These are reviews of Little Prague from 2005. For more current reviews, visit the entry.
2005-05-16 23:20:07 The weekend brunch is not particularly impressive, though the patio *is* pretty nice! For the price, portions aren't exactly um, hearty, and the food doesn't taste particularly good... not bad, but not particularly good. The bread was pretty darn boring for a place that claims its own bakery, too! My recommendation for best breakfast remains Caffe Italia! —AlphaDog
2005-05-29 23:40:20 The food was apparently better when the owner's wife used to cook it herself, but I was too young at the time to tell the difference... These days, we put it down to the food being Bohemian rather than Moravian. Still, when they have it, get the szegedina goulash (I may have possibly mutiliated the spelling on that one). You can definitely see the German influences on the potato salad though. —JenniferPetrik
I love the food, but the waiter is EXTREMELY rude. — EllenWoodall
2005-06-15 20:16:16 Well, in contrast to Ms. Woodall, my experience at Little Prague was waiters and waitresses who are almost too attentive and polite. But I guess everyone can have a bad day sometimes. —JaimeRaba
why thank you, mr. raba, for your comment. actually, i've had great service from the waitresses - it's just this one waiter that's horrible. that said, the food is amazing and well worth risking a snotty waiter. —EllenWoodall
2005-06-15 20:39:24 What do you guys recomend and what are the prices? I'm going there Friday... —MichaelGiardina
2005-06-15 20:48:01 I liked the duck coated in pistachio nuts and the venison special. Or vice versa— I'm not sure. The potato pancake appetizers are pricey but good, so I'd recommend you get them during happy hour. Their breakfasts are really good too, especially the options that come with dumplings. —CraigBrozinsky
i'm of czech descent, so i love it all, but the goulash is amazing and so is the bratwurst. the vegetarian struedel is really good also. —EllenWoodall
2005-06-16 02:21:33 Goulash is quite good. Not a huge fan of the pork schnitzel or the stuffed chicken (an occasional special item). Everything else I've had there is good. Really though, the atmosphere makes it. —EricKlein
2005-06-17 05:02:13 The service and the atmosphere of Little Prague was absolutley great. A folk band was playing while my roomates and friends ate, although there was a bit of social pressure to tip the musicians. The food itself is pretty good, but in my opinion just not good enough to warrant the huge prices. I had the special which was chicken with fruit baked in it ($24). Generally everyoen at my table was more than happy with the food and dessert (although ifound dessert a little lacking..but the again Davis doesn't have any great dessert places), but we were shocked at our bill. Definitely recommended to those who have a twenties in their wallets. —AlvinTsao
2005-06-17 23:12:15 Went there today with a large group. We were unaware of a grad special with no item on the menu under $22. So, we hit up Sudwerk instead. They had a grad menu as well but better prices. —MichaelGiardina
2005-09-15 01:53:01 Great setting, great food, great beer. They do NOT cater to college types though, as is evidenced by the prices. Excellent place for a sit-down dinner, or a few drinks on the patio, but be prepared for the $8+ 22 oz beers. —ChrisLambertus
2005-10-02 09:54:25 Not a good choice if you're on a schedule! I made reservations for 6:30pm on a Saturday (yesterday) evening ahead of an 8pm showtime at Mondavi. We were seated immediately, but our appetizers didn't materialize until 7:10! The main course, arriving at 7:30, we took in a box and I'll be having it for breakfast this morning. The staff was polite and appropriately apologetic, suggesting that appetizers are normally a cause for delay and that if we informed them of our plans ahead of time, we would have received priority. —ErikAnderson
2005-10-21 19:09:11 Late night at the bar....turn the lights down! Way too bright in there for the setting they are trying to create. Also, a flourescent lit fridge with pies in it looks a bit weird in a bar. It makes me think I'm at a cafeteria or Baker's square or something, not a hip new bar. The one night I've been there the bartenders were extremely slow. Patient and friendly, but slow. That in itself is not that big of a deal. I'm patient and can wait a bit for a drink....but the sorority girls and frat boys clamoring and pounding on the bar and yelling "Hey!" and snapping their fingers gets very annoying after awhile. Lots and lots of potential though. Extremely friendly wait staff, nice decor, and great beers at great prices. —JeffSpeckles
2005-10-22 10:07:55 I agree about the lighting. I asked them to turn them down one night, and it made a huge difference. But the next night, it was back to Walmart lighting. —CraigBrozinsky
2005-11-19 11:43:55 I've been to the new Little Prague bar several times and enjoyed it. However, tonight I was treated extremely rudely by a man that I believe to be the owner. He wanted to "scan" my driver's license in some little machine. I was reluctant to allow him to do so, and asked some questions about the proess first. Like- what kind of information was he gathering about me and what parties would have access to it? This seems like a very reasonable concern to me. He seemed to be indignant about the fact that I would ask anything about this process. He said yes, he would have a list of all the people that attended the bar that night, and that it was somehow for my own safety. In my books, this is a violation of privacy. When I told him that I'd like to pass on the "scan", he said it was optional, but that he also had the option of not serving me. In the end, he told me and my friend to leave the bar. We wanted to wait (without drinking) for a third friend who was joining us but he did not allow it and told us to leave the bar.. escorting us out. What country is this??? Is this 1984??
It was obviously very bright in the bar- so my id could easily be seen. Also- this policy doesn't have anything to do with underage drinkers. I'm in my 30's... and a man next to me who was clearly in his 60's was submitted to the scan. —LindaRummay
The owner was either mistaken or you were. The machine simply reads the magnetic strip on the ID and reports the age. If it's your birthday, it says happy birthday. It does not collect, nor does it have the capacity to collect, any other information. It is simply a tool (and in my opinion an over-relied upon tool) to verify that an ID is genuine. Lots of bars use them. Little Prague is probably being a bit over cautious (and wisely so) about their ID checking policy ever since the Bistro 33 stuff went down.
It sounds to me like you're being a bit paranoid, by the way. Any time you give your ID to someone, or use a credit card (they scan that in a little machine too!), they have access to a boatload of information about you.—JeffSpeckles 2005-11-20 13:17:43
Are you certain that Little Prague's specific scanner only does what you say, or are you generalizing based on other machines you've encountered? A cursory google search brings up plenty of scanners capable of retaining info. Also, collecting personal info isn't permissible simply because other businesses do it to. There's a lot more information available on a Driver's licence as documented on this article from Wired.com.
You're absolutely right that paying by credit card gives businesses access to personal data, and the easy out there is to pay cash. It didn't sound like Little Prague's owner gave Linda a choice there. He basically said, "let us gather your personal info or get out." I applaud her for refusing— think about how much less spam (e-mail, phone, and snail-mail) people would get if they refused to give personal info, used bugmenot, or used Rob Cockerham's method to keep Safeway from keeping tabs on you. CraigBrozinsky
I saw the guy at the ABC meeting just last night, where he had brought the scanner. It just scans the age, that's it. Like I said, it's unreliable as a verifier of an ID. You can lift a mag stripe or alter it yourself. The ABC lady told him this, so hopefully he stops using it in the future. —JeffSpeckles 2005-11-22 18:16:46
The issue isn't what the scanner does or doesn't record. The problem is that Linda was treated like a criminal for ASKING some very reasonable questions. I applaud Linda. If there were more like her that didn't put up with their dignity being run over, it would make it better for the rest of us.—SteveDavison
The guy is just being over-cautious about who he serves drinks to, rightfully so. Making sure he doesn't serve a drink to a minor or ABC decoy vs. offending a paranoid lady. Pretty simple decision if you ask me. If you walk into any place and question how they run their operation, you can be sure it won't be met with smiles and charm. —JeffSpeckles
Linda ("paraniod lady" as you call her) wasn't questioning how they run their operation; she was questioning how they use her personal information. Considering the dangers of identity theft, it's a pretty simple decision if you ask me. —SteveDavison
Most times that I've encountered the DL swipe at popular establishments that serve alcohol, it's usually so they can ding people who have been banned. If the person is banned, they can flag their ID. The machine doesn't have to decode or connect to any database, it merely reads the info on the card and compares it against an internal list. They are very commonly used for that purpose on the East coast, where bouncers tend to bounce more people. —jw
2005-11-23 10:44:24 It's a transaction. Transactions, by, nature, involve the cooperation of two parties. Basically, Linda initiated the transaction by walking into the bar (or up to the bouncer, or whatever). He asked for authorization to complete the transaction (eg. letting her in the bar) in the form of an ID. Linda, through 10 years or so of experience, expects a simple ID check, he instead prepares to scan her ID, possibly collecting personal information for an unknown purpose. This wasn't part of the expected transaction, so Linda asked the other party to explain what was going to happen with *her personal information*. Legitimate, don't you think? —DomenicSantangelo
She wasn't asked to leave for being inquisitive. The transaction wasn't agreed upon by Linda, and she was aked to leave for that reason. I don't see how that is treating someone like a criminal. Restaurants/bars are free to make up their own policies regarding ID checking to ensure the proper distribution of alcohol, so long as those policies are not discriminatory. If you are uncomfortable with that policy, you are free to leave, and they are free to ask you to. They seem busy enough that most people don't mind. Again, if someone was truly intent on stealing your identity, they could do it with a simple ID check as well, which each and everyone of you gladly submits to. —JeffSpeckles
She did say it was "very bright" and that her ID could easily be read manually if it was about checking age. She also pointed out that a 60-year old was asked to be scanned too. They told her they were creating a list of everyone who attended the bar. So the facts given indicate this has "nothing to do with age verification". Also, she portrays this as not being a normal give-take transaction, but a more abusive "my way or else" transaction. Transactions are not always done on equal or sincere basis. This isn't the kind of treatment one expects from a "restaurant/bakery/coffeehouse". —SteveDavison
(Great links, Craig, especially the wired.com article.) I agree that the main point here is not whether or not the device collects information. At the very least, the owner (or manager?) should have fully explained to me what information would be collected and what would be done with it, and reassured me about what would not be done with it. However, I did see the name-brand on the scanner: "id e". I found the following on the about the "id e" on tricomcard.com: "Do you own a bar, security company, nightclub, convenience store or restaurant? Our unit can be used many ways; age verification, record data, use for compliance, use as a deterrent, send out mailers to your customers, use our unit portable, stand alone, or connect it to your existing P.O.S system." —LindaRummay 2005-11-23 23:00:15
Waa, waa, waa. "violation of privacy", "what country is this", "is this 1984"? If you think getting your ID swiped by a bar is oppression, more power to you. Watch out for the black helicopters. For what it's worth there is much more sensitive information on your ID that is not available from the magnetic strip, but can be gleaned simply by looking at it. Your driver's license number is an obvious one. Not so obvious—what DMV you obtained the ID at, the date you obtained it, whether or not you are a foreign national. Food for thought. —JeffSpeckles
Do you realize what an ignoramus you sound like? First, your implied point that privacy isn't something worth worrying about is. . . well, ignorant. Privacy is important, and impacts us in more ways than you realize. And while the additional information on the face of a CDL might not be obvious to the majority of us, that's a red herring. Which poses a greater threat to aggregate privacy? The ability to collect the names and addresses of 1,000 people per hour, or the ability to collect more detailed information about 30 people an hour? Unless you're taking a hi-res photo of the front of the ID, you're writing the information down (hence ~30 people/hour). The greater threat to privacy is clear. Food for thought. -DomenicSantangelo
Probably not half as ignorant as the people (yourself included!) who haven't seen the scanner in question, held it in their hand, swiped an ID through it, and talked to the owner about its operation. We do like to spout off on the wiki about things we have no experience with!
Regarding privacy, I at no point meant to imply that privacy is not important. My point was that if someone was that concerned about their privacy perhaps they shouldn't be handing over an ID in the first place, or be confident enough in their safeguards against identity theft (PO Box, fraud protection, etc.) that they don't need to worry. Since ID scanners are becoming more and more common in the industry, I again bring up the example of credit cards—nowadays, it would be silly to ask someone what they're doing with the information when they run a credit card through a little scanner and what information it compiles. "Well, we just take down your name, CC# and expiration date" No chance of privacy invasion there, right? "But it's so much more EFFICIENT!", you say. The efficiency of identity theft is hardly a concern to the person who has their identity stolen. I say protect yourself as best you can so you don't have to create imaginary boogeymen like the bartender at Little Prague.
By the way, Domenic, oh hallowed guardian of privacy, why do you post a picture of your CDL with your real name on the internet for all to see if it is such cherished information? Oh, you've done a fantastic job of blurring out your address. I guess you don't live on Sycamore Ln anymore. That way no one can (gasp!) mail you a letter. I'm guessing you got that spiffy new ID just this week, right after the 2005 holidays. Am I right? How are the lines at the Davis DMV mid-December? —JeffSpeckles
2005-12-12 13:29:46 The food is good, but beware of the specials as they have special prices as well...we were pretty shocked by the bill (I found it rude that they didn't specify it when we ordered) —GilCo
- For better or worse, that's normal at "fancy" restaurants. They do not specify prices unless you ask, when they verbally tell you the specials. I find it annoying, but am never surprised by the practice since it is so widespread— this is certainly not specific to Little Prague.
2005-12-22 21:56:13 Fuck these assholes and their scanners. Did this guy get busted for serving too many teeny boppers alcohol and E? —ApolloStumpy
2006-01-06 13:31:26 Nope. Little Prague hasn't been busted. If they keep relying on the scanner as their ID check they will be eventually though. —JeffSpeckles
