Café Imperial opened in 1914 inside the Imperial Hotel on Na Poříčí, and its ceramic-tiled walls and mosaic ceiling have survived more than a century intact. The Michelin Guide lists it, and the room still works as both a grand café and a proper bar rather than a museum piece.
Who would love it: anyone who wants a drink inside one of Prague's great early-20th-century interiors. Who would hate it: a visitor after a small, dark cocktail den, because this is a high-ceilinged, formal room that fills with diners.
The interior is the reason to come: millions of ceramic tiles cover the walls and pillars in floral mosaics, framed by tall street-facing windows. Café history records Franz Kafka and the composer Leoš Janáček among its past regulars, and the SVOBODA & WILLIAMS city guide treats the room as one of the city's defining grand cafés. The ceiling alone rewards a slow drink, and the tilework has survived more than a century of service without losing its detail.
The building gives the room its weight. The café opened in 1914 as part of the Imperial Hotel, and both the Michelin Guide and the hotel's own history date the ceramic interior to that year. Few rooms in central Prague have kept their original early-20th-century fittings this intact, which is why the café reads as a landmark rather than a recreation, and why it draws visitors who never intend to eat a full meal.
The kitchen, run by the chef Zdeněk Pohlreich, keeps modern Czech cooking, but the bar holds its own with a short cocktail list and Czech wines by the glass. Order a classic cocktail at the bar in the late afternoon, before the dinner service takes the room, and take time over the ceiling. Prices match the grand-café setting rather than a neighbourhood bar, so this is a place for one careful drink rather than a long cheap session.
Reviewers on Yelp and Tripadvisor repeat one piece of advice: book ahead, because the room is busy and seating is tight at peak meals. The café runs from early morning through dinner, which makes a late-afternoon drink the quietest window to see the space. Service is attentive and formal, in keeping with the room, and the staff are used to visitors who come mainly for the interior.
Who it is for: a special daytime drink, a coffee-and-cocktail stop between sights, or anyone who values a great room over a busy bar scene. Who should skip it: a group after cheap rounds or a late club night.
Beyond the drinks, the room rewards a slow visit. The mosaic ceiling and the tiled pillars are the most photographed details, and the staff are used to guests who linger over a coffee or a cocktail to take them in. The café sits on Na Poříčí a short walk from náměstí Republiky and the Florenc transit hub, which makes it an easy stop between the Old Town and the river.
Reviewers also single out the breakfast and the pastries for anyone who wants the room without a full meal. Whichever way you visit, the draw is the same: a genuine early-20th-century interior still in daily service rather than a recreation, in the heart of the New Town.
Café Imperial earns its place among our Prague cocktail bars for the setting as much as the drinks, and it is a landmark stop in the wider Prague bar guide. For more rooms built on a serious drinks list, see our cocktail bars collection.
