Inexpensive Meals on the Run--The Czech-style delicatessen Lahudky Zlatý Kríz, Jungmannovo nám. 19 (entrance from Jungmannova 34), Praha 1 (tel. 221-191-801), offers the typical Czech snack food chlebícky -- a slice of white bread with ham or salami and cheese or potato salad. You have to eat standing up, but prices are pure Czech. Or take it with you and go eat in the cozy garden behind the corner of this building (enter from the square). It's open Monday to Friday from 6:30am to 7pm and Saturday from 9am to 3pm. No credit cards are accepted.
Vegetarians will like Country Life, Melantrichova 15, Praha 1 (tel. 224-213-373), a health-food store run by the Seventh-Day Adventists; it offers a strictly meatless menu to go. You'll find tofu, tomato, cucumber, and shredded cabbage salads; zesty wheat-bread pizzas topped with red pepper, garlic, and onions; and vegetable burgers on multigrain buns with garlic-yogurt dressing. Selections are 25Kc to 75Kc ($1.05-$3.10). It's open Monday to Thursday from 9am to 8:30pm, Friday 9am to 6pm, Sunday 11am to 8:30pm. No credit cards are accepted.
Ovocný bar (fruit bar) Hájek at Václavské nám. 52, Praha 1 (tel. 222-211-466), upstairs from an ice-cream stall, welcomes all for coffee and delicious deserts, ice cream, and fruit salads priced from 13Kc to 90Kc (54¢-$3.75). This sweet oasis has been popular with the locals for decades. It's open Monday to Saturday 9am to 8pm, Sunday 10am to 8pm.
If you are visiting Prague's Vinohrady quarter, you can't avoid its main square, námestí Míru, with St. Ludmila's Church. On the right side of the church, when facing it, near the metro entrance, there is usually a stand with the best hot dog in Prague. The dog is topped with ketchup or two kinds of tasty Czech mustard and served on a fresh white roll. It costs 14Kc (60¢) and it is available Monday to Friday from 9:30am until the supply for that day lasts.
And in a pinch in Praha 1, there's always McDonald's, including two at the top and bottom of Wenceslas Square (nos. 56 and 9), one at Vodickova 15 just off the square, and another at Mostecká 21, about 100m (328 ft.) after you get off Charles Bridge in Malá Strana. KFC is at Vodickova 32, Wenceslas Square 56, and at Kaprova 14 near Old Town Square. There's a KFC/Pizza Hut combo at Na Porící 42, next to the Hotel Axa, with a play area for kids upstairs. Pizza Hut is at Celetná 10, about 50 paces from Old Town Square on the right.
Money-Saving Tips--Stick to the pubs or restaurants with an exclusively Czech menu, and remember that generally the farther from the castle or Old Town you go, the cheaper your meal will be. Imported foods or those prepared in a "foreign" fashion will always be more expensive.
You can also save money by looking for fixed-price menus, two-for-one specials, and deals in the local English-language newspapers. Don't eat anything without first determining its price.
