The reconstructed centre. Restaurants line Nowy Swiat, vodka bars sit on Prozna, Hala Koszyki anchors the dining end of the district.
Jacek Grochowina's Nolita has been in the Warsaw Michelin Guide since 2014. Located in Srodmiescie. Order the the seven-course tasting with wine pairing.
OrderThe seven-course tasting with wine pairing.
TipAbout 40 covers. Book two weeks ahead for weekend dinner Booking recommended for weekends.
Marcin Przybysz's Epoka in Warsaw cooks elevated Polish food from a different historical century each course. Located in Srodmiescie. Priced at $$$$.
OrderThe full multi-course history-of-Poland tasting menu, no a la carte.
TipBookings open four weeks ahead. The wine pairing leans heavily on Polish and Hungarian producers.
Alewino in Warsaw started as a wine shop on Mokotowska and grew into a tucked-away bistro behind a courtyard gate. Kitchen leans modern polish wine bar.
OrderThe kitchen's set plate of the day with a glass of whatever the sommelier is excited about.
TipLook for the signpost by the gates as you arrive; the entrance is off the main street, easy to miss.
Butchery & Wine in Warsaw was the first proper dry-ageing steakhouse in Poland when it opened in 2010. Located in Srodmiescie. Priced at $$$$.
OrderThe 90-day matured ribeye with a Polish-aged-beef tartare to start.
TipSundays closed. Lunch is the cheaper window for the dry-aged cuts.
Meze by Teo Vafidis and Sons on Wilcza in Warsaw runs a Greek and Mediterranean carte built around shared meze plates, souvlaki and grilled octopus.
OrderThe mezedakia sharing plates with a glass of assyrtiko.
TipThe lunch carte is the value pick; the kitchen leans heavier on grill and seafood at dinner.
Aioli on Swietokrzyska is the breakfast-through-evening Mediterranean canteen that Warsaw uses for the in-between meals: late breakfast, working lunch.
OrderThe shakshuka at breakfast or the daily pasta at lunch.
TipThe all-day kitchen and the live DJ slot after 21:00 make it the rare both-and room.
Tel Aviv Urban Food on Poznanska in Warsaw opened in 2010 as the city's first strictly plant-based room. Kitchen leans middle eastern vegan.
OrderThe hummus mushabbaha with extra warm pita and a side of pickled vegetables.
TipWalk-in friendly at lunch. Dinner Friday-Saturday is the harder slot.
Bar Mleczny Prasowy in Warsaw has fed the centre since 1954 from a socialist-realist building on Marszalkowska. Kitchen leans milk bar (bar mleczny).
OrderPierogi ruskie with sour cream and a glass of kompot.
Tip12:00-14:00 weekday peak. Aim for late breakfast or the 14:30 lull.
Bar Familijny on Warsaw's Nowy Swiat has run continuously since the People's Republic. Mon-Fri 07:00-20:00, Saturday 09:00-17:00, Sunday closed.
OrderNalesniki (Polish pancakes) with twarog and a bowl of zurek with white sausage.
TipMon-Fri 07:00-20:00, Saturday 09:00-17:00, Sunday closed Walk-ins usually OK.
Bar Bambino in Warsaw, on the Krucza-Hoza corner, is the slightly-more-upmarket take on the milk bar. Priced at $. Kitchen leans milk bar (bar mleczny).
OrderThe daily soup with a plate of pierogi and a glass of cherry kompot.
TipMon-Fri 08:00-20:00, weekends 09:00-17:00. Walk in, no reservations needed.
Tel Aviv Urban Food on Poznanska in Warsaw is the original 2010 vegan-pioneer location of the three-restaurant Tel Aviv group. Located in Srodmiescie.
OrderHummus mushabbaha with warm pita and pickled cauliflower.
TipThree Warsaw locations: Poznanska is the original, Mickiewicza the Zoliborz outpost.
Lokal Vegan Bistro on Krucza in Warsaw, run by the Margines cooperative since 2015, rebuilds the Polish home-cooking canon without any meat or dairy.
OrderThe vegan pierogi ruskie and a bowl of mushroom-and-barley krupnik.
TipClosed Mondays. Tue-Sat 12:00-21:00, Sunday 12:00-19:00. Cash and card.
Warsaw's largest Christmas market fills Plac Defilad below the Palace of Culture with over 100 wooden stalls: grzaniec at 20 zl, hot chocolate at 23 zl, goulash and kebabs from 30 zl.
TipWeekday afternoons are the calm window. The 55 metre observation wheel is 45 zl and queues longest once it gets dark.
The rural heritage institute holds an Easter market on Krakowskie Przedmiescie with village bread, cheeses, cured meats, honey and fruit vinegars, plus a tent where zur is cooked and given out to taste.
TipThe zur demonstration ends in a free tasting. Babka and mazurek from the village women's circles go first, well before 16:00.
The Warsaw Bread Festival brings village bakers to Krakowskie Przedmiescie with sourdough loaves and chleb mecinski from the traditional products list, alongside kaszanka, pierogi, crayfish soup and sekacz.
TipStalls open at 13:00 and the bread sells out first. Bread baking, butter churning and croissant workshops sign up on the day.
Warsaw restaurants take over Plac Centralny for three days of cooking at open stalls, with separate wine, cheese and craft zones. Entry is free and you pay only for the plates you order.
TipFood stops at 23:00 while the bars run later. Friday opens at 16:00 and is the quietest service of the three days.
Smolna in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the 900-capacity techno club opened 2016 in a 1903 tenement, with three dance floors, a no-photo door and a strict bookings-led programme of European electronic acts.
TipTickets on Going.app from 50-90 zł; arrive by 01:00 before the main floor packs and leave your phone in the cloakroom.
Luzztro on Al. Jerozolimskie in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the city's longest-running techno club, with minimal and electro programming and a never-closing weekend that runs from midnight Friday to noon Sunday.
TipEntry is usually free with the Friday-Saturday session running through to noon; bring cash for the bar and ID for the door.
Jasna 1 in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is one of the city's largest electronic music clubs, anchoring the European Gravity venue network and booking VTSS, Kovvalsky and Blazej Malinowski as residents alongside international bookings.
TipBuy tickets through Going.app or Resident Advisor a week ahead; the main room fills by 01:00 and the open-air series runs in summer.
Tygmont on Mazowiecka in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the basement jazz club opened January 2001 that runs Wednesday jam sessions and Friday Latino Heat nights, with a long polish-jazz pedigree in Jazz Forum.
TipWednesday jam sessions are free entry from 20:00; the Friday and Saturday club nights are the easier walk-in after midnight.
Panorama Sky Bar on the 40th floor of the Warsaw Presidential Hotel in Srodmiescie is the highest cocktail bar in Poland, with floor-to-ceiling glass and an Asian-inspired kitchen behind the long bar.
TipReserve a window booth a week ahead; cocktails 50-75 zł and the lift to the 40th floor is on the Al. Jerozolimskie side of the lobby.
Szostka on the 6th floor of Hotel Warszawa in the Prudential building in Srodmiescie is chef Dariusz Baranski's seafood-only rooftop, with an open kitchen and a Swietokrzyska-side terrace.
TipBook the terrace at [email protected] for sunset; lunch tasting is the easier midweek window, dinner books out a fortnight ahead.
El Koktel in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the basement speakeasy on Wojciecha Gorskiego with deep emerald walls and Edison bulbs, listed on 50 Best Discovery for its rotating cocktail menu and home-made ingredients.
TipRing the bell for entry; signature Easy Lover with lemon vodka and peach is the order, cocktails 40-55 zł.
Kita Koguta on Krucza in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the Jakub Kozlowski and Adam Gradziel two-floor cocktail bar with no menu, where you tell the bartender what you want and they build it from home-made marmalades.
TipTell the bartender a flavour direction rather than a classic; the upstairs lounge with the antler bike has the quieter tables.
Klub SPATiF in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the Al. Ujazdowskie tenement bar reborn 2017, drawing on the 1950s-70s artists' club tradition with weekly JazzState concerts, Soul Service Saturdays and a Polish-craft cocktail list.
TipFriday-Saturday late nights are the busiest; book the bistro for the early jazz set then move to the bar after 23:00.
Glam Club on Zurawia in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the queer dance club opened 2010, with drag shows, bingo nights and weekend DJ sets that pull a young lesbian-and-gay crowd until dawn.
TipWednesday nights are the easier walk-in; weekend door from 23:00 onwards. The smoking terrace is the meeting point.
Lodi Dodi on Wilcza in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the three-floor gay bar and cruise club with a ground-floor bar, video rooms and a basement darkroom, drawing a regular crowd from across the Plac Zbawiciela strip.
TipMen-only nights are Fridays and Saturdays from 22:00; the ground-floor bar is the easier early-evening seat.
Ramona Bar on Widok in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the retro-decorated queer-friendly cafe-bar near Plac Zbawiciela, pouring local craft beers and cocktails to a mixed lesbian-gay-and-straight crowd.
TipDaytime is calm cafe service; the bar livens after 21:00 and the back booths fill on Friday-Saturday from 22:00.
Plan B on Plac Zbawiciela in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the first-floor club-cafe with curving stairwell and low windows, drawing the alternative and queer Plac Zbawiciela crowd for late electronic and indie DJ nights.
TipClimb the stairwell at Al. Wyzwolenia 18; kitchen runs past midnight and the windows over Plac Zbawiciela are the seat to grab.
Club Galeria on plac Mirowski in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the queer dance club with drag shows, karaoke nights and Top 40 floors, drawing a mixed crowd from across Warsaw's LGBTQ+ scene.
TipKaraoke runs midweek, drag shows mostly Fridays; the back room opens after midnight on Saturdays.
Pardon, To Tu on Al. Armii Ludowej in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the 300-capacity venue, record store and bookshop that has staged more than 900 shows since 2011, with vinyl-led nights and a free-jazz pedigree.
TipBuy concert tickets through the venue site at pardontotu.pl; the record store and cafe stay open ahead of the 20:30 sets.
Pijalnia Wodki i Piwa on Nowy Swiat in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the 24-hour vodka-and-beer bar of the People's-Republic-themed PWiP chain, with shots from 8 zł and propaganda posters on the walls.
TipShots run 8-12 zł cash; the Nowy Swiat 19 branch is open round the clock and busiest after the surrounding clubs close.
Setka on Swietokrzyska in Warsaw's Srodmiescie is the brash People's-Republic-themed vodka-shot bar opened December 2017, with vinyl posters, propaganda decor and 100-millilitre vodka shots from 4.50 zł.
TipOpen through the weekend from Friday 06:00 to Monday 06:00 non-stop; shots are the order, the kitchen does Polish bar snacks.
Guided tour · 4 hours
Discover what pierogi, gołąbki and schabowy are on a 4-hour food tour of Warsaw, and experience the flavors of Polish cuisine. Learn about the local food culture and h...
2 hours
Make your trip to Poland complete by learning to make pierogi, delicious Polish dumplings that become popular across the world.
Day trip · 1 day
See the most important cultural and also the biggest academic center in Eastern Poland. Old buildings, even ruins, create unique atmosphere of this city. Pay your resp...
