Today, the name Krisztián Gál is inseparable from Retro Lángos Budapest. As a child, he was already bustling around the lángos stands run by his family on the shores of Lake Balaton — and although many years have passed since, the passion has remained the same. Now, as a co-owner, he helps run a restaurant where every lángos tells a story and every piece of dough carries a dose of love. As he puts it: “The dough has a soul.”
For Krisztián, lángos is more than just food — it’s a childhood memory, a feeling, a way of life. By the age of eight, he was already shadowing his brother and cousin Ádám at their food stal by lake Balaton, where they were frying lángos.
“I was born into this. Lángos was always around me — even as a kid, I ate it with stew instead of bread,” he recalls with a laugh.
Later, as a teenager, he sold ice cream by the lake Balaton and began his own ventures: chimney cakes, his own food stand, and working abroad from Cyprus to Ireland. Although he studied IT in school, he soon realized that he preferred working with people.
“Hospitality has this kind of energy that fills your day with life,” he says. In 2018, he returned seriously to Retro Lángos — first as a manager, and now as a co-owner.
In 2019, despite a three-meter-deep construction pit in front of their Podmaniczky Street kiosk, they still broke sales records. That success gave them the momentum to dream bigger — and open a real restaurant.
“We found a place just across the street, and went from a tiny kiosk to a 175-square-meter restaurant. It was a huge leap.”
Then COVID hit, and everything seemed to fall apart. Krisztián gave up his apartment and moved in with Ádám’s family while they tried to keep the business alive. There were times when they only had ten customers a day, and Krisztián even took a job installing cable TV to help support the core team.
“But we pulled through — and that’s what matters most. We didn’t give up.”
They’ve recently opened their new restaurant, where guests can now reserve a table and enjoy full table service. Here, you can experience lángos in premium surroundings — either on a peaceful terrace or in the beautifully designed indoor space. The menu has also expanded: the once-popular stuffed lángos and goulash soup are now available again on Vécsey Street. What hasn’t changed? The mindset.
“The dough has a soul – and we must protect that, no matter what. Every guest should receive the same quality, whether they arrive first or last. This is the philosophy the team at Retro Lángos Budapest lives by every day — so that lángos is not just a tasty dish, but a truly memorable experience.”
