One "Pivnice" that we really enjoyed was discovered by accident during a visit to Prague last summer while out strolling a few blocks from the Charles Bridge one evening... We were walking along Skorepka Street in our Hotel's neighborhood, when we heard an obviously cheerful chorus singing "Happy Birthday" in German down the street. We peered into the PIVNICE SKOREPKA brewery/restaurant, from where the party noises were emanating. We walked to the back of the restaurant, to the rear outside garden and saw a colorful array of Pilsner Urquell umbrellas covering about 20 tables, mostly filled with obviously happy diners downing pints of brew and eating with gusto.

The "Birthday" table was comprised of about 6 German couples who were tucking into huge plates of roasted duck, chicken, sausages and gigantic roasted pork joints. Well, the evening was warm and the Pilsner Urquell looked refreshing, so we picked a table and joined the crowd. The roast duck I chose was perfect and my daughter loved the chicken cutlet she had ordered, which was stuffed with blue cheese and ham. The meals were served with the usual 3/4 kinds of cabbages and 3/4 different types of dumplings. As I recall, the entire meal, including cold beers for me and raspberry juice for my daughter, priced out at less than equiv. USD $15 and I left a $5 tip.

The PIVNICE SKOREPKA was clean, cheerful, and busy. It passed my "bathroom cleanliness" test. As someone who has owned a number of food manufacturing companies and restaurants over the years, I always make a "pit stop" before ordering food to check the loo. In my experience, a clean restroom in a busy restaurant usually is an indicator of how the kitchen will be. There was an attendant present outside the lavs and I was pleased to drop 100 Czech Crowns in the plate for her job well done! ^