Zona Focacceria — Restaurant in Prague

My experience as a vegan in this place was a total disaster. The lady was unwelcoming from the start (the tone of her voice should’ve made us think twice about even ordering), but the worst happened when I saw her prepare my focaccia with eggplant, marked as vegan on the menu, with the same gloves and at the same time as other focaccias that had meat in them. I literally saw the lady press salsiccia with her hands into another focaccia and then go straight to mine. I asked my boyfriend to tell her that and instead of understanding the issue she said „so your boyfriend eats meat and you kiss him but you mind this?”. Can you imagine a more inappropriate comment? She also said it for everyone in the place to hear. Thankfully, I think everyone in the place was understanding. Then she kept arguing loudly that it’s vegan cause the ingredients she puts on my focaccia are vegan. It took three attempts to try and explain that „vegan” doesn’t mean only ingredients but also the way the food is prepared… I wouldn’t have the right to argue if it wasn’t marked vegan on the menu but it was, so I am expecting them to play by the generally understood rules of vegan food. It seems like the customer doesn’t mean much to this particular employee tho. In the end she agreed (but with annoyance visible in her facial expressions) to prepare my focaccia in the way I asked and in the way it should be done but only after preparing every other thing that was ordered by everyone else (which obviously took so long that my boyfriend’s sandwich got cold while we were waiting for it). I would give zero stars if I could....

We came to this fantastic sandwich shop/bistro three times over the course of our one-week stay in Prague. We came away super-satisfied with the reasonable price points and large, filling sandwiches. The staff are super friendly and helpful. The menu mainly consists of excellent sandwiches on a delicious focaccia or open-faced on a baguette (zapiekanka-style). There’s something for everyone here—from hearty, savory, meaty offerings to creative and satisfying vegetarian options. The ingredients looked and tasted fresh and delicious. The house-made spreads and sauces are lovely and well-seasoned. Beverages include a nice local craft Pilsner, some wine offerings, limonade, and tasty colas. We had the Salsiccia (hearty and delicious), Eggplant (savory with a hint of brightness and super filling), Halloumi (straight-up excellent), Portobello (sun-dried tomato ketchup! so delicious), and Vegetarian (red bean spread, so yum). Fantastic reasonably-priced option in old town for brunch, lunch, or a snack and light drinks....

We wanted to try it out after seeing all these positive reviews, but unfortunately on our first day in Prague (July 10) we ran into the rudest service staff. Not only did she not take our "good morning", she was rude, she didn't even look us in the face. I struggled to understand her accent, which is quite normal, but she was very angry with me and was breathing so loudly that she was expressing her feelings towards us. I took the initiative and asked her why she was so angry with us, she said it was tourist season and she was there all day working alone. Am I the reason for your hatred? Am I causing this particular struggle for you? I don't want to be mean, but we also work hard to spend just 4 nice days with our 1 year old son. No one should get that kind of service when they pay a good amount of money for a "simple sandwich". She should change her job...