In 2011 Dean Selby and Lori Wyant opened The Tavern, a lively neighborhood joint serving American smash-style burgers, creative cocktails, and a great selection of Czech craft brews served by the friendliest staff in town.
The menu has grown over the years to include not only fresh-grilled 100% chuck hamburgers, house-smoked pulled pork, and buttermilk-brined fried chicken, but also some of the tastiest vegetarian and vegan comfort food in the world—try our Magic Mushroom burger with homemade truffle cashew cheese and see for yourself!
On weekends we host the biggest American brunch in town from 11:00 to 16:00 featuring Southern biscuits and gravy on Saturdays and Chicken and Waffles on Sundays.
Dean & Lori
The couple started their “Local Burger” roving food stand in 2009 and created a buzz with the first burger-fueled pop-ups in neighborhood bars, at community events and farmers’ markets. Two years later, The Tavern was born and in 2014 they pair took over the lease for U Kurelů, a 110-year-old neighborhood “restaurace,” and re-opened it as a funky, modern incarnation of a traditional Czech pub.
Along with running the two restaurants, Dean and Lori pursued their love for BBQ even further as the two-person KCBS competition BBQ team Sticky D’s BBQ. In 2016 they were invited to represent the Czech Republic in the prestigious Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue contest in Lynchburg, Tennessee. They brought back to Prague the highest overall scores in the European division (pulled pork, ribs, brisket and chicken) as well as 1st prize for their pulled pork in the international category, which you can sample every day at both The Tavern and U Kurelů.
Lori Wyant
Lori, a native of Kentucky, arrived in Prague in 1991 with the original wave of backpackers looking for post-college adventure. After working as a bartender, cook, and restaurant consultant, she opened Prague’s first ‘pop-up’ in a renegade nightclub in Slovanský Dům, a Tex-Mex stand called “Ivana’s Bean City.” In 1992 she was hired to create the menu and open the first vegetarian restaurant in the famous music club Radost FX, which still exists to this day.
Dean Selby
Chef Dean Selby hails from Washington state, getting behind the grill at McDonald’s at fifteen and working through high school and college at diners, BBQ joints, and bistros. Although Lori had already moved on from Radost FX, in 1994 Dean arrived in Prague and worked there as a chef for four years, and it would be a decade before Lori and Dean first crossed paths in a local Žižkov bar. As well as opening and running restaurants in the Czech Republic, Selby opened American-inspired joints in Montenegro and Turkey before settling down with Lori in 2008 and planning their culinary future.
