UPPER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN
Bohemian Spirit
Czech goulash, dumplings and lager inside Yorkville's 1896 Bohemian National Hall.
Yorkville was once a Czech and Slovak neighborhood, and Bohemian National Hall, built in 1896, is what remains of it — a handsome brick clubhouse on East 73rd Street, now home to the Czech Center. Its ground-floor restaurant is the place to taste what the hall was built around.
This is Czech cooking at its most consoling: beef goulash with bread dumplings for mopping, roast duck with red cabbage, a fried schnitzel, and apple strudel to finish; look out for svíčková, braised beef in a creamy root-vegetable sauce, when it appears. Drink a Czech lager — the country drinks more beer per person than anywhere on earth, and the food was made to go with it.
Editor’s tip
Order the svíčková if it's on — it is the Czech Sunday dinner — and save room for the strudel.
Make an evening of it — beautiful stops nearby
Also in the neighborhood
UPPER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN
Sant Ambroeus (Madison Avenue)
Milan on Madison — espresso at the counter, tramezzini, and old-world composure.
Café · Neighborhood Café · $$$
UPPER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN
Bemelmans Bar (The Carlyle)
Madeline murals, gold-leaf ceiling, live piano — the old New York bar that still exists.
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Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.