Hala Koszyki: Warsaw's art nouveau food hall on Koszykowa street

Hala Koszyki is the grand dame of Warsaw food halls. The market hall - long known as the People's Bazaar - was built in 1906-1908 on Koszykowa Street to an art nouveau design by Juliusz Dzierżanowski, with a lavishly wrought gate and decorative sculptures by Zygmunt Otto; the bull's head and the mermaid on the attic survive to this day.

From market hall to food hall

After the war the hall became a state-run department store, then a raucous private market again in the 1990s, before falling quiet. In 2012 the building was bought by Griffin Real Estate, and in autumn 2016 Hala Koszyki came back to life as Warsaw's social and culinary centre - restaurants, pubs and fresh-product shops under one restored roof, in the spirit of the food halls of New York, London, Oslo, Rotterdam and Florence.

Practical details

The hall is open daily from 8:00 to 1:00, though individual restaurants and shops keep their own hours - to book a table, contact the specific restaurant directly. The address is 63 Koszykowa Street: about eight minutes on foot from the Politechnika metro station (M1 line), with tram stops at Plac Politechniki and Koszykowa closer still. Drivers get an underground car park with 200 spaces at 10 PLN per hour. The building is adapted for people with disabilities. For more of Warsaw's food culture, see our milk bars guide.