U WnukaEst. 1850
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karczma u wnuka zakopane najstarsza restauracja

Kościeliska 8 · since 1850

The story of U Wnuka

The oldest two-storey house in Podhale. From Józef Krzeptowski’s inn to the Wnuk family restaurant, over 170 years in the heart of Zakopane’s old town.

≈1850

The oldest two-storey house in Podhale

The U Wnuka restaurant occupies a building erected by Józef Krzeptowski before 1850, the first two-storey house in Podhale. From the very beginning it housed an inn, as well as Zakopane’s first post office, shop, casino and library.

The oldest two-storey house in Podhale≈1850
The oldest two-storey house in Podhale

1904

Cradle of the Podhale Union

In 1904 the Highlanders’ Association under the patronage of Blessed Andrzej Bobola was founded here, later transformed into the Podhale Union, one of the region’s most important organisations.

Cradle of the Podhale Union1904
Cradle of the Podhale Union

1907

Jan and Józefa Wnuk

In 1907 the renowned Lwów restaurateur Jan Wnuk came to Zakopane, to cook for the visiting writer Henryk Sienkiewicz. He met Józefa Krzeptowska, Józef’s daughter. They married on 26 October 1907 and together opened Jan Wnuk’s restaurant.

Jan and Józefa Wnuk1907
Jan and Józefa Wnuk

1909–1919

Six children on the upper floor

Six children were born on the upper floor: Antoni, Janina, Henryk, Włodzimierz, Mieczysław and Zofia. The Wnuk house became a place where family and guests created a unique atmosphere.

Six children on the upper floor1909–1919
Six children on the upper floor

1918–1939

Where two worlds met

Here two worlds met, the highlander world in the inn and the intelligentsia in the restaurant. Guests included Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Jan Kasprowicz, Helena Modrzejewska, Gen. Józef Haller, Dr Tytus Chałubiński, Wincenty Witos, Bartuś Obrochta and representatives of nearly all Podhale families.

Where two worlds met1918–1939
Where two worlds met

after 1945

A café, and the return to the family

After the Second World War the restaurant was turned into a café run by the ZZG, and later by PSS „Społem”. Only in the 1990s did the building return to the Wnuk family.

A café, and the return to the familyafter 1945
A café, and the return to the family

Today

A place that still brings people together

For years the U Wnuka restaurant has hosted cultural events: folk art and photography exhibitions, film and book premieres, communal singing of patriotic songs and carols, to keep bringing together locals and visitors longing for the authentic atmosphere of Zakopane’s old town on Kościeliska street.

A place that still brings people togetherToday
A place that still brings people together

The history of Karczma U Wnuka is one of the most interesting stories of the old town of Zakopane. Our inn occupies a building raised by Józef Krzeptowski before 1850, the first two storey house in Podhale. An inn was run here from the very beginning, and with it the first post office in Zakopane, a shop, a casino and a library. For more than 170 years two worlds have met in this place, that of the highlanders and that of the Polish intelligentsia.

In 1907 the well known restaurateur Jan Wnuk came from Lwów to Zakopane and met Józefa Krzeptowska here. They married on 26 October 1907 and opened a restaurant together, and on the first floor their six children were born. Kazimierz Przerwa Tetmajer, Jan Kasprowicz, Helena Modrzejewska, general Józef Haller, doctor Tytus Chałubiński and members of almost every Podhale family were guests here. It was here, in 1904, that the Union of Highlanders was founded, later transformed into the Podhale Union.

After the Second World War the building changed its functions, and in the nineteen nineties it returned to the Wnuk family. Today Karczma U Wnuka is the oldest regional inn in Zakopane, serving the cooking of Podhale at Kościeliska 8, about 300 metres from Krupówki. When you visit us, you sit down at a table in a place with a real, documented history, not in an ordinary restaurant styled to look highland.

If you are interested in the history of Zakopane and Podhale, our inn is one of the addresses worth knowing. We invite you to a quiet meal in wooden interiors where the spirit of the old years can still be felt, in the heart of the old town of Zakopane, a few minutes on foot from the main promenade of the town.

For many guests a visit to Karczma U Wnuka is not only a meal, but also a meeting with the living history of Zakopane and Podhale. Sitting at the table you eat in a place where regional institutions were born, where artists and politicians met, and where the daily life of the highlanders was interwoven with the culture of the intelligentsia. That is why our inn is one of the addresses worth visiting not only for the food, but also for the atmosphere and for the story its walls carry in the heart of the old town.

For more information, visit: www.uwnuka.eu

FAQ · Questions and answers

Frequently asked questions

The building was raised before 1850 as the first two storey house in Podhale, and it has worked as the restaurant of the Wnuk family since 1907. It is the oldest regional inn in Zakopane.

A well known restaurateur from Lwów who came to Zakopane in 1907, married Józefa Krzeptowska and opened a restaurant with her, the one the inn takes its name from. The inn and the whole family line connected with this place still carry his name.

Among others Kazimierz Przerwa Tetmajer, Jan Kasprowicz, Helena Modrzejewska, general Józef Haller and doctor Tytus Chałubiński. For generations the place drew artists, writers and people of culture who together built the legend of Zakopane.

The Union of Highlanders under the patronage of blessed Andrzej Bobola was formed here, later transformed into the Podhale Union. It is one of the proofs of how important this place was for the whole region.

Yes, it is the first two storey house in Podhale, raised before 1850 by Józef Krzeptowski. Its walls also held the first post office in Zakopane, a shop, a casino and a library, and in 1904 the Union of Highlanders was founded here. It is one of the most important historic places on Kościeliska street.

At Kościeliska 8 in Zakopane, in the heart of the old town, about 300 metres from Krupówki. You will reach us in a few minutes on foot from the main promenade.

The building returned to the Wnuk family in the nineteen nineties and continues its tradition across generations. We still run it with respect for that family and regional history.

Yes. For years we have hosted literary evenings, exhibitions and book launches within our walls, continuing the old tradition of this place.

It is the oldest regional inn in Zakopane, with a documented history reaching back to the middle of the nineteenth century, where traditional Podhale cooking is served in authentic historic interiors. It is a place with a real, documented past, not a restaurant styled to look highland.