The Prague on Queen West reopens as Prague European Kitchen

By Gregory Furgala | September 6, 2012

By Gregory Furgala | 09/06/2012

(Image: Courtesy Prague European Kitchen)

In late August, four months after shutting the doors of The Prague on Queen West, new owner Dejan Lazic (Jump, Czehoski) lifted the curtain to reveal the new Prague European Kitchen. The renovated four-decade-old deli is now brighter, featuring cleaner lines, abundant blond hardwood and white laminate tables stamped with Czech nostalgia. Rookie chef Jake Paradis (Jump), of Slovenian extraction, has expanded on the Prague’s Czech fare, drawing on the cuisine of the Balkans, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia to round out the menu with house-smoked ham hock and “buck-a-shuck” pierogies, among other dishes. The bar is stocked with increasingly familiar Eastern European beers and an idiosyncratic—and cheap!—wine list, with bottles from Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and the bartenders also mix a short list of house cocktails (the Balkan, for example, is a shot of slivovitz served with a side of fried pig ear). Fans of the deli’s retail operation need not fret: the new Prague has picked up where the old Prague left off, even adding its own line of canned goods, although the takeout counter and the restaurant proper are now a little more separated. The Prague European Kitchen is open seven days a week at 10 a.m.

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Prague European Kitchen, 638 Queen St. W., 416-504-5787, pragueto.wordpress.com, @PragueT_O

14 thoughts on “The Prague on Queen West reopens as Prague European Kitchen”

And it’s surprisingly terrible :(

I just tried this place yesterday, I had no idea they had relaunched. I tried their buck-a-shuck perogies and they were ah-mazing!

Not sure what mrspotato tried but I was there and it was fantastic. Place looks great too. Welcome back Prague.

Stopped in the other day for the first time – really great food and a beautiful, warm interior. I’ll definitely be back for more of the beet salad and perogies.

Kudos also to the designers – Design Republic has created a beautiful space.

the warmth of the previous prague is definitely missing. the new layout is awkward and the food is ok. the previous owners had a spectacular menu! we were especially disappointed with the perogies – they were so great before! the new owner should have relaunched with a new restaurant not ride on the coattails of the old prague restaurant.

I couldn’t agree more with Nara. When they took away the wonderful women that used to work at the restaurant and then re-launch with a stuck up interior and cold staff the shouldn’t of kept the name. I used to frequent Prague for breakfast or lunch with many colleagues, we have been in recently and have all agreed the service, appearance, and food have all fallen and we will all no longer go back. Change your name your insulting the old Prague.

Enjoy your $1 pierogi but don’t call em buck a shuck. It’s boiled potato and cheese, for crying out loud, not oysters.

I agree with above posters. I was looking forward to similar food as what was there before, and similar cozy feel to the restaurant. Instead it felt cold, and the menu was completely different. I was looking forward to some palacinke. There was nothing even close to that on the menu. And what I did have was really not great at all. Will not go back.

Food is incredible.. definatly a eastern European place for flair and for the younger crowd to finally enjoy amazing food and great place!!!! I was shocked, I loved it, so unique.. and I review for a living! GO PRAGUE/Keep it up!!!!
Its definatly the not the Old Prague!! Its finally a NEW PRAUGE!!

A big drop from the good old Prague Deli. The food selection is very limited, low quality and greatly OVERPRIZED ! Not worth visiting.

Ordering food there is like playing Russian Roulette.

Just this past Friday, I noticed their sign outside advertising goulash with pork and peppers. I love goulash, so I popped in for some take away. I opened it at home and found four bite-sized pieces of tough pork attached to a thick piece of fat swimming in a pool of sauce and two huge pieces of soggy, sauce-soaked bread. They couldn’t even package the bread separately. Pork is cheap. This “dish” was $15. Probably cost $1.50 in ingredients. I called to complain and they said, “Oops. Sorry about that. There’s usually more pork.” I gave my dog the fatty pork and tossed the rest. It was appalling. How can my experience (both in terms of food AND service) be so much different than that of the positive reviewers here??

Okay, so this might be a little unfair, because I have not yet been to the new incarnation yet (I have been living in the actual Prague, Czech Republic for the past 3 months), but I must say that I am not looking forward to sampling this re-invented place’s wares just from looking at the menu and reading other reviews. Where is the classic svickova (without all the new jazz)? Where is the gulas with potato pancake? Where is the vepro-knedlo-zelo? I’m going to get a lot of flack for this because, again, I haven’t been yet, but why modernize Czech cuisine at this place? It would be fine enough if there were a breadth of Czech places in the city with old-style food – but the fact that this is really the only Czech place in town makes it a sin to destroy the traditional comfort food for homesick Czechs and Slavophiles. Tell me to try it before I make any judgements, but I don’t believe I will after eating the real thing in the CR. These prices are too lofty to justify for simple comfort food, and too much to pay to be disappointed. Those who love it, do it up and enjoy – but I’ll be making my own gulas and knedlik when I get home.

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