A historic café in Budapest
— The History of the Dunapark Café —
The pride of the locals. The elegant landmark on Pozsonyi út and one of Újlipótváros’s most significant stories. A historic café in Budapest’s 13th district, where the atmosphere of the past lives on to this day.
The Legacy of Dunapark
The values of the past in today’s hospitality
The Dunapark Café is not simply a historic café in Újlipótváros, but one of the key meeting places on Pozsonyi út. It is a classic café in Budapest where the atmosphere of the past and the rhythm of modern city life blend together naturally. A spot for breakfast and brunch, a patisserie and café in Budapest’s 13th district during the afternoon, and an elegant yet relaxed urban meeting place in the evening. Dunapark’s aim is to carry forward the open, progressive and intellectual coffee-house culture from which the venue itself was born. Not to preserve the past as a museum, but to make it part of the city’s everyday life once again as a living coffee-house.
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The café on Pozsonyi Road
Dunapark has always been more than just a café. It’s a natural part of life on Pozsonyi út and in Újlipótváros: a place for morning coffee, mid-morning chats, business meetings or a leisurely afternoon spent enjoying cakes. This café is one of Budapest’s meeting places, with regulars, favourite tables and its own rhythm. Here, you don’t have to rush through your coffee. Often, the most important thing is simply that you’re here.
Urban elegance, a modern rhythm
Even today, the Dunapark Café aims to recreate the elegant, relaxed and communal atmosphere that made the classic Pest cafés so special. It is a historic café in one of Budapest’s most liveable neighbourhoods, where brunch, the patisserie, the restaurant and café life are not separate functions, but parts of the same urban experience.
„Dunapark is therefore now a vibrant community space of which the residents of Újlipótváros can be proud and which they are happy to recommend to others.”
A historic café with an Art Deco interior
The interior of the Dunapark Café is inspired by the Art Deco style, which was a defining architectural and design movement of the first half of the 20th century, emerging in Europe and in Budapest in the 1920s and 1930s.
Replacing the historicist styles, it embodied a new, modern urban aesthetic: with geometric forms, a spatial layout based on symmetry, and a use of materials that is both elegant and contemporary. The marble, glass and metal surfaces, the contrasts and the carefully considered proportions all served to ensure that the space is not only functional but also an experience in itself. In Budapest, this style often appeared alongside influences from modernism and the Bauhaus, particularly in the new districts built between the two world wars.
In Budapest, this style often appeared alongside influences from modernism and the Bauhaus, particularly in the new districts built between the two world wars.
The interior of the Dunapark Café is a continuation of this philosophy. The large windows, the openness of the space and the internal proportions do not serve merely as decoration, but embody the fundamental principles of the era: airiness, transparency and urban elegance.
The space remains connected to its surroundings – the park, the street, the city – whilst retaining the tranquillity characteristic of a classic café. The use of materials is understated yet distinctive, so that the interior evokes not the look of a particular era, but its timeless quality. This is a world that appears on the outside as a modernist, Bauhaus-inspired building, whilst on the inside it is realised in the refined elegance of Art Deco. During the café’s refurbishment, this character has not changed, but has become even more apparent.
The History of the Café
The birth of a modern neighbourhood
The history of the Dunapark Café is inextricably linked to one of Újlipótváros’s most distinctive buildings. The Dunapark Building, situated at 38–40 Pozsonyi út, was built in 1935–1936, Béla Hofstätter and Ferenc Domány based on his plans.
In its day, the building was not simply designed as a block of flats, but as the embodiment of the promise of modern urban life: with spacious flats, a roof garden, spacious entrance halls, marble cladding, lifts and amenities that epitomised the modern middle-class lifestyle in 1930s Budapest.
This was the Budapest that took on a new form in Újlipótváros between the two world wars.
The area around Pozsonyi Road and St Stephen’s Park has not become a continuation of the old city centre, but rather a brighter, more open and thoughtfully designed modern district.
The Dunapark House arrived in this setting: it was at once a residential building, an architectural masterpiece and a way of urban life.
Bauhaus on the outside, Art Deco on the inside
The Dunapark House is often described as a Bauhaus-inspired building, and this is evident from the outside: clean-lined forms, a modern façade, a functional approach, large windows and a restraint in ornamentation. This era no longer spoke the language of historicist Budapest, but rather that of the modern city. Yet the Dunapark is even more fascinating than that.
The interior of the building, particularly the stairwells, also retains the elegance of Art Deco. Marble cladding, carefully crafted proportions, a strong sense of space, and distinctive details: these are elements that are not ostentatious, yet lend the space a sense of prestige. Here, Art Deco is not over-the-top luxury, but rather restrained elegance. It is this duality that gives Dunapark its unique character: modern on the outside, spacious on the inside; functional, yet not austere; urban, yet not crowded.
The coffee house as an urban salon
The Dunapark Café, which opened on the ground floor, became part of this world in the late 1930s. It did not simply serve coffee and cakes, but provided a space for what Budapest’s café culture has always stood for: meeting people, conversation, reading the papers, and simply being present.
The café was the natural counterpart to the modern apartment block. Downstairs, city life bustled; upstairs, the world of middle-class flats. The Dunapark was therefore not a stand-alone café, but part of the everyday rhythm of the building and the neighbourhood.
Even today, you can still sense something of this at the Dunapark Café: in the light, the spacious interior, the large windows and that sense of urban tranquillity, which is a rare find in a Budapest café.
The Layers of History
The Second World War brought an end to this peaceful world as well. The history of the Dunapark House took on a more sombre dimension at that time, one which even today is best alluded to only with great sensitivity. The house is not merely an architectural monument, but also a memorial to people’s lives.
After the Second World War, Budapest’s café culture underwent a fundamental transformation. The world of the classic bourgeois cafés receded into the background, and these venues took on new roles within the changed fabric of city life. Dunapark, however, did not disappear from this story. The square lived on in a different form, at a different pace, but with the same core experience: encounters, conversations, simply being there. Dunapark in the 1970s was no longer the old café, but an urban coffee shop where the tables were just as full. The walls, the proportions, the windows and the space opening out onto the park continued to offer the same thing: a place where people meet.
Dunapark today
Today’s renovation therefore does not create a new identity, but rather reconnects the venue with its original purpose: a classic café in Budapest, situated at one of the key locations on Pozsonyi út.
The Dunapark Café is currently run by the Eventrend Group, which has many years’ experience in managing historic cafés and iconic restaurants.
Memories of Dunapark from famous visitors
Musicians, artists, regulars and personal recollections of the iconic café on Pozsonyi út. For decades, the Dunapark Café was one of Újlipótváros’s most prominent meeting places. Some people used to come here for breakfast. Others organised business meetings here. There were regulars who returned to sit at the same table year after year.
The history of the Dunapark Café is preserved not only by its walls, but also by the memories created here. In Erika Balogh’s recollections, Miklós Fenyő’s connection to Dunapark, the world of his favourite haunts and the atmosphere of Pozsonyi Road in days gone by are brought to life.
Moments from Dunapark
The story really begins when the café comes alive. Today, Dunapark is not just a classic Budapest café, but a vibrant meeting place in the heart of Újlipótváros, where its history and presence both define the venue. This space, shaped by decades of history, still offers the same thing today: a place where it’s lovely to arrive and well worth staying.
Moments in a coffee house
– Gallery –
A glance. A gesture. A conversation.
Coffee-house life isn’t just an activity; it’s part of life.
Give the gift of a Dunapark experience!
One morning on the terrace.
Lunch with an old friend.
An evening that goes on longer than planned.
Let's meet at Dunapark!
just to experience it
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Dunapark Café?
Dunapark is a historic café in Budapest’s 13th district, on Pozsonyi út, where classic café culture lives on in a modern urban setting.
Where exactly is the Dunapark Café?
The Dunapark Café is situated at 38–40 Pozsonyi út, in Budapest’s 13th district, next to Szent István Park, and is easily accessible on foot, by bike and by public transport.
Do I need to book a table at the Dunapark Café?
Yes, it’s particularly advisable to book in advance at weekends and in the evenings, as the Dunapark Café is one of the most popular meeting places on Pozsonyi út.
Is there a terrace?
Yes, one of the most special parts of Dunapark is the terrace overlooking the park, which makes the café one of Budapest’s most popular outdoor meeting places.
Can you have breakfast or brunch at Dunapark?
Yes, the Dunapark Café is a popular spot for breakfast and a favourite brunch venue in Budapest’s 13th district, where you can pop in from breakfast time until late morning for a coffee, brunch or a long chat.
Can you have lunch at the Dunapark Café?
Yes, Dunapark is not only a café in the heart of Budapest, but also a restaurant open all day, welcoming guests for lunch and afternoon get-togethers.
Are there any patisseries in Dunapark?
Yes, the Dunapark patisserie offers a selection of both classic and modern cakes, which are available all day to enjoy with coffee or as a dessert.
Is the Dunapark Café a suitable venue for business meetings?
Yes, the elegant and tranquil setting of the Dunapark Café makes it the ideal venue for business meetings, conversations and informal discussions in Budapest’s 13th district.
*Some of the historical photographs are taken from the collection of the ‘Old Photos of Angyalföld’ Facebook group.
We would like to thank the members of the community for helping to preserve the history of Újlipótváros and Dunapark.