Cafe Philo

I love this place. Away from the crowds. Friendly staff. Very reasonable prices. Only for beer, wine, drinks. No food, but good music. A bit of a dark hideaway, but that’s what makes it pleasing for me. Not to everyone’s taste, but if you’re looking for a place to relax and have a couple of drinks and good conversation with friends, this is the place.

This place is special.
First of all it is open nearly 24 hours a day. I’m told they haven’t even seen the key in several years. Officially they close at some arbitrary time around 8 or 9 in the morning but I’ve never seen it happen.
Next, the crowd here is really interesting and ebbs and flows as the other drinking establishments open and close. In the early part of the evening it’s generally a quiet, warm and friendly place to grab a drink. After 2 and 4 there are waves of already variously intoxicated patrons wandering in and out. This goes on until the light comes up when they slowly dissipate into the morning Krakow mist.
Two things of note:
1) Philosophe! Try this stuff. The owner makes it from some magical combination of spirits and candy mixed with cream. 4 PLZ for a shot but it should be sipped and savoured. Also, it’s really heavy and sweet so probably not the best thing to drink a lot of on one night.
2) The piano! Oh this piano is spectacular! It’s perfectly out of tune and barely on the edge of being playable but it’s a real joy to play in the setting of this bar. I’ve had some really beautiful musical encounters on it. Music and love are the common language of the planet and this piano has had many cross cultural conversations. As to love… I got told a story last night that I can’t unhear involving a very drunk guy that was buying me various drinks to try and his girlfriend who apparently has an affinity for the bathroom at the second herring place… ok… I’ll stop there because it’s a horrible thought but back to the piano… yes!
3) Food… yeah, wow! This place actually has middle of the night zapiekanki (pizza of a sort) which isn’t to bad… (I had a mushroom one). There isn’t anything about it that is fine dining but it’s nice to see a place that sells alcohol all night also have something to let people absorb a bit of it. :)
As you wander around this fascinating city I highly recommend the Café Philo for a stop in, or three.