Bratislava Bistros & Cafes

Berlinka Café is located in the old town of Bratislava on the ground floor of the beautiful Esterházy Palace, nowadays the National Gallery building. The Danube River, Slovak Philharmonic, Slovak National Theatre and the main squares in Bratislava are just steps away from this superb cafe. You will find here a calm place with a genius loci (or “spirit of place”), great style and atmosphere, pleasant staff and a cool playlist; making it one of our favorite cafes in Bratislava.

A cavernous interior with nice furnishings and great decor, attention to design and aesthetics, its books and comfortable armchairs offer a chilled-out ambience, where you can relax before or after visiting one of the great-entrance free-exhibitions upstairs. You will always find delicious home-made desserts and great coffee here in this 'Cultural meeting point' that attracts a lot of students and artists. The legendary Ex Libris Bookshop where people like to come around not only for books but also for a friendly debate and intellectual discussions is also located on the same floor of the building, offering publications about art and culture as well as quality children's literature and original Slovak literature. You can pick up a graphic illustration from a contemporary artist or one of the SNG exhibition catalogues, which you won't find anywhere else, and enjoy it with your cup of tea while looking through a huge window at the promenade by the Danube River. Some of the most famous novels and literary moments of all time were written and inspired by cafes in Europe, a fertile soil for artists and intellectuals to work while socializing, creating stories, and of course, eating and drinking. If you've turned to coffee shops and restaurants to study instead of your room or the library, you will appreciate the literary significance of this cafe. There’s something special about this place that makes you conducive to creativity.