The First Pub to Serve Pilsner on Tap in Prague Celebrates its 180 Anniversary

U Pinkasů is an excellent beer garden and pub in Prague to mix with locals while tasting Pilsner Urquell on the tap.

This pub is highly recommended because of its authentic Czech food and the fair prices. Be sure to try pickled cheese, nakladany hermelin, and wash it down with Pilsner on the tap.

How it All Began

When Mr. Pinkas came back from a visit to Pilsen where he tasted a new type of beer, he wanted his friends in Prague to have a similar experience.

Hops from Zatec and bottom fermentation made this beer stand out. This new beer was such a success that in 1843 Mr. Pinkas wanted all people in Prague to enjoy Pilsner Urquell and he decided to open a pub; U Pinkasů.

Beer Garden or Restaurant?

U Pinkasů is both a beer garden and a restaurant. In summer tables spill out on to an outdoor area. This attractive, hidden garden is overlooked by the Gothic Church of Our Lady of the Snow.

Downstairs is a traditional-style Czech pub with wooden tables. As this is a popular pub, it is often crowded and sharing a table is very common.

If you want a meal, you go upstairs to the wooden-paneled restaurant. Try goulash with bread dumplings or even better pork knee with mustard and horseradish sauce. Be sure to leave some space for the dessert – apple fritters with caramel sauce are too good to be ignored.

How will this year’s anniversary be celebrated? The restaurant’s selected staff has already brewed its own special under the expert supervision of brewers in Pilsen, which will be slightly stronger than the traditional Pilsner Urquell, while Pilsner brewers led by Václav Berka will prepare the famous Pinkas sausages.

From 4 April until the end of June, the Pinkas’ will display historic beer glassware that has been used here from the end of the Second World War to the present day.

The 13th edition of the prestigious „Pinkas’ Nightmare“ – a 45–step run from the U Pinkasů basement holding 10 half–litre glasses full of beer. The race will start at 4:00 p.m. And the reason for this race?

Jakub Pinkas was originally a tailor so he wasn’t tied down by any of the gastronomic stereotypes of that time, such as serving beer by pouring from larger pitchers on the table. So that’s why Pinkas, since the beginning, served beer directly in half–litre glasses which he would fill from the barrels in the basement and bring out to the guests.

That required endlessly running upstairs and downstairs, which at U Pinkasů lasted for many years and became a “nightmare” of the staff because by the end of their shift, they were exhausted.

The celebration will also include the presentation of a special beer pint from the prestigious Rückl glassworks, which is prepared as a unique gift for the most loyal regulars of the establishment.

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