History

The “U Wnuka” restaurant is located in the wooden house which was built by Sabała’s brother Józef Krzeptowski in 1850. It was the first two-storied house in the Podhale region. In this building there used to be the first restaurant, store, post office and later the first casino and reading room with a library. The house was also a local cultural centre and it was visited by many famous and distinguished Polish citizens of those days: Walery Eliasz, Tytus Chałubiński, Helena Modrzejewska, Karol Estreicher senior, Mieczysław Pawlikowski, Wincenty Witos, Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer, Władysław Orkan, Jan Kasprowicz, General Józef Haller.
On 4th March 1904, in the “U Wnuka” inn, the Highlanders Association was created under the patronage of blessed Andrzej Bobola. Later on this association was transformed into the Association of Inhabitants of the Podhale Region.
In 1907 Józef Krzeptowski’s granddaughter married Jan Wnuk, the Lvov restaurateur who arrived to Zakopane to cook for Henryk Sienkiewicz, a famous Polish writer. Since 1907 Józefa and Jan Wnuk ran their own inn and restaurant. The restaurant quickly became famous and won many clients. It also became a favourite place of highlanders from all over the Podhale region. After all Jan Wnuk had undergone his apprenticeship at Foyet in Paris.
Jan and Józefa Wnuk lived on the first floor, over the restaurant. Their six children were born there. At present only Henryk and Mieczysław Wnuk are alive. Włodzimierz Wnuk, the author of many books about Podhale, died in 1992.
For many, successive decades the “U Wnuka” restaurant has been uniting the worlds of highlanders and newcomers to create the unrepeatable atmosphere of togetherness.