Olomouc – 8 Tips on Where to Eat or Enjoy a Cup of Coffee

Walking through the city streets, I noticed that there are a lot of young people in Olomouc. Apparently, during the academic year, every seventh inhabitant in the city of 100,000 is a student! The University of Olomouc is the second oldest university in Czechia. It was founded in December 1573, when Emperor Maximilian II granted the relevant rights to the former Jesuit seminary. It is interesting that Franz Joseph I, who became emperor right here in Olomouc (I wrote about it in the previous article), closed the university by his decree in 1860. The emperor liked Olomouc, but not the university. Franz Joseph I did not forget that the local students had shown sympathy for the 1848 revolution… After the university had been closed down, only the library, the medical school and the theological faculty remained. The university was restored in 1946 with the name Palacký University in Olomouc. Today, it has 8 faculties and over 20,000 students. No wonder the city is full of bars, bistros, pubs and cafes for this clientele, although everyone is welcome. Some pubs or cafés can be found on busy streets and squares where there are also a lot of tourists, while others are hidden in quiet streets and inner courtyards.
For this article, I have selected 8 places I visited during my last visit to Olomouc:

1. Bottles Bar
One of the most popular places – especially with students – to spend a Friday or Saturday night is Bottles Bar. You’ll find it in the Lower Square (Dolní náměstí) on the ground floor of the house adjacent to the house where the Mozart family stayed in 1767 (more in the previous article).

You’ll recognise the house where the bar is by the external staircase under which the entrance to this bar is located, which stretches the depth of the entire building.
Address: Dolní náměstí 40, Bottles Bar

2. Coffee Library
Walking around the city, as I mentioned before, you will discover pleasant places to sit, even where you wouldn’t expect it. For example, in the former Theresian Armoury. Olomouc used to be one of the most important military fortress towns in the monarchy.

The classicist four-winged building with an enclosed courtyard served as an armoury. Only at the end of the 20th century, it was transformed into a library and today it is the seat of the Art Centre of Palacký University, where you can also find a pleasant bistro.
Address: Biskupské náměstí 1, Coffee Library – closed on Sundays!

3. Konvikt Bistro & Bar
This bistro and bar is located in the premises of the aforementioned Jesuit seminary.

The baroque building of the former convent is one of the oldest parts of the University of Olomouc. And so, in addition to a delicious breakfast, you can admire the beautiful baroque architecture from the 16th century. Even in April, it was already possible to sit outside here.
Address: Univerzitní 3, Konvikt – closed on Saturdays and Sundays!

4. Café Červený kostel
I already recommended a visit to the Red Church (Červený kostel) in my previous article. The renovation of the consecrated church, which for many years had served as an unsuitable storehouse for books, into a cultural centre was nominated for the Rebuilding of the Year in 2023. As part of the renovation, a modern building was added between the church and the library headquarters which serves as both a reception area and a café. You can sit here with a good cup of coffee, read a book or try to count how many books are placed on the wall in front of you.

During the reconstruction, the Scientific Library in Olomouc announced a public collection of books – with exact dimensions and preferably with yellowed pages. The eight-metre high wall with shelves is filled with almost ten thousand books from this collection.

More books can be found in the church’s former presbytery. The metal plates in the middle of the wall that replaced the altar form a symbolic cross.

The cafe is run by the nearby popular Traffic Coffee, where they roast their own coffee.
Address: Bezručova 3, Traffic Coffee – Saturday morning only, closed Sunday!

5. Café New One
As we were leaving the Red Church, almost exactly opposite on the other side of Třída Svobody, we peeked into this café with a truly imaginative interior. They offer Italian-inspired dishes, wines from Moravia and the Mediterranean. 

If I come to Olomouc again, I will definitely visit this café, and I am already looking forward to that Pavlova cake!
Address: Třída Svobody 21, Café New One

6. Kafec
In the previous article, we also took a look at the unique Art Nouveau Villa Primavesi. On the ground floor of the building is the Kafec café, where you can not only enjoy good coffee, but also choose from a wide range of savoury and sweet waffles. I chose a waffle with blueberry cream and lemon curd.

You can visit the café without a tour of the villa. You just walk around the house on the right side through a small garden and find the cafe at the back. If you choose to sit outside, you will have a nice view of the park. In April, this view was not so attractive yet, so we preferred to sit inside.
Address: Univerzitní 224, Kafec

7. Asado Grill
One of the biggest tourist attractions in Olomouc is Upper Square (Horní náměstí) – with the Plague Column, the Town Hall with the astronomical clock, pretty houses and fountains. 

Take a look at these two houses – the Moravian Theatre is on the right, and the house on the left has a Caffe Opera sign. Originally, the cafe, which opened in 1834, was called Caffe Ruprecht. It is the oldest café still operating in the Czech Republic. Don’t forget to notice the bust of Sigmund Freud at the entrance. Freud was called to Olomouc for military training as a reservist army doctor in 1886, and this was his favourite café in the city.

The Asado Grill restaurant is located at the back. Upon entering, we were already impressed by the modern interior, which promised an exceptional atmosphere. The décor included display cases of aging meats. 

The restaurant has an open kitchen, so you can watch Chef Michal Duračka (right) preparing your meal. The Chef was named the 2023 King of the Olomouc Cheese at the 7th annual Olomouc Cheese Festival.ň

The restaurant may not be the cheapest, but the gourmet experience is guaranteed. Not only fish and seafood lovers can indulge their taste buds here, but also those who love a good steak. All made from quality ingredients.

Even the sweet desserts are almost impossible to resist!
Address: Horní náměstí 21, Asado grill

8. Telegraph
You won’t just find a café or restaurant in this building near the main train station. It’s a multifunctional building that combines architecture, art, work and relaxation.

The building is a remnant of the site of an old telegraph and telephone factory (hence the name), founded by Robert von Lieben in 1908. The current owner, Robert Runták, bought it in 2015; the renovation took four years. The opening ceremony was combined with the first exhibition in the modern art gallery, located on the ground floor. We first visited the current exhibition Game Owner: Søren Dahlgaard, Jakub Janovský.

The gallery hosts three exhibitions of modern Czech and international art every year (from the mid-1980s to the present).

On the first floor, we were surprised by the modern, colourful co-working space (the first in Olomouc), which was awarded the title of the Most Beautiful Office in the Czech Republic in 2020. In the large space, there are 21 solo work desks, a relaxation area where you can also lounge, meeting booths reminiscent of a compartment on a train or even phone booths used for phone calls that others are not supposed to hear.

However, the biggest surprise awaited us on the top floors – the Loft: two luxurious rooms with bathrooms, a professionally equipped kitchen, a roof garden with a statue of Hercules and a unique view of the city, but especially a large room with an imaginative and even eccentric interior.

Also in this exclusive space, there are remarkable art objects from the collection of the owner, who is a passionate collector of contemporary art. The most striking is a huge red-orange wooden table decorated with folkloric ornaments from a traditional women’s shawl from the Haná region (Central Moravia).
All the loft spaces can be rented.

We returned to the second floor, where the Telegraph Pulse café and restaurant are located. The dinner in the dim lighting was a pleasant experience, and the culinary delights were delicious. I chose the leg of lamb with peas, grilled salad, pea puree and confit grenaille.

For dessert, I ordered the tiramisu, but these pistachio raspberry cookies looked just as tempting!

Don’t forget to notice the neon-lit heads on the top floor from the outside. They represent the eight main founders of the Telegraph.
Address: Jungmannova 3, Telegraph

Where to stay:
During my visit to Olomouc, I stayed at the Central Park Hotel Flora. The hotel, dating back to the socialist era, has undergone a major renovation and now provides modern accommodation. It has an excellent location, it is situated next to the park Čechovy sady, and you can reach the historical city on foot.

From the top floor, there is an amazing view of all the main landmarks of the city. The hotel has an excellent restaurant as well, which can be visited even by those who are not staying here.

Extra tip:
When visiting Olomouc, you can also use the Olomouc Region Card, which gives you:
– free use of public transport in Olomouc.
– at least 100 free admissions (Olomouc, Central Moravia and the Jeseníky Mountains)
– over 80 discounts
More information: Olomouc Region Card
My big thanks to CzechTourism for inviting me on this trip. More information about Olomouc: Visit Olomouc

You might also be interested in my other articles about Olomouc:
Olomouc – One of the Most Beautiful Cities in Moravia
Olomouc Cheese

Text: © Copyright Ingrid, Travelpotpourri
Fotos: © Copyright Ingrid, Travelpotpourri