Palačinka Bar - Slatka Tajna, Zadar — Restaurant in Grad Zadar

I was initially served by a young gentleman who was polite, efficient, and promptly brought out my drink and food. The crepes were genuinely delicious, and for a moment, I thought I was in for a pleasant experience. Unfortunately, that illusion was short-lived.

Out of nowhere, a brusque, tomboyish staff member appeared and abruptly asked if I was paying by cash or card. Before I could even respond, she cut me off with a dismissive “Aha, cash, okay — €8.25,” and walked away without offering a VAT receipt — which, to my understanding, violates Croatian tax law. When I clarified that I actually preferred to pay by card, she rolled her eyes and replied, with no apology, that the POS terminals had already been shut down “for the night.” The tone was unmistakably rude and condescending.

As I’m not yet accustomed to euro notes and coins, I began counting the cash in the dim lighting. At that point, she inserted herself even further, started counting my money for me, and then took €8.50 instead of €8.25, clearly because she couldn’t be bothered to accept the small-denomination change. To top it off, she made a passive-aggressive remark: “You’re not that good with math, are you?”

Trying to de-escalate, I explained that I was visiting from the U.S. and not used to handling euros — and she doubled down with another sarcastic jab: “It doesn’t matter if it’s euros or dollars. You’re either good at math or not.”

This kind of arrogant, passive-aggressive treatment of tourists is unacceptable. It seems that unless you perfectly mimic their ideal of a Western European visitor — accent, looks, and all — you’re treated with open disdain. I don’t know if it’s just this establishment or a broader problem in this city, but the superiority complex on display here was astonishing.

I’ve traveled extensively and rarely encountered such brazen snobbishness and open hostility toward paying customers. The staff at this place, particularly the one who took it upon herself to insult and short-change me, seriously need a lesson in both basic hospitality...

"Palačinka" is a very good choice for a dessert, mainly the sweet ones. The prices are very reasonable. Taste is honestly good but sometimes too sweet as they fill the pancakes with a lot of cream/sauce (but I get it, they are trying to give us the best). I suggest picking something from the "premium pancakes" section. The only thing that I disliked about the food is that they use rip off product such as fake Kinder surprise. (Nutella is genuine, though). What, however, is not very nice is the waiting time. We waited approximately 30 minutes just to get the food but the cutlery didn't come with it. After 5 more minutes we went and asked for it. The manager is to blame. There are only 3 - 5 waiters for the whole place which is completely full in the evenings. On top of that their job is not only to serve the customers but also to clean and dry the cutlery and probably even more. They looked really busy. 2 more waiters would make this place...

Worst sour pancake I ever had. I ordered a baked pancake with cheese, mushrooms & corn, but basically all I got was cheese. The baked pancake had no crispy crust on the top at all and no golden brown colour at all. Isn't that what baked pancakes are all about?!

On the last two pictures, you can see what was left after I ate the pancake and what was left on my plate. It was just cheese, cheese, and more cheese. When someone doesn't eat meat, this doesn't mean you can just dump one kilo of cheese onto the person's pancake. The fried one was good but also contained way too much cheese. I told the waiter about how unsatisfied I was with my pancake but he did not seem to mind it all. I always returned to this place happily but after this mishit I am not returning...