Krakow is one of the best-value food cities in Europe, if you know where to point. Skip the Main Square terraces, where a mediocre plate of pierogi costs what a great one does two streets away, and you can eat three proper meals a day for less than a single tourist dinner. This is the budget map: milk bars, hand-folded pierogi, the best kebab in town and a curry from sixteen zloty, all real, all open, all cheap.
Bar mleczny Pod Temidą
A surviving communist-era milk bar on Grodzka, halfway between the Main Square and Wawel, charging under twenty zloty for most plates in prime tourist territory. Order at the counter, share a table, and eat pierogi ruskie, żurek and potato pancakes the way the city has for decades. More in our Polish and pierogi guide.
Jadłodajnia U Stasi
An eighty-year-old family canteen in a courtyard off Mikołajska, and the local consensus for the best pierogi in the city, at canteen prices. Weekday lunch only, arrive before noon, and order whatever fruit pierogi are in season.
Jamra
The single best-value meal in Krakow: a Syrian charcoal-grilled kebab the whole city argues is the best in town, for under fifty zloty and often much less. Order the Aleppo wrap with the house garlic paste. Halal, and the top of our kebab guide.
Zayka
Fully halal Indian on the Dietla curry row with mains from around sixteen zloty and a 4.7 rating, over a decade old. Butter chicken, dal and fresh naan for the price of a sandwich. Also in our halal guide.
Banh Mi Dzień Dobry
A tiny couple-run window near the AGH university doing the best banh mi in the city for under twenty-five zloty, each with house paté and mayo. Weekday lunch only. More in our Vietnamese guide.
Mexican Food, Nowy Kleparz
A stall inside the Nowy Kleparz market with a native Mexican owner, house-pressed tortillas and one of the only torta menus in the city, all at market prices. More in our Mexican guide.
How to eat Krakow on a budget
Lunch at a milk bar or U Stasi, grab a banh mi or a market taco between sights, and make dinner a kebab at Jamra or a curry at Zayka. Add the falafel and hummus spots in our Middle Eastern guide and the fruit pierogi at the pierogi classics, and you can eat brilliantly all day for the price of one Main Square dinner. See where it all sits on the food map.
Questions budget travelers ask
What is the cheapest good meal in Krakow?
A milk bar plate at Pod Temidą, under twenty zloty for pierogi or żurek. For the best value overall, a kebab at Jamra or a curry at Zayka from sixteen zloty is hard to beat.
Can I eat cheaply and still eat well?
Absolutely, and that is the point of this list. Every place here is somewhere locals actually eat, not a compromise. The best pierogi and the best kebab in the city are also among the cheapest.
Where do students eat cheaply?
The same places, plus the cafes in our student cafes guide for a coffee and a long sit. The banh mi window and the milk bars are student staples.