Landmark Czech Restaurant in USA Closes Down

To the displeasure of locals, the iconic Bohemian Café in Omaha, Nebraska has closed up shop following nearly 100 years of operation

Dave Park

Written by Dave Park Published on 04.10.2016 09:18:51 (updated on 04.10.2016) Reading time: 1 minute

It was an iconic local establishment, but after 92 years of operation, the Bohemian Café in Omaha, Nebraska has closed up shop.

The café had been located in the historic district of the city known as Little Bohemia, or Bohemian Town, named for the prevalence of Czech immigrants who had settled in Omaha in the late 1800s.

Landmark establishments in the district include a Sokol Auditorium (one of four Omaha locations named after the Czech gymnastics organization), the Prague Hotel, which was converted into apartments in 1987, and the St. Wenceslas Church, among others.

And until mid-September, they also included the historic Bohemian Café, which served patrons for nearly 100 years after opening in 1924.

The café offered Czech beer on draught and “Old Bohemian” specialties like guláš and svíčková, served up to patrons via waitresses dressed in traditional Bohemian garments.

Two of those servers, now aged 79 and 81, had been working at the establishment for fifty years

With attendance at the Bohemian Café dwindling in recent years, owners announced in May that they would be closing it down later in the year

After that announcement, however, the venue had experienced a boom in the number of visitors.

On the final day of operation, a line of more than 100 customers queued up outside the Bohemian Café for what might be their final taste of Czech delicacies in Omaha.

Click here to listen to the café’s Czech-influenced promotional jingle.

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