Ala Coffee

Prague's specialty coffee scene has grown rapidly since the early 2010s and now stands among Central Europe's strongest. EMA Espresso Bar (founded 2012) opened the gates; Můj šálek kávy, Onesip Coffee, Kavárna Co Hledá Jméno, Kafe Damu, and a growing list of independents followed. The third-wave wave reshaped the city's cafe culture from the inside, layered over the existing tradition of Czech kavárna (cafes) and the ubiquitous Italian-influenced espresso bars in the historic center.

The city has roughly 1.3 million people, and the specialty scene is geographically compact: most of the better cafes sit within a 30-minute walk of each other in Karlín, Vinohrady, Žižkov, and the lower edges of the Old Town. Pricing is meaningfully lower than London or Vienna for comparable quality.

For visitors, Prague coffee operates at the intersection of Central European cafe culture (long sits, full meals, beer alongside coffee) and modern third-wave craft (single-origin pour-overs, oat milk, design-conscious rooms). Both registers are worth time.