During the warmer months, the zahrádky (outdoor beer gardens) that take over Olomouc’s streets and squares are some of the better places to at least begin a night out. The season lasts from May until the end of September.
The zahrádka with the best location is the one run by café/restaurant Caesar, right on the main square, just a few metres from the astronomical clock. They’re open at lunchtime and continue serving meals and drinks well into the evening hours. The wait staff can be a bit snooty, but that’s as far as the similarity to the outdoor cafes on Prague’s main square goes. The food and drinks are the same price as indoors and there is no extra fee or charge to sit outdoors. Nor will you be turned away if you just wish to have a coffee or a beer.
On the main square there are three other zahrádky, one belonging to Café/Kavárna Opera, one belonging to the overpriced Moravská restaurace, and the one run by Kavárna Mahler (named after the composer Gustav Mahler, who lived just around the corner while he was bandmaster of the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra). For coffee during the day, Opera is best, but for nightlife, the Mahler beer garden at the other end of the square is better. It’s open later and the beers and wines are better priced. Just stick with the cold drinks unless you like your coffee scalded.
You’ll find another two zahrádky just off the square on Riegrova Ul., and the one in front of Varna nightclub is very popular with overdressed young ladies, burly shaved-head men, and taxi drivers. If you turn the corner at the end of Riegrova onto Tøída Svobody, there’s a good little zahrádka in front of the Trattoria. The Trattoria itself s a bit of a dive, but outside they have supremely comfortable cane armchairs with thick cushions and a wonderful location for people-watching in front of the busy Námìstí Hrdinù tram stop. If you cross the avenue up near the red church, there’s another good little zahrádka around the corner in front of Lucerna/The Lantern. At least one friend believes that Lucerna serves the best beer in town.
Another of the better gardens is the big one in the middle of the lower square run by Pod Limpou. They often have live music during the week and you’re within sight of the Marian plague column, the domes of St Michaels, and the Capuchin church. Also on the lower square is a smaller zahrádka belonging to one of the dodgy bars up Panská Ul, but like the bars themselves, the zahrádka is better avoided.
Potrefená Husa, Leguán, Rasputin, and the Outdoor Cinema all operate beer gardens in the season. The one at the outdoor cinema has some of the cheapest beer in town and is always lively but can be a bit rough in the way that cheapest-beer-in-town places can sometimes be.