Prague and Mexican food may not necessarily go together, but I found a very enjoyable Mexican restaurant in the Czech capital.
Best Mexican Food In Prague
I love Mexican food and admittedly have an odd fixation on it when I travel. Wherever I am in the world, I seek it out. While Prague has excellent national dishes and a wide variety of cuisines in restaurants littered throughout the sprawling capital, it’s no surprise that there is Mexican food too.
Cantina
Újezd 38
118 00 Malá Strana, Czechia
+420 257 317 173
11:30 am – 12:00 am (daily)
After a morning at the Kafka museum, I stopped here for lunch…quite hungry. I had fasted (except for coffee) all morning and was ready to break my fast with a hearty lunch.
I liked the colorful decor very much, with the ceiling festooned with bean bags and mariachi music playing.
Sitting down, I was impressed at the breadth and depth of the menu. Everything sounded good, but lately I’ve been sticking to chicken and fish for my protein over red meat (though I’m not at all strict about this) and so I chose chicken tortilla soup to start, followed by a chicken quesadilla.
The soup was topped in parsley rather than cilantro, but it really hit the spot on a cold spring day. No chips or salsa, though in my travels outside of North America, I find it very rare to be offered these for free.
The quesadilla was served in a flour tortilla and was quite large, with a salad on the side as well as sour cream and salsa. Excellent spices and a delicious and filling dish.
If you look at the dining room picture above, you might notice a small sign that says cash only…no credit cards. Unfortunately, I had already begun my soup by the time I noticed that, which left me in a quandary. I had no cash on me.
I explained my predicament to the guys and asked them to trust me, assuring them that I would be back shortly with cash. What were they going to do, make me wash dishes?
They could have asked me to leave my phone as collateral, but thankfully, they trusted me and I scrambled up the hill to my hotel and returned shortly with the cash.
I’m not a cash guy – but this was a reminder that it is smart to carry cash wherever you are, or at least make sure in advance that the restaurant you are eating at accepts cards. I will say that Prague is not like Germany (though even Germany is catching on)…tap and pay was widely available.
CONCLUSION
If you’re in the mood for Mexican food while in Prague, Cantina will not disappoint. My lunch was excellent. But be warned: cash only!
Virtually nowhere in Prague is cash only. I assume they are under reporting their tax.
Somewhat humorously coincidental, I would recommend a restaurant in Prague with the same name… Kantyna! It’s a butcher shop that serves grilled meats in a similar fashion to what you’d see in Central Texas BBQ. Which interestingly was created by Czech immigrants to Texas.
Exactly! Any business in America in 2025 that is cash only is shady and should be avoided. Would seem easy for the IRS to target them and quickly find the fraud, including paying employees cash. Hell many banks now charge you a fee to deposit larger amounts of cash.
As for the restaurant, I love seeing options like this in foreign countries for people like me who enjoy Mexican food. Plus there is little chance, unlike here, your meal will be interrupted there by an ICE raid.
I love Chinese food and often found myself seeking it out in foreign countries. After a while I realised Australia really has great Cantonese food and most other countries (eg France and the Bahamas) don’t 🙂
Still. I sometimes still look for it.
Our family travelled for 7 months through Europe and Asia and loved all the local food. But at every airport we also demolished a Burger King or kfc. Guilty pleasure
I live in Prague and I’ve long had a policy that if a place is cash only, I just avoid them—with the sole exception of my barber, where I’m willing to accommodate because they’re not overpriced and I like their no-nonsense attitude.
In terms of Mexican food, there’s a few decent places run by native Mexicans, though I guess the availability of ingredients is the biggest challenge. Funnily enough, one of the best might be Mexicali Mercado in the Libeň district, with only a few standing tables in a tiny shabby patio, which specializes on importing LatAm food and drinks. Still, I would set my expectations accordingly 🙂
Funny that the only place I still use cash is at my barber. The guy is in his late 60’s, still has an old flip phone, makes all appointments by writing on a piece of paper and only takes cash. He is super old style, drives a beat up pickup truck, loves to hunt and fish and could not care less about technology. I always keep cash with me for my haircuts.
Right next to STAGES which is an awesome hotel!
Hilarious, eating Mexican food in Prague, ignorance at its best
My wife’s boss is Italian and just the other day they were in a meeting and an American coworker shared he had just came back from Italy for the first time. He spent 1 week traveling around different cities and enjoyed everything but at the end of his trip he was tired of eating Italian food so found a Mexican place to eat in Rome. My wife looked at her Italian boss and his eyes were rolling. LOL! Italy is probably a place I can spend an entire month and not repeat a single dish. From tons of different types of pasta with different sauces, amazing fresh fish and seafood, fresh vegetables, steaks, meatballs, lamb, pork, risottos, soups, pizzas, salads, cheeses, polenta, pastries, etc…… the guy had to go for Mexican food because he was tired of eating the local cuisine. OMG!!
Well at least I hope they went to a Mom & Pop local Mexican establishment instead of those nasty corporate conglomerate junk/fast food purveyors that proliferate in the EEUU & worldwide.
Ignorance is not knowing how popular Mexican food is in Prague. There are several chains around the city and KFC even sells tacos. Czech food is good, but it’s hearty old people food. Nobody under the age of 70 eats Czech food for every meal .
Not having cash? Who does that anywhere? Is a quesadilla even Mexican? Next thing you’ll tell me is French “tacos” are tacos.
Quesadillas did in fact originate in Mexico:
https://theyucatantimes.com/2023/04/quesadillas-a-delicious-dish-with-a-rich-story/
See, I do still learn new things.
Love the understandable contrast in ambience between this place & Cafe Imperial. Although I relish the atmosphere & history of the former, the very fact that they rip-off some customers would be an immediate hard pass on spending my time & money there. It sounds like this restaurant didn’t stoop to that level by trusting you for payment. I’d like to think they just don’t want to pay those extortionate credit card processing fees.
Still, interchange fees are capped at lower rates in Europe (hence no lucrative credit cards)…it should just be the cost of doing business.
Card fees are regulated in the EU, so even though this doesn’t really apply to US-issued cards, the overhead on most payments will be minimal. Also, if outdoor market vendors, vending machines and various food trucks accept cards, restaurants can definitely afford to do so as well.
A bit of a rookie mistake for seasoned traveler not having cash with you. Does not matter whether you are no cash guy. And yes it was a reminder.
I don’t know, dude. I usually go weeks without cash in Prague.
Just returned from Canada, only needed cash on two occasions: hotel washing machine and a touristy bagel shop that feeds on ATM fees.
UK, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands, Israel… same story: no cash needed, ever.