Casa Capșa is a historic cafe and hotel on Flag Square, on the corner of Victory Avenue and Strada Edgar Quinet in central Bucharest.
The history of Casa Capșa goes back to 1852, when Anton and Vasile Capșa opened a confectionary shop a bit further north on Victory Avenue. After attending courses in Paris, their younger brothers Constantin and Grigore and opened their own confectionary store “The Two Brothers Constantin and Grigore Capșa” at the current location of Casa Capșa in 1868. Their French-inspired confectionary rapidly became well-known in the city and beyond, but in 1876 Constantin left the business, leaving his brother Grigore in charge.
In 1881, Casa Grigore Capșa became a full-service restaurant which was frequented by the elite of the city and in 1886 it also became a hotel. Among the famous guests that have stayed in the hotel were the Romanian kings Carol I, Ferdinand I, Michael I, and Carol II, the German emperors Wilhelm I and Wilhelm II, the Austro-Hungarian emperor Franz-Joseph, the Russian Tsar Alexander II, and several kings of other countries.
The business grew rapidly and multiple factories and stores were opened in Bucharest and other cities and Capșa even became a supplier to the royal court of Romania and royal houses in other countries. Being a confectionery pioneer, Casa Capșa was also experimenting with new recipes for cakes, candy, and other confectionery products. In honor of the visit of the French Marshal Joseph Joffre, they invented the Joffre cake, a chocolate buttermilk layer cake frosted with chocolate buttercream.
Over time, Casa Capșa became a meeting place of writers, painters, journalists, and other creative artists and the famous Romanian writer Tudor Arghezi even called it the “only intellectual place on Victory Avenue“, while the poet Virgil Carianopol called in the “editorial offices of editorial offices”.
In 1948, the communist regime nationalized the premises, closed the hotel, and renamed the restaurant “Confectionery and Restaurant Bucharest”. In 1975, the hotel was reopened again and since 1990, Casa Capșa has been back in private hands.
Nowadays you can still enjoy the delicious confectionary at the Casa Capșa cafe or even walk in the footsteps of former royals and sleep like a king in the Capșa Hotel. Check out the rooms and prices here.
