Výtopna Railway Restaurant — Restaurant in Prague

Service needs to change! FAST!!

Our visit to Vytopna started as a great experience—the trains were arriving, and I felt like I had hit the jackpot.

I ordered a cheeseburger with soup as an entrée and a beer, while my partner ordered a veggie tartare, some side chips, and a gin and tonic.

First, the soup and drinks arrived. However, as we were grabbing them, the train didn’t wait long enough for us to take everything—we were only able to grab the soup. With the help of a waiter, we eventually received our drinks on another train.

When our main courses arrived, the train stopped a bit further away, and while my girlfriend was reaching for the food, she accidentally knocked over her full drink onto the table and chair. It was an honest mistake!

As the waiter helped us clean up, he informed us that we had to pay for the spilled drink and that if we wanted a replacement, we would have to pay for that too. The fact that we were expected to pay for a completely full drink—spilled while attempting to lift heavy iron plates—was frustrating. Instead of politely handling the situation or acknowledging the difficulty of retrieving food from the train system, the staff argued with us rudely, insisting that it was our fault.

Accidents happen, and in a place like this—where most customers are tourists unfamiliar with the system—one would expect more understanding. We were given instructions on how to operate the train system in Czech, yet as tourists, we had no prior experience with it. (Attached in the picture)

When we asked for the manager, the waiter continued speaking in Czech, making comments that, based on the tone, I can only assume were not polite. The manager arrived and also insisted that we pay for the spilled drink. Instead of resolving the issue professionally, they spent 10 minutes arguing over a drink that likely costs the restaurant a fraction of its menu price.

A restaurant with 300–400 seats, as the manager mentioned, should prioritize customer experience over squeezing every last cent from a minor mishap. This situation made it feel like the restaurant relies on its strong reputation to mistreat customers without consequence.

Yes, the trains are fun to watch, and it’s a unique experience, but the service was disappointing. Food was decent at best—perhaps the steaks are better.

Would I return? Not with that level of service.

Would I recommend it? Be ready to be the one to blame shall anything...

As far as food an atmosphere go, definitely worth paying a visit. I didn't know there was something like this until I visited Prague. You can't see trains deliver your food every day which gives you unique experience plus there is nice view on the Wenceslaus Square. Food was delicious, with wide range of choices and didn't even take too long to deliver, once you ordered...

However, the ordering part was real struggle. We were party of seven. We made a reservation for 15:30, arrived at 15:00, were seated by stuff member at our tablet. The table was all the way back around the corner. We waited 45 minutes without anyone noticing us (just to add, when booking reservation, we were told we have only 1:30 hour for our meal, and I am aware that we came wait early before our reservation). So we decided to go and ask waiter if we could order. Once he arrived (another 5-10 minutes), he didn't write anything down and didn't repeat the order back to us. After another 5 minutes another waiter came and asked us to repeat the order for him as he was substitute for the first one, so we did. After a while our drinks arrived and within 20-30 minutes also our food. When we were done, we needed to go find the waiter again, as he didn't come to check on us even once. When we were paying, he (the waiter that didn't remember our order) asked us, if it was okay is he could also have a tip. I gave him maybe a 5% and went out. When leaving, we heard two other tables having to wait 15 minutes for ordering even just drinks.

I just want to add, that service like this is not done by all of the waiters. The restaurant was practically full and the other side seemed to have waiters that had no struggle and customers there, who came after us, had received their order before us. In addition, this could be the his first day/week. However, there should be training done before letting someone...

There are enough reviews on the railway features, food quality and ambience so I won’t go into it. This restaurant is unique in using a well connected network of rail lines on dining tables to bring the food over to the patrons - this concept deserved 1 additional star for its ingenuity. It is a smart business strategy to cut down reliance on workers and services. Which brings me to why I don’t award 5 stars. Firstly the food prices are significantly higher than similar restaurants delivering same type of food. Secondly, there is virtually no service provided - except when you are taking orders and paying the bills. The dishes come in specially made metal containers but there is no label on them - so our pull beef burger and halloumi burger looks the same. This is what service staff should be doing - identifying the dishes to the respective patrons. To me this is laziness on the part of staff. They also don’t provide wifi. Thirdly, the waiter was actively asking for tips during payment, even though there was option for no tip. When we clicked no tip, he was upset and asked why we didn’t give. I could understand in a way because he did ask if everything was ok when we were midway through our meals and we said good - but we were paying for our costly meals so we expected the food to be good anyway. In any case I told him the ribs were a bit hard ( that was true ) and he asked why we did not feedback earlier - we didn’t need to make it difficult for them. Anyway we paid without the tips and he left unhappily without acknowledging us. This is my suggestions to the restaurant and the patrons : if you expect tips, put it in English up front. If you want tips willingly, do more for your service culture. I am glad I came ( no regrets for the concept) but that will be the last time - I don’t want that difficulty of justifying my bill payment at...