Do you eat and drink in Brno.
A few of us are coming to Brno next month looking for beers by Minipivovars.
We know about Pegas Hostinský Pivovar, Jakubská 4.
Where else is good to eat and drink near(ish) the centre.
We do not want English named pubs, such as Sherlock Holmes Pub, Kings Head Pub.
We want to find local Pivovars who sell local (Cz) pivo. You must know those hidden gems.
And eating places that are not touristy, but serve local food at local prices. What do you think of Restauraces such as U Jošta, Krušovická %26amp; U Lucerny.
What%26#39;s your favourite food %26#39;n%26#39; drink (pivo) place, please tell me...
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Well there is the Starobrno brewery itself on Mendlovo náměstí, which has a beerhall, a restaurant and a large beer garden in front.
U lucerny is OK, but if you go up Veveří street a bit to Smetanova street there are some good places such as 4 Roses (Čtyří růže) - open all night and sells the best barbequed spare ribs in the world, but you will smell of them afterwards for a week as it is all under the ground :), Jack Daniels is also good and excellent for chilling out in an old cellar bar - full of locals at the weekend.
If you want the real, authentic, experience, then you are not far away either - cross over the main road and walk down Gorkého street. You will reach a small park in a couple of hundred yards (Obilní trh) , and if you are lucky U Čápa (The Stork) will be open on the corner - you can%26#39;t miss it because it has a massive stork on the window. That place hasn%26#39;t changed since about 1965, and neither have the menus, serving staff, prices or clientele :) or you could walk further along that same road, cross over the main road and to Blahovka which is widely recognised as the best pub in the country - it is usually quite busy, but you can take your beers outside if it is warm. They don%26#39;t stand for any nonsense though! bvv.cz/i2000/…
I%26#39;d give U Jošta and Krušovická a miss - there are much better than that.
There are so many very good pubs in Brno that I could fill several pages here, but the above should keep you busy - you won%26#39;t find silly prices like in Prague, unless you go to Sherlock Holmes (which is always empty because it is rubbish and expensive). A half litre should set you back about 20 Crowns, more or less. You also won%26#39;t find anywhere that is touristy, and therefore the food is good and excellent value almost everywhere.
You have to bear in mind that many of the pubs in Brno are under the ground, and almost all of them are small so if there are a lot of you in the party you might have to split up. If you have been to the Czech Republic before you will also know that you can%26#39;t stand up in pubs unless you are just there for a quick pint, and you have to sit at a table - on weekends this can mean going to three or four different places before you get lucky. Pegas is always quite busy, but if you get there early you should be OK. Just a word of warning - if you get drunk (i.e. noisy drunk) anywhere you will be taken away by the police, no questions asked :)
Also remember that the best pubs are not necessarily in the centre - people don%26#39;t go out to the centre in any great numbers of an evening like in the UK as there are better places to go in the suburbs, and most people just go and meet up with thier mates down the local.
If the weather is warm you could go to the lake to the north of the city, where there are a few outside pubs that are open late (nothing fancy, though) - get the number 1 tram from the station (or Mendlovo náměstí) to the stop called Přístaviště and just walk down the road - just follow your nose. It is nice to go there during the day as well, especially when it is warm. There is a pub called U lva (The Lion) which is to be recommended - you need to walk around the right side of the lake, across the dam, for about 1/2 a mile until you reach it on the right side of the road. It is quite a way out of the city, though, so make a day of it.
If you want something a bit more lively there are a couple of good places such as Livingstone on Dominikánské náměstí, or Charlie%26#39;s Hat on Kobližná, which is a little hole in the wall on the street but opens up under the ground into a huge maze of tunnels under the ground full of the beautiful people - careful though - it is EXTREMELY smoky in there.
Walking around on the surface you might think the place is dead at night, but bear the above in mind, i.e. all underground, and most people will be down the local.
Enjoy the city, and do a bit of sightseeing while you are there - there is lots to see http://www.brno.cz/index.php?lan=en
Hope this helps!
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My oh My, what a reply.
I thought I might hear from you GCEK, ha ha.
Thanks for the comprehensive report. Just what I wanted.
I%26#39;ll have to see how much of that we can fit in.
Other places we have planned are: Pivovar Vyškov; U Richarda, Ríšova 12; Kunc Hodonín, Národní třída 10; Budvarka Hodonín. Měšťanská 10, Zámecký pivovar Oslavany, Zámek 1.
I dunno how much time we%26#39;ll have fer sightseeing.
I see that Blahovka (last year%26#39;s PUB winner) was pushed down to 8th place this year.
Thanks for the warning about behaviour. I like to think that we are English Professional Drinkers. We will attempt to talk to waiters and try to chat to the locals. Between us we can cover English, French, German, Spanish languages. We practised last year in and around Prague. On a quiet Sunday afternoon in one little bar, locals were buying us drinks.
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None of those other places that you mention are actually in Brno - they are in Vyškov, Hodonín and Oslavany, respectively, which are a bit of a way out. Except for U Richarda, which I have never been to, but someone just told me that it is a gay pub (not that there%26#39;s anything wrong with that... :) )- but I think that is probably unlikely, as its website indicates that it is an offshoot of the microbrewery in Žebětín. You could even go straight there - bus no. 52 from Mendlovo náměstí, get off at the stop called Ryšova - the bus will say %26#39;zoologická záhrada%26#39; on the front and takes about 20 minutes.
What is the PUB survey? I%26#39;d be interested to see that...
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GCEK, I found the Pilsner Urquell Pub [PUB] info here:
praha.eu/jnp/en/visitors/leisure_activities/…
Thanks for the forewarning about Richarda. We get %26#39;em here in London and Brighton too. But we are old n%26#39; ugly so they prolly won%26#39;t bother us. But as you say seems unlikely. Thanks for the tip about the bus 52 header %26#39;zoologická záhrada%26#39;. That is the exact route we have planned.
Other places in The ERail Guide are Freeland pivnice, Beethovenova 7, what%26#39;s the pivo (Dalešice) like; and Vegas Club Milady Horákové 1. btw we like the black lagers.
And, we have hired a Tram Tour of Brno - out to Lisen - for Sunday morning. That%26#39;ll be fun.
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Vegas - That brings back the memories :) We used to go there a long long time ago but it went out of fashion in about 1995 - I seem to remember that they only had bottled beer only.
Freeland is more of a disco than a pub, but there is a bit of a sitting area. I%26#39;ve only been there once and all I can remember is that the waitresses had natty little yellow mini skirts and it is very small. If you want Dalešice beer then it is much better to go to the Zelená Kočka (Green Cat) on Solniční http://www.zelenakocka.cz/dpr/index.php , just off Česká street past Hotel Avion to the right - they have excellent food there as well.
Here%26#39;s a place that I haven%26#39;t been to for years, but used to be a mainstay of an evening out http://www.hospodyvbrne.cz/traubka - it was fantastic in its heyday - maybe it still is. Looking at these pictures it looks a bit %26#39;posher%26#39; than it once did - the only sign that there was anything there was a little purple light above the door - now there is a whacking great Starobrno sign so you can%26#39;t miss it. Still looks filthy as ever, though :)
Another beer you could try when you are there is Černá Hora - there used to be a great beerhall in the centre where a fight was guaranteed on the next table (join in if you want to) and thousands of beers would be guzzled there hourly - it is now a Mcdonalds, of course. I can only think of a couple of places out of the centre, but there is this one on the main square hospodyvbrne.cz/cerna-hora-namesti-svobody - as it is in the centre, the prices are high - about 28 Crowns (NB non-smoking)
I mentioned U Čápa above - apparently it has closed down :( http://www.hospodyvbrne.cz/u-capa (the comment says: Legendární restaurace je uzavřena, další osud nejistý, štamgasti truchlí - the legendary restaurant is closed, future uncertain, locals are in mourning).
The Veveří Street area is the best place for the most authentic pubs, rather than the centre = here is a list of all the places down there http://www.hospodyvbrne.cz/veveri just stay clear of anywhere with %26#39;Herna%26#39; in the name - they are invariably smoky little sleaze-pits full of fruit machines and dodgy clientele.
You could spend years mapping all the great pubs and the best beers!
What gave you the idea of going to Lišeň, may I ask? Fair enough - a nice little trip, but not the most picturesque part of town (lots of panel buildings), but a nice view of the city, I suppose. A better bet would be to go up to either the lake or somewhere like the Špilberk Castle in the city centre. You say you have a Eurail book - I hope you haven%26#39;t got a Eurail pass for the Czech Republic because it is a LOT cheaper to buy tickets on the day - trains are very cheap in this part of the world!
That%26#39;s enough for now...
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Sorry the ERail guide I referred to is Evan Rail Good Beer Guide to Prague %26amp; Czech Republic, not a Eurail train book, ha ha.
Thanks for the further tips and pub news.
Our main quest is finding rare and quality beers on tap from Minipivovars. We try to avoid the every day popular mass produced factory drinks. If there are Porters and black lagers so much the better.
I dunno why we are going to Lišeň. I am not organising the trip. But the folk I am with are keen steam train enthusiasts. So we know all about cheap train fares. Maybe Lišeň has something to offer them.
Last year in Prague at Billiard centrum, V Cipu 1, off Panska St, we had Černá Hora. Yummy. It would be nice to try that again. We also had Policka at Knihkupectvi a kavarna Rehore Samsy. http://samsa.psomart.cz/home.html
I think you are right about the Veveří Street area being good for authentic pubs. Fortunately that is not too far from where we are staying.
Did the PUB link work for you.
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No steam trains in Líšeň as far as I know ... you get there by tram no. 8, and it is a large panel-type estate …wikimedia.org/wikipedia/…88.jpg
There is a tractor factory as well - Zetor, and I have had a look and yes - there is a tram museum of sorts, but I have no idea how to get there. I think you would have to be quite dedicated :)
Starobrno do a good range of beers http://www.starobrno.cz/produkty/ and you can do a tour of the brewery Monday - Thursday from 8 am to 5.30 pm - you need to book it in advance at exkurze@starobrno.cz - somebody must speak English there. It costs 150 Crowns each and for that you get a tour, beer tasting and a souvenir (probably a glass). They also do some seasonal beers and some special ones, such as Brněnský drak (14°)
Stopkova (the one with the sgrafittoed facade) on Česká has Master on tap, and most places have black beer. If you are in the Veveří area then go to U Kyršů http://restaurace.net/brno/u-kyrsu/ - they have Černá Hora and decent food.
Another beer you could try is Holba - nothing special, but not a commonly found one. The only place that I can think of is what we call %26#39;Holba%26#39; (I%26#39;ve no idea what it%26#39;s real name is), on Drobného street, underneath the Belvedere Hotel - but I wouldn%26#39;t bother going out of your way for that.
Not sure about that PUB guide - it seems to only include Plzeň pubs, and a couple of those are %26quot;Švejk pubs%26quot; - there is one of those in Brno as well, at the top of Česká, which isn%26#39;t bad, actually.
I hope you have got lots of time on your hands - you will need it!
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Don%26#39;t worry about the tram tour - it%26#39;s mainly for the transport enthusiasts in the party.
Is this your Holba place:
Petit Belveder, Drobného 48
http://www.lunchtime.cz/petit-belveder/
restaurace.cz/brno-mesto/petit-belveder.html
Says it%26#39;s a pizza place with Krusovice %26amp; Star piva.
It%26#39;s not too far from where we are staying.
I have located Pivnice Stopkova Plzeňská, Česká 5.
And Restaurace U Kyršů, Minská 2.
As you say it will be a question of time to see what we can fit in - but we have four whole days, ha ha.
GCEK, it is good talking to you.
Thanks for all your help.
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It%26#39;s not the petit Belveder - it is next door to that. I don%26#39;t think it has an entry but it%26#39;s nothing really to write home about.
Enjoy yourselves, and as I say, don%26#39;t miss out on the city%26#39;s sights when you are there (other than the tram museum :) )
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http://www.pivovarcernahora.cz/ Look at this web page. This brewery is not located far from Brno (approximately 25 km, so it takes you 30 minutes to get there by bus). They organize very interesting excursions of the brewery, tasting included :-) You may book the visit via Internet. I live in Brno, I also love beer (like everybody here in the Czech Rep.), so I have visited more breweries and, therefore, I can compare. The visit of Cerna Hora brewery (Cerna Hora means %26quot;Black Hill%26quot; in English) is more intereseting than the visit of Brno brewery (named Starobrno) for sure.
Tomas
P.S. Sorry for my terrible English
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