Parana is my favorite dive bar in Warsaw. If you are looking for some sordid place to go where the staff is grouchy, the beer is dirt cheap and the air is heavy with stale cigarette smoke and sweaty desperation, then look no further than Parana. The tacky interior (bamboo, babcia tablecloths with cigarette burns polka dotted across the material, dacha style picnic table seating, plastic plants) has an impressively gross coating of grease and ash and sticky spilled alcohol evenly spread over all surfaces. The grouchy older lady that serves you beer will grump at you to give her exact change. It's a very authentic Polish experience. Warm sulfuric wine can come served in anything from a shot glass to a beer glass - good luck getting an actual wine glass. The music is vague pop or disco polo. The gritty rawness of this bar creates the appropriate aura for those who desire a no frills nothing fancy, sit down and drink your vodka with a serious face experience.
A few tips: keep in mind that they close fairly early for Warsaw standards. It's a pre-game dive, not an after party place. If you go at 2 am you will find yourself out of luck. It's a really nice stop on a Marszałkowska tacky pub crawl route- when I come from Centrum I usually hit the Bistro Pod Rotunda, followed by Meta on Parkingowa, Parana, Pulp Fiction (Plac Konstytucji), and ending at Plan B. It would be a good idea to have cash on you, as I don't think they take cards. Keep it old school. If you are coming with a large party, keep in mind that you can't really make reservations and this place is nearly always busy so it's going to be a fun little game of musical picnic tables. I hosted a large party here once and it was difficult to fit everyone together. There isn't much standing room. Be prepared to steal your neighbor's bench as soon as they start putting on their coat.
The Perks: cheap, no frills, inside smoking, no lines to the toilet, authenticity.
I heard about the bar from a friend who said her grandfather sat there and drank his way through communism. read more