Hi! I'm the person behind Milk Bar Crawl, a free guide to Polish milk bars, written from Kraków for travellers who want to eat like locals.

A bar mleczny is a very Polish thing: a no-frills canteen where you order at the till and collect a plate of pierogi, a bowl of żurek or a proper schabowy at the window, often for less than a coffee costs in many European cities. Some of these places have been feeding students, pensioners and office workers for decades. For visitors they're often the most honest and affordable taste of Poland. But they can also feel intimidating: the menu board is only in Polish, nobody explains the system, and the lady at the window has no time to translate.

That's why I started Milk Bar Crawl. On the site you'll find:

• maps of milk bars in Kraków, Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdańsk & Gdynia and Zakopane, with opening hours and "near me" search,

• a menu dictionary with 70+ dishes, photos and audio of how to say them,

• a step-by-step guide to ordering, with the Polish phrases you actually need,

• budget guides: cheap eats, pierogi, zapiekanka, prices and a 3-day plan for Kraków.

Everything is free, with no paywall and no ads in your face. I keep addresses, hours and prices up to date, add pronunciation audio and keep adding new cities and dishes. It takes a lot of hours, plus hosting and tools.

If the guide helped you order your first zestaw obiadowy, find a seat or just avoid a tourist-trap restaurant, you can buy me a coffee here. Or, in the spirit of the milk bar, a bowl of soup! Every coffee goes straight back into the project: new cities, more dish photos and audio, and keeping the information up to date.

Thank you for supporting a small, independent guide. Smacznego! 🥟