The Story of Vila 63
The story of Vila 63 began in 2022. After nine years of running Café Jen, we felt it was time for a new challenge — a place where we could bring together everything we had learned while creating something truly unique.
That’s when a villa with a capital “V” came into our lives.
2023
We were given the opportunity to transform the Vila’s garden into a summer coffee pop-up. Celebrating Café Jen’s 10th anniversary, we kicked off the season at the Vila, serving coffee every Sunday in the winter garden and hosting a variety of outdoor events. It was something we loved — and judging by your response, so did you. That same year, we experienced the magic of a snow-covered garden during Christmas. Well, the place quickly cast its spell on us. We knew we wanted to create something more permanent here — a café inside this old Vila.
It may sound obvious now, but we were well aware that opening a café in a historic house would be a challenge. The building had been neglected for years and, to be honest, a First Republic villa, with all its rooms and quirky layout, is far from an ideal gastronomic space. But perhaps that was exactly what fascinated Domča the most.
Together with architect Lenka Juchelková, we began transforming the house into a bold and colourful space — one that feels contemporary and distinctive while still respecting the villa’s history and character.
Vila 63: Fun Fact
The villa was built in 1935 by the housing cooperative Jednota. And despite what people sometimes ask, no famous person ever lived here.
2024
From the moment we decided to create a café to opening day, only five months passed. We wanted to open before the summer season. That was ambitious, bold, and, at times, exhausting. Building a new team, creating a concept, designing the menu and visual identity — in short, putting together everything a new café needs in just a few months felt like a superhero mission. And when we finally opened our doors in June, that’s exactly how we felt.
The first season was wonderful, hectic, and intense, bringing all the joys and challenges that come with a new venture. As autumn arrived and both the garden and the Vila itself grew quieter, we experienced the café indoors for the first time. Watching rainy afternoons, falling leaves, and snow settling over the garden, we realised something important: we needed to show people that Vila 63 is more than a beautiful garden on a sunny day.
Now, Vila has its own charm in every season. And we also learned that running a year-round café would be a challenge of a very different kind.
Vila 63: Fun Fact
It takes about half a million Czech crowns a year to keep the gardens looking their best.
2025
Our second year, the first that Vila 63 operated all year-round, was time of learning and transformation.
We hosted many of our own events, from Dumpling Pop-Ups and garden yoga sessions to Cool Wines Club gatherings. We launched two editions of Wine Fest and Dinner at the Villa, constantly experimenting, learning what works, and refining what doesn't.
Throughout the year, we focused on improving team training, strengthening our processes, and finding better ways to organise everything behind the scenes. It was a year of growth — for the Vila, the team, and the ideas that continue to shape Vila 63 today.
Vila 63: Fun Fact
A typical weekend at Vila 63 involves around 50 people working behind the scenes and on the floor.
2026 and on
As we enter the 2026 season, we do so with a fantastic, well-coordinated team and genuine excitement for the months and years ahead.
Our goal is to continue building a progressive hospitality experience at Vila 63 and to take pride in every element that makes it unique: our distinctive pastry shop on the ground floor, a kitchen serving simple yet imaginative dishes and breakfasts, a high standard of coffee, cocktails, and wine, and, even in 2026, classic old-fashioned service.
We want to keep improving all of these elements, even though, as we've already mentioned, doing so in a charming but complex early 20th-century villa is no small challenge. Some might even say it doesn't make economic sense.
But the energy we see in the people who visit and the people who work here reassures us that this is the path we want to continue following — a path of learning, improving, and inspiring one another.
Because once you step through the gates of Vila 63, you enter a world of its own, a place filled with people from all walks of life and an atmosphere that is truly unique in Prague.
Vila 63: Fun Fact
Servis na zahrádce udělá za den i 20.000 kroků.
Meet the People Behind Vila 63
Ondra
Head Barista
He looks after all things coffee and bar-related, is always fine-tuning workflows, and spends a lot of his time training and supporting the baristas on our team.
Sára
Head Chef
She runs the kitchen at Vila 63, carefully selects our suppliers, and is the creative mind behind dishes like our V63 Eggs.
Chris
Café Manager
He creates menus, chooses products, trains the team, and spends much of her day quietly solving countless operational challenges before anyone else even notices them.
Lucie & Linh
Pastry Chefs
The talented team behind our pastry kitchen, creating all the cakes, desserts, and sweet treats served at Vila 63.
Domča
Owner
She is the driving force behind the concept of Vila 63, its vision, and many of the ideas that begin with, “What if we tried...?”
Míša
Human Resources
She cares for the Vila 63 team, helps new people find their place here, and possesses a remarkable talent for organising schedules across more than 25 different roles.
Read more about us
in Czech :)