The Best Pierogi in Krakow (A Local Ranking)

We ate at sixteen places over four months. We ordered ruskie at every one. This is what we found.

The criterion

Ruskie. The benchmark. Potato and cheese filling, well-seasoned, in dough that isn’t thick enough to be bread. Served with fried onion and, if you want it, sour cream on the side.

A place that can’t do ruskie right can’t do anything right.

The top three

Pierożki u Vincenta, Plac Mariacki. Small. Handmade. The dough is thinner than most. The filling is properly seasoned. There is always a queue. Join it.

Stary Kleparz market, early morning. Not a restaurant. Stalls inside the covered market on Rynek Kleparski sell pierogi by weight. Hot, fresh, cheap. This is how you eat pierogi on a Tuesday.

Gospoda Koko, Kazimierz. The kind of place your grandmother would eat at if your grandmother was a Krakowian who didn’t want to cook. The ruskie are heavy and filling and exactly right on a cold day.

The one to avoid

We’re not naming it. But if a place on Grodzka has photos of pierogi in the window and a price list in four languages, walk past it and keep walking.