Why this Czech Restaurant Could Not Exist in the US (Borohrádek, CZ) Food Vlog Czech Republic 4K
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- čas přidán 9. 06. 2024
- Today I visit one of my favourite restaurants in Czechia in a small town. I also discuss, "Why this Czech Restaurant Could Not Exist in the US (Borohradek, CZ) Food Vlog Czech Republic" and how it relates to zoning laws implemented in the US in the middle of the 20th century.
Thanks for watching my video. Tell me about what you think about zoning laws where you live.
You're a bit lost, kid. Borohrádek is in Čechy (Bohemia), not Moravia. But I understand; when you spend every day surrounded by Pražáci, you learn that "if it's not in Prague, it's not important". It's just "out there somewhere". Could be in friggin' Poland for all they care. Still, Borohrádek is a decent town, famous for Frolíková Pražírna, which produces some of the best roasted coffee in the country.
Wow what a massive error.. earlier in the day I was near Brno and should have looked at a map. Christ. Thanks for the correction and pointing me in the direction of looking up Frolíková Pražírna.
I am from a tiny town in the midwest of the US so places like Borohradek feel more like home.
@@ThePragueExpat0 I know the feeling. I grew up in Walkerton, Ontario, with all of its 5,000 people, so I am very comfortable in my adopted home, Vysoké Mýto (about 20 km south of Borohrádek). If you are in the area again, let me know; we can meet up and I'll show you some cool places.
@galinneall My childhood home was in Fruitport MI so as far as the vastness of the US goes not too far from your hometown. My wife's family is spread all over this area from Hradec to Brno. Thanks for the invitation I will let you know next Im spending some time here.
Nothing wrong with that. I'm all for annexing Borohrádek under the great moravian empire (: :D
Yes, he is wrong, it is Eastern Bohemia. But your offence is stupid. Frolikova kava is not bad, but still far from the best ones out there.
I think Czech zoning laws focus more on making sure that a chemical factory or oil refinery doesn't stand next to family houses.
A restaurant or a store are things intended for people. Also, Czechs are used to walking (I'm sure this has to do with the fact that distances here are not as great as in the US), so a business like that doesn't mean that hundreds of people in cars will pile in.
Yes these kinds of zoning laws make sense. I really like the idea someday when I buy a house I could have the option to try and start a business like this out of my house.
Also yes I did notice that most of the people buying food were walking there to pickup or dine in.
It's not that good with that walking, as a native Praguer, I am used to walk a lot, because I am from non-car society and in Prague when bus is going in 20 minutes, you mostly just walk instead of waiting for it. I spend more than half of my life out from Prague in small cities and villages, so I think I can say that people in villages are very car-centric even in Czech Republic, some of them are very lazy, they will not go even 300 m, they even "walk" the dog by car, it's ridiculous for me as former Praguer. Even when your village has trains and buses, they just deny to use it becuase public transportation is for poor people by them, but the reason why I can go to nice vacation is that I don't feed a car, so from my point of few, most of that car people are actually very poor, they put all money to having a car even when they have supermarket 500 m from their house and there is train and bus in their village. Those modern village people will never see places where you can't park your car and when you don't have a car, you are totaly excluded from society, they don't even consider you as real person, you are some kind of kid for them. I really want to return to Prague one day, I miss walking with friends outside for no reason, just to walk and talk and culture and such things. Here in village, everything is around cars.
I remember in Prague when you were going from school, kids walked together and had some fun, same with people going from work, here in village, when school ends, kids jump to their parent's SUVs and in like 5 minutes, there is noone, it's so ridiculous.
@@Pidalin I too enjoy just walking around Prague. I lived in a small town when I first moved here and I agree people are more likely to drive there. Lol Iv never seen anyone walk the dog next to the car. That’s crazy
@@ThePragueExpat0 I meant they put dog to the car, drive to some forest, release him there for some time and then drive back home. Walking with dog next to car would be too much.... 😀
Black Forest Family has good vid explaining zoning laws and their impacts comparing US and Germany, CZ is pretty similar in that to Germany.
Thanks I’ll look that up
Pitty is that those zoning laws are forcing a lot of US cities to be even more pedestrian unfriendly.
100% agree. There is downsides like having a auto body shop next door to your house but it gives so much opportunity to small business. The restaurant in this video actually opened its doors in 2020.. what a year to start a new restaurant business anywhere in the world. I like knowing maybe someday I can try and start a business like this at the side of my house.
@@ThePragueExpat0 It's not like you can just open some factory next to family houses, some rules and zones are even here, but shops or restaurants mostly don't produce such noise and garbage that city council (or who is managing that) would not allow that. But in some other cases, you can have problem, sometimes city/village, makes referendum about that, like when someone wanted to open a bird zoo and people denied it.
Since you are from Prague and like to go to rural areas, I would recommend you visiting Praha-Vinoř. I think you would be surprised how much "rural" can Prague get. They also have nice burgers there ;-)
Hey Thanks I always appreciate good recommendation! I just looked it up and yes that does look "rural".
thank you bro, Ive enjoyed the vid 🎉, there is no need to feel akward😊 im proud of you😂
Haha thanks
We also have zoning laws here in Canada. But, I am originally from Ostrava, so I understand.
It is not like there are no "zones" at all. Local name is "uzemni plan" and each city has one. Besides there are other local regulations, such as angle of roof on new houses. However most of such requirements apply for new buildings or reconstruction. When it comes to which business is allowed where - there are some requirements but it is so general that you would have to run exceptionally loud, stinky or hazardeous business to run into trouble. Looking forward to burger recommendations in Prague. I cheer for Hill Billy and Tom's Burger :-)
Yeah I should have stated more clearly that it is not like there is no zones. You cant just start up a factory next to a school...there always seems to be like industrial parks for that. I am surprised the auto body shop in my wife's sisters neighborhood isnt considered too loud to be there though.
:D Thanks for the recommendation on burgers in Prague. Iv had Tom's but not Hill Billy. When I go out to eat I mostly just eat Czech Food. I really like this burger restaurant though. My wife's parents go out of there way to eat there and so they recommended it to us last year for anytime we'r in the area.
@@ThePragueExpat0 There is a lot of rules. Auto body shop makes just sound polution basically and it's not high enough for any ban. I wouldn't say it's louder than large grocery shop (supermarket - I don't know right equivalent in English :) )
Interesting that the noise polution from auto body shop isnt too much! Yeah that makes sense now that you say a Grocery Shop (or Supermarket is good English :) Rozumim.) would make similar amount of noise.
Hi, Daniel,
Sir_Mac here, as always!
1) First of all - BIG THANK YOU for video like this. I have been waiting so long for video, where native US speaker would eat and review any kind of burger, made in the Czech Republic! Question - do the hamburgers in the Czech Republic taste differently from US? I mean - are the burgers in the Czech Republic more "adapted" to the taste preferences of Czechs?
2) One recommendation - There is "Butch's Burger" in Prague, located on Slezská street, few minutes from "Náměstí Míru" metro and tram station. I have never eaten better burgers in Prague!
3) I am sure you already know, that "hamburger" comes from the german port town of Hamburg. And originally, it was a slice of meat loaf (sekaná) between two slices of dark bread (tmavý chléb)
4) To experience, how probably did taste the original hamburger from Hamburg, I definitely recommend to visit mall called "Globus" at Zličín, and within the building, there is small detached shop called "Uzenářství Globus" (Butcher's Globus) and order there the "sekaná v housce", with ketchup or mustard, as you like it... Delicious, but simple taste. Like many things in the life. Simple and delicious!
5) That's an interesting habit, having hamburger and french fries together. I wouldn't combine these two, because french fries I consider to be side dish, like smashed potatoes, rice, pasta or dumplings is. If I eat hamburger, it's for me like bagette, sandwich, or open sandwich, so it is for me literally "standalone" dish.
1.I would say the main difference is the quality of the bun. All bread is better here and a good bun really aplifies the burger. Otherwise very similar. I would say finding spicy burgers with hot peppers might be more prevalent here than at your average Burger restaurant in the US.
2.Good to know about Butch's I will remember that for next time Im looking for a burger in Prague. TBH when we go out to eat usually we just get traditional Czech Food.. also sometimes Vietnamese. We had a lifetime of burgers in America so the novelty of good Czech Food has not worn off yet.
3 and 4..Yes I did know that the word initially came from Germany. US has the tendency to take other cultural foods and change slightly and claim they are "American Food". My wife has told me about this sandwich Sekana v housce used to be sold at the community pool in her home town in the summers when she was a kid and that was her first "burger". Thanks though I would like to try it and next time Im at Zlicin I will look for that at Globus!
5.Yeah I grew up on Burgers and Fries and I do like the combination 😃As I am also Irish.. Irish fish and chips (or fries) is kind of a similar weird combination that I love. Topped with Vinegar and Salt and Tartar sauce on the side.
I'll be going to visit my Mom for Christmas in Ireland and I am looking forward to some Irish fish and chips. My favorite place in Dublin the fish is caught in the morning and sold in shop at dinner.. Iv been eating at that one since the early 90s 😃
The thing is, we do have zones but have have a nice mix usually, it's not all patches of single colour like you showed. Also, there's ton of exceptions for businesses like these so you can usually build it even inside the residential zones. Similarly zones for parks and green spaces have provisions for like small coffee shop or allow events to happen there. The zones are actually very detailed and in some aspects pretty strict (sometimes even down to the type of roofing you have to use). You can also ask the local city council to change to zone for you, which is a huge hussle, but they usually agree on this kind of stuff.
Yeah actually my father in law is trying to apply for some property that he owns that is designated for like light industrial (as he currently has a car shop there) to being able to have a house on the property next to his car business. He has been trying to get approval for this for quite some time. He is confident he will have it approved eventually.
In America it can get crazy where you can be fined for having a garden in your back yard or building a shed that is too big to store tools. Im sure it is strict here within reason to protect people.. in America it is significantly more strict. Like the title of this video says this restaurant would not be able to exist in the US. This is kind of why America has experienced such a rise in food trucks so they can find a way to park a food business in a moderately residential area and not break zoning rules.
Also as someone who was a GM for a restaurant in the US and has had interest in starting my own restaurant someday.. I really like that it might be possible for me someday to open a small restaurant next to my house.
That's interesting, I never realized this concerning the zoning laws in the US and what's going on here 😅, that burger looked good. In Hradec many of the burgers are too big to hold so you have no choice but to eat them with a knife and fork lol.
yeah i always thought it was cool to have small stores and restaurants like this in neighborhoods till I noticed the auto body shop sounding like they are running a jackhammer in an otherwise peaceful neighborhood. Obviously pros and cons.
@@ThePragueExpat0 your video editing seems to be progressing very well, keep up the good work! If you want a good burger in Hradec, Localis in the "big square" has a good one.
The next time Im planning to spend any significant time in Hradec I will be letting you know ahead of time.. but thanks for the recommendation. Weather has been aweful lately so mostly just been staying inside while we are house sitting. And thanks on the video editing!
Personally, I don´t think you can eat ANY burger and keep your dignity...
@@caroline4323 haha!
Is that burguer place really called "Huja"? Haha I know where to take my Russian speaking friends for lunch next time😆
You've got great content man, keep up the good work!
Thanks Man. Yeah it definitely is called Huja Burger. I have zero familiarity with the Russian language so I dont know the reference. Thanks again.
Thanks for the tip, I'll try this one on my way. It sounds great not to have any kind of business in residential area, but that's way you have use car to buy any common staff or service. Most of our towns are from medevial, no wonder it is all mixed togetger. In new city development, it is driven with same zone laws like you mentioned.
Intersting that is kind of sad that new developments have same zone laws as US. I think its nice to have a community restaurant business like the one in this video. People flowing in and out.. Greeting each other. Everyone knowing everyone. It makes the atmosphere very nice.
@@ThePragueExpat0 Aha☝️, to make it clear, it is not including shops, restaurants ( only limit is outside sitting up to 22hrs) groceries, public services etc. but industry and noisy services. Public services are on the coutrary planned and required. Irt ois stupid to drive every time you ned anything. Yees, metting each other, comunity life , local biusinesses is great.
I did think it was odd that you could walk by restaurants while in neighborhoods in Czechia, but I like it. It's like what Applebee's should do to really be the neighborhood bar and grille
Yeah that would be a good marketing campaign for Applebees. Lol havent eaten there since like 2005.
As an European, I find it mind boggling that someone might find that odd😀 after all, restaurants are meant for people
@@FilipMoncrief in America it's more like you go to a shopping center or strip mall to go to a restaurant it's not tucked in between resistance, bro did a go job of explaining it. It's cause here I think we have more strict health codes and everything is so spread out at least where I'm from walking somewhere isn't so easy
@@fishefoods5705 sad to hear
@@FilipMoncrief I kinda like my space tbh... I'm in the American south so it's just how our cities are here
On the topic of burgers in Prague, there are so many options, even for delivery, that it's difficult to find a good one in my experience. That said, for a good few years now I've been getting food delivered home and when it comes to burgers, i have hands down enjoyed the burger from pizzagohome (ironic that a formerly only pizza place has the -imo- best burger i had so far) specificly the barbecue version. Costs less than 200, delivery is inexpensive and if you got a day where you (or your wife) don't wanna cook... You know :)
Anything less than 200 is a good deal these days. Thanks I will order that sometime.
Ver nice video!! 😁Is the law only in Michigan or overall in the USA? 😅
These laws are approximately the same all over the US. In some states worse.. like my friend in Florida cannot even have a garden in his backyard because its against zoning rules. In some other states it is a little more free but it is all about the same and there is no state where you could have Huja Burger connected to your house.. It just is not possible. Thanks for the comment :D
@@ThePragueExpat0 Thank you very much for.your answer. 🙂
ive visited there many times, and into many small towns, and what i still find crazy is this loudspeaker system to broadcast messages to the residents. anything from local town news, to who has some extra chickens or eggs for sale. crazy but i love it! edit: and yeah im super happy they have some small potraviny's and restaurants in the neighborhoods. makes things convenient another edit: if you look at the labels, everything from coke, to vodka, is a lemonaide =D but yeah dont be there and have a drink and drive. its 100% not allowed
Yeah its great they have the strict laws on drinking and driving. My friends sister when I was in high school was in a car accident and died when their car was hit by big truck. She was 11 years old. Yeah I only have a beer if my wife is driving.
The loudspeaker system was kind of a culture shock the first couple times I experienced it when I was visiting my wife when she was in college and we were visiting her family in her hometown. Now all these years later Iv totally gotten used to it. Its nice for people like my wife's grandma who is 92 and to her its a normal part of her life.
@@ThePragueExpat0 Does it begin with any song to let people know? then everybody goes on the street and listen? :D
Drooling here... :D. Looks amazing :)
God. Where do I get a good burger now... :(. Thinking hard... :(
Yeah I havent been to any burger restaurants I was that thrilled about in Prague yet. Last year like a true American I went to your favourite City Brno for a Burger Festival and they had some good ones there.
@@ThePragueExpat0 I don´t really know. I like good meat but I don´t eat/like buns, bread etc. So I can appreciate a good burger but don´t search for good places to eat them.
Since you made me crave for one I was considering driving to Burger King. Whopper has the right amount of meat and vegetables. :D. For me. And it´s the only place I can think of. And I quite like their meat.
...
I wonder what an American would think of me that I have bought something in McDonalds maybe 5 times in my whole life? Probably that I live in a village in a hole in the ground and eat grass. But it´s a choice... Last time I was really hungry in the morning and McDonalds window said "breakfast-scrambled eggs".... Great idea! I was pretty hungry... I threw it in the bin. Inedible.
We have zoning of course too, but it works very differently (similar situation is across the Europe). Actually, you are *NOT* allowed to build residential housing, if sufficient amount of public infrastructure is not in place or planned - i.e. kindergartens, schools, grocery shops, etc. In that case the developer must invest into the infrastructure too, or secure deals with local authorities. As for small businesses, technically they should not produce any pollution including noise within the residential area. There are a lot of rules involved, but generally speaking small family businesses are allowed.
Thanks. My father in law is kind of going through this right now as he is trying to get approval to build a house next to his business in a rural area. So I can see it can kind of be the reverse problem. You can have a house with a business on the side but you cant have a business with a house on the side. He is confident he will eventually get approval.
Americas zoning laws are wild. I know someone who isnt able to grow a vegetable garden in their back yard in Florida. This kind of rule is not that uncommon. I knew someone who had a shed built that was too tall for their backyard and was fined for having a non approved building on their land.
Either way a business like Huja Burger is nearly impossible to find in the US.
@@ThePragueExpat0 Yes. But there are a lot of farms and homesteads, which are partly the same thing. And their actually wonderful :-). I wish we had that space and (absence of) regulations to be able to build off grid on our plot of land in highlands. But in such a small country and generally in Europe it's not possible.
"Why this Czech Restaurant Could Not Exist in the US" :D I expect some technical issue :D like they have to small restrooms...and you mean zoning law. I've spotted "zoning law" issue in a couple of videos and it seems to be quite stupid :O
Let me know when you travel to Ostrava!
I will
Did you have any problems with talking to the staff? Or how well can you speak czech?
No, I definitely know enough Czech to order in restaurant. I have strong accent though.
I'm confused, does the zoning in the US mean that I can't have chickens in my garden?
There are different classes of residential housing in the zoning code in the US. I would assume that is the same here to some degree. In rural residential housing it is possible to have chickens in your garden. The closer to a town you are the less likely you are able to have chickens. In some places in Florida and Georgia you cant even have a vegetable garden in your backyard if you live close to a city.
Some states are more strict than others. That all being said there is no instance in the entire US where you would be able to have a restaurant in any residential neighborhood.
@@ThePragueExpat0 Thanks for the reply!
This seems like a total dystopia to me. My grandma lived not too far from the centre of Jihlava and had chickens, tomatoes, cucumbers, a huge pear tree, plum trees, and an avenue of apple trees. Never heard of anyone being told not to have any sort of animal (as long as you can take proper care of it and the smell doesn't bother the neighbours). You say it may be to some degree here in CZ, and maybe I just don't have the full amount of information, as I haven't studied this subject. However, there are gardening colonies and community gardens in Prague.
Still, just... wow. Not even a vegetable garden... I'm flabbergasted.
Edit: Forgot about the little field of strawberries that my grandmother had :-)
@@ThePragueExpat0 Another thing, how do you not have restaurants in residential neighbourhoods? Where are people supposed to eat when they want to eat out?
Yeah Im definitely not going to say that most places cant have a vegetable garden in the US. There are many places like that and its scary people live there have complete reliance on others to get food. My wife's family has a big garden with fruit trees and I think ducks right now.
Some places in like Detroit also have similar gardening colonies.. they call urban gardens. Those areas were rezoned to be able to do that i think especially after 2008 when Detroit was getting really bad.
As far as eating out people are just expected to travel to areas that are zoned for commercial use. In some places that is pretty close by. In other cases like in the house I was raised in it would be maybe 7 or 8 km to the nearest restaurant and probably 15km to the closest good restaurant that I would actually want to eat at.
@@ThePragueExpat0 I only spent a month in the US, visited Boston, NY & SF, so my knowledge is limited.
This is quite shocking TBH. We call this "občanská vybavenost" - it means that if there's a residential area, there should also be restaurants, schools, pharmacies, gyms, malls, cinemas etc etc.
Jsem z český republiky
When google says its gonna rain But Nah sunny😃
When Google says Sunny but then it rains ☹️
@@ThePragueExpat0 True Its weird some times lol Sunny to rainig raing to sunny lol
I'm in a bit of doubt here, you recommend this burgare place but while taking the first bites, you didn't show any emotion what so ever of it being tasty, or right out bad ???
Did I miss something??
lol good point! It was alot of pressure. I had the camera and about 6 people from 2 tables besides me watching me take that bite.
I do drive about 30 km out of my way to go to this restaurant.. I think this was my third time now. Alot of people go to McDonalds because of the ease of them being everywhere now.. I wanted to make a video about a small business that I support even though it is way out of my way.
Oh yes, American zoning laws are crazy! I work in repurposed family house and I'm still alive. My alergologist has his work place build in to his own house and it works just fine aswell. Francly I have no idea why the U.S. have so ridiculously strict zoning laws.
Yeah American zoning laws are old and out dated and States refuse to learn from the failures and create reform. So instead cities are allowed to fine people for even growing a vegetable garden in their back yard
@@ThePragueExpat0 And Americans still think they live in "The most free country in the world!" - how pathetic. :D
@@jirisvoboda1973lol yea Most of the people who think that never left the country for any length of time. Many Americans also think they are the most capitalistic but because of zoning laws more small businesses fail as it is way more expensive to start a restaurant like Huja Burger in the US than here. You have to buy the commercial land separate from your house (which costs probably $100,000 minimum to start). You have to pay someone to built the restaurant and a parking lot. Then if we have a world wide pandemic you have to shut down the restaurant and the decreased business gives you even less chance to survive. Needless to say I really like that people can start businesses like this out of their homes.