EBG Rating: 7.8/10

Choice/Quality of Drinks:
❤️❤️❤️
Litovel/Opat/Holba, not personal favourites of ours but they are lesser spotted around Prague, so may be of some limited interest. A selection of well-priced wines from Czechia and Austria.

Style/Décor:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Set in a basement in the corner of the park partly obscured by climbing Ivy. Descend steps to a small courtyard and through a door direct to the bar. The inside space appears standing only in the room to your right, while there’s apparently jokingly named catacombs downstairs.

Atmosphere/Character:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Knockabout, dog-eared but friendly. This is a little bunker where they may be surprised to see a new face but are not hostile to one either. Enjoyable to laze on the patio in the summer or for basement scheming and fun in the colder months.

Amenities/Events:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Outdoor seating, music, snacks, occasional live music.

Value For Money:
❤️❤️❤️❤️
Fair value for money.

Description:
Around Prague (in 2025, the time of writing) there are still a few remnants of the 1990s hey day where small independent bars exploded, the demand fuelled by workers coming from across the world – particularly the US – emigrating to Prague.

U Věstonického Venouše is an even rarer example within that category, of an unchanged Vinárna. Christ, those things are virtually extinct in the city now! Budapest is perhaps the last city in Europe to have dozens of working class wine pubs. Yes, once of a day wine was considered an every day drink rather than a utility to push aspirational culture and social climbing. Working class wine pubs tend to be quite a bit like ordinary working class pubs, especially in the respect that most serve beer too.

Set in a basement in the corner of the park, your chances of finding this place by chance are very low. You get the impression everyone from owner to regulars enjoys the anonymity and the slightly clandestine nature, a little refuge among a modernising district in the shape of Andel.

The small terrace is usually popular, regardless of the temperature if the sun is shining and its dry, people are out there. Inside the taps face the entrance – even to order you are among the throng. Standing room can be found to the right, but there is a further cellar jokingly called ‘the catacombs’ when it’s busier.

Yes, this is a pub with a long history, many stories and part of a wider social scene that involves musical connections – as seen by the photos, the decoration and the music itself.

Although the entrance may feel like entering a stranger’s lair, do not mistake the dog eared with the hostile. This is hardly hostile, this is a pub that will be friendly to you if you’re friendly in return.

Explore it on sunny afternoons in the courtyard or later evening in the basement to find it at its best.