39
Tag
Krakow
- The Best Bar in Poland 2026
Gritty, neon-splashed cocktail haven
In graffiti, a tag is an artist's stylised signature, often favouring bright colours and bold lines. It's a fitting name for this Krakow bar, where personality, swagger and a distinctly urban sensibility are the order of the day.
Bar owner Maciej Mazur could easily have turned this space – with its elegant proportions and high ceilings – into a genteel salon for the city's smart set and well-heeled visitors. To his credit, he opted for something different. Dark wood, mid-century furniture and walls painted in matte black and grey set the backdrop, but it's the eye-popping neon scribbles that cover the walls and creep up onto the ceiling that set this place apart. This playfulness extends to the spirits' display: eschewing a traditional back bar, spirits hang from a glass rack above the bar, transformed into a kind of floating artwork.
The drinks are similarly playful. Trueschool, the current menu, is inspired by 14 rap genres, from grime to jazz rap, with each drink representing the unique characters of these styles. Take the G-funk: riffing on the slow tempo and relaxed vibes of 90s West Coast rap, the Tag team combines rum, mango, roasted coconut, orange water and hops tincture, to create a sun-soaked, mellow sip. For something a little more intense, order the grime. Reflecting the gritty lyrics, deep bass and fast pace of the genre, the team took a tequila base and added unexpected flavours like wasabi, shiitake mushrooms and molasses to create a drink as intense as the London-born sound that inspired it.
Don't be fooled by the bar's tongue-in-cheek approach: there's some serious pedigree behind Tag. Mazur has competed with the very best in the world at international bartending competitions and in 2024, he joined the Better Bar Show team in Poland as Head of Education, while bar manager Alicja Bączyk-Mazur came fourth in the 2022 Diageo World Class competition. That same year, the bar entered The World's 50 Best Bars extended list for the first time, debuting at No.97.
.jpg)
