U Pinkasů, Prague

U Pinkasů is a historic restaurant beside the Church of Our Lady of the Snows on Jungmann Square. It is Prague’s oldest continuously operating inn with a tap serving Pilsner Urquell. The story begins with Jakub Pinkas, who established the business after arriving from southwestern Bohemia.

In 1845, his friend Martin Salzmann brought beer from Plzeň for him to taste: the delivery amounted to two old Bohemian barrels, roughly 122 litres. As demand grew, Pinkas connected the restaurant with vaulted underground rooms beneath the unfinished part of the neighbouring church, creating storage for beer barrels. Those subterranean spaces now include one of the restaurant’s bars. Since 2010, the house has also hosted Pinkasova noční můra, a competition in which registered bartenders carry ten half-litre glasses up 41 steps and present the beer to judges.