Kavarna Lucerna

Kavarna Lucerna literally means “Café Lantern”―a name it shares with half a dozen other establishments in the aptly named “Lucerna Palace”, including Lucerna Music Bar and the famous Lucerna Cinema. Lucerna Palace is a multipurpose building complex built by Vaclav Havel, the father of former President Havel, and gradually took form from 1907 to 1921 in the late Art Nouveau style. Sharing the building’s shabby grandeur, curtains greet you immediately upon entering through the huge glass wooden doors, a large dimly lit bar dominates the room, and many tables are lined against a wall with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the Lucerna arcade. Kavarna Lucerna is located on the second floor, overlooking the infamous sculpture of St. Wenceslas riding atop an upside-down horse by controversial sculptor David Cerny, a play on the more traditional statue of St. Wenceslas in Wenceslas square, so for an intimate date with the statue, grab a seat by the window. As Kavarna Lucerna is immediately adjacent to the cinema, unsurprisingly, you’ll find tons of moviegoers grabbing a coffee here, waiting for the next show or unwinding after a film. Most patrons here are Czech; this was one of the least touristy cafes we visited and the prices were consummately reasonable. Be warned, however, as service is not the speediest.