Restaurace U Vejvodů — Restaurant in Prague

Terrible experience, avoid at all costs! A group of 6 of us decided it would be worth trying here one night for some food and drinks and were left feeling angry, frustrated and robbed.

We all ordered our meals, two of which were steaks and we were told we would have to wait 50 minutes for the meals to arrive, we all agreed we were happy to wait and so after over an hour of waiting, the food eventually came - well… some of it. Only when 4 of the meals were brought out were we told that two of the meals were unavailable. No thought to tell us earlier so that other meals could have been ordered and it all brought out together and not even an apology. At this point, as annoyed as we felt we were still hungry and so for the two of us that didn’t get their meal, one ordered an alternative and the other chose to not eat as he was no longer hungry. After about 20 minutes, the alternative meal turned up, the rest of us having finished our meals and still no apology or offer of any compensation in the shape of a free round of drinks or some money off.

Having felt not looked after we asked for the bill shortly after everyone had finished eating and when the receipt was brought to us, only a single, cold apology offered to hide the awkwardness of the waitress. Looking at the bill we noticed we had been charged for all 5 meals, and also individually for chips with the steak, dumplings with the goulash and more annoyingly, ketchup and mayonnaise with the alternative meal, condiments we hadn’t even asked for!

After disputing with the waitress for what felt like an eternity, she eventually admitted that charging us the price of two pints for our use of the plates and cutlery on which our meals came to us was to be taken off the total amount of the bill.

Still unhappy at the service we had been given, we asked to speak to the manager to ask whether he was aware of anything that had gone on and whether having heard of what had happened, he agreed that the right actions had been taken. All we got from him was a cold shoulder as were passed on to 3 separate waitresses who came out with excuse after excuse in order to get us to leave the restaurant as it was obvious we were just an another daft group of tourists.

All in all would definitely not recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting anything short of bad service. Feels like locals are looked after and valued and tourists are ripped off.

DON’T WASTE YOUR...

This was my 3rd visit to this restaurant and the first in quite a few years. Sadly I was hit by their selective 'take advantage of a tourist policy ' on this occasion, which wasn't the experience I had on my 2 previous visits. First of all the waitresses were quite friendly if a little insincere. Be careful with the prices on the menu, you will notice a smaller price under the greater price, that is the cost of the sides on the main course. I had the roast duck, which is one of the more expensive items on the menu, I ordered dumplings with it. They gave me 2 types of Dumplings, I didn't order the bread dumplings, which don't go with this dish, and they charged me for 2 sides. My son had the house burger and fries. I had a beer and my son had an overpriced orange juice, 4 times more expensive than the beer. They also placed a basket of bread in the table, I told them I hadn't ordered it , the waitress assured me it was included. It wasn't. When it came to pay I told the girl I would pay by card. She quickly ushered me to the till, gave me the breakdown of items, all in Czech and even before I had time to look at it she had the bill amount in the machine. Extras to watch out for are the sides added to your main, and also the 2 types of VAT. I asked the waitress not to add a service charge and that I wanted to pay in the local currency on my card. She quickly scanned my card, I inputted my PIN and then she made sure the payment was in Euro not Cz Krona. This meant a terrible conversion rate was applied with an extra commission, the restaurant requested €52 from my account. I looked at her , she could barely keep eye contact. I felt sorry for her as she was clearly and unwillingly engaging in what is immoral, dishonest and possibly illegal. She was however, doing what she had been told to do on selected tourists. Nevertheless I had some change in my pocket which I gave her while saying you should try to find work in a more honest establishment. The food itself was okay, but way overpriced by about 40%, the beer excellent but overpriced compared to reputable establishments. As I said earlier this was my 3rd visit here, it will be my last and I hope the friendly and nice waitress finds better and more...

SCAM - TOURISTS TRAP They tried to steal about 30€ - 40€. Don’t trust any waiter, they’re all involved. (Point 6 is how it works)

They play with the change Euro - CZK. Even if the market is 1€=25 CZK, they have a little label (they don’t tell you before) saying 1€=23 CZK. By voice, if you don’t check, they try to convince you that 1€= 21 CZK.

The nuts you find at the table with no pricing or label and looking free they are not, they make you pay for them.

They mess your order on purpose to bring you more expensive dishes. Moreover, there was one hair inside. Pay also attention to water, which is as expensive as gold.

They try to bring you extra side dishes. If they don’t manage to, they charge them anyway.

At a certain point, they’ll tell you there is a problem with the card and you’ll have to pay cash.

This is how the payment works. We asked for the bill, the waiter came back and told us by voice a number in CZK (first 2100, then changed to 2400) and said the converted value in euro. We gave him the cash and waited for the ticket to check and get the change, but the waiter just left. Everything is fast and confusing on purpose. We followed him asking for the ticket and he said HE ALREADY DROP IT IN THE TRASH. Which is crazy. So we managed to get a menu, made the correct sum and conversion, managed to get back some of the money. Then we realised there was extra charged food and managed to get it back too. They try to give you back CZK and not Euro cause for them is better.

Tip is NOT mandatory in this country and it’s written also on the bill - if you manage to receive it. However, they will charge it anyway without asking. They will say it’s the cost of the service but no, there already is cover charge and this “service cost” is not written anywhere cause it’s made up by the waiters. They get a salary for their work. We managed to get back the most but we lost the tip, which totally wasn’t deserved.

It’s really a shame, especially if you think that it’s not necessary: the location is super nice and it could be an adorable place and a fruitful business if it wasn’t for these...