Exit Nieporecka street by turning right. A little walk further west over the old cobblestones of Zabkowska, past the Koneser compound, strolling toward the riverbank, you will come across Warsaw's oldest existing bazaar. The Rozycki Market has earned its place in Poland's literature classics, while the elderly local folks will recall the bazaar's heyday of the communist era, as it played its part linking the former to the free market of the 1990s through the notorious lords of the local mafia. Nearing Targowa avenue, you can wander into cool neoclassicist courtyards, many of them renovated over past two decades.
The Jewish heritage of the area comes to light under a closer inspection: Mezuzah scars on old wooden doorframes, "men's tailor" written over a century-old plaster... The buildings of Jewish schools and a ritual bathouse are among the highlights of the oldest chunk of Praga, sandwiched between Targowa and the shores of Vistula. The townhouse at Targowa 52 has had a Jewish prayer hall re-discovered within its walls in the 1990s: today it is open for visits, as part of a well-done Museum of Praga. In the opposite direction, in Mala street, Roman Polanski once arranged his movie set when shooting "The Pianist".
At the bridgehead, opposite the Warsaw Old City panorama, you will find the picturesque Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene, the central temple of the Orthodox Church of Poland and, also, the best-smelling church in the city thanks to a generous burning of incense by local priests. Owing its proud existence to the condition of Warsaw as the westernmost metropoli of the Russian Empire up until 1916, today the cathedral is frequented by the Poles as well as the Ukrainian minority, the latter recently swelling given the tragic war developing in the East since 2022.
Even though the local dialect has largely died out,there are enough reasons to call Praga Północ a city on its own right. It is away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre and close to the charming Skaryszewski Park (make sure to take a tour of the National Stadium, too!). This is Praga: a bridge for ethnicities, cultures, religions and languages. As it is now fully safe and gentrifies quickly but without losing its DNA, prepare good shoes for hope for a sunny weather!
In my flat you will find a few monographies, guidebooks and photo albums on Warsaw in general and Praga in particular. If you wish to learn more about the surroundings, just shoot me a message and I will be happy to help.