Omaha Exploration

Updated: December 15, 2024

Louis Macala was one of around 7,000 Czech immigrants that would settle into an area around 13th and William Street that would become known as Little Bohemia. When he arrived here in 1913, he brought with him his favorite recipes from back home including goulash, svickova and jaeger schnitzel. While many of his countrymen would go to work in the stockyards and meat packing plants in South Omaha, Louis opted to utilize his culinary skills. 

By 1917 he was working as a cook at the popular Calumet Restaurant at 14th and Douglas. Not long after that though he joined the Army where he served as a bugler during World War I from 1917-1919. After returning home, he found work as a waiter and began planning to open a restaurant of his own. He realized his dream in 1924 when he opened a tiny restaurant in the Kopecky Hotel at 1429 S 13th St. 

While operating his restaurant, he married Rose Rehurek in 1930 and started a family with the birth of their daughter Jean in 1932. By 1933 he moved his little restaurant known as Louis Macala Cafe to a former Hinky Dinky at 1256 S 13th St. It was around this time that he began advertising his restaurant as the Bohemian Cafe. There had also been a Holub’s Bohemian Cafe in operation at the NE corner of 16th and William around the same time. 

24 years after he first opened the Bohemian Cafe, he sold it to fellow Czech immigrants Josef and Ann Libor in 1948. Josef was a noted concert pianist, composer and conductor when he lived in Prague. At the restaurant, he would run the cash register and entertain the guests while playing the piano. Ann kept the restaurant running smoothly behind the scenes. She did everything from cooking to waiting on tables to bussing tables and even dishwashing. Louis stayed on as the restaurant’s chef. 

When the Bohemian Savings and Loan building at 1406 S 13th St became available in 1959, they moved the restaurant to the larger space which was the next block over. Its new owners were responsible for the restaurant’s distinctive exterior with its colorful tiles and backlit images of a Bohemian boy and girl. The authentic feel of the restaurant didn’t stop with its food or its exterior. It continued inside of the restaurant with its carpeted floors, polished wood and walls decorated with painted plates and paintings of the Czech countryside and peasants. The entryway and bar featured a large collection of bourbon decanters. The employees even dressed in traditional Czech outfits.

Josef and Ann retired in 1966 at which point daughter-in-law Merta Kapoun took over. By that time the restaurant served as both a community center and melting pot that brought together a diverse range of customers from businessmen working downtown to Italians and Latinos living in the surrounding neighborhoods. Louis Macala, the restaurant’s founder, passed away in 1969.

With the older generation passing away and their children moving further west like much of the city, the old neighborhood slowly began to change. Even so, the Bohemian Cafe remained popular and the only place in town you could get authentic Czech food like boiled beef with dill gravy, liver dumpling soup and czech goulash in an atmosphere that was reminiscent of the motherland. 

The Libor’s children and grandchildren kept the restaurant running even after the death of Josef in 1980 and Ann in 1996. By 2016, however, the current owners had enough. Citing an aging staff, slowing business and competition, they decided to retire. The family had intended to work with prospective buyers for a period of time but after serving hundreds of guests each night for its final 4 1/2 months, they were exhausted and ready to sell. The Bohemian Cafe closed its doors for good in September 2016. 

Afterwards the building was purchased in 2018, it was split into multiple bays which housed Surly Chap Barbers, Fizzy’s Fountain & Liquors and Infusion Little Bohemia Beer Hall which is now Czech Inn which pays tribute to the longtime restaurant.

Please feel free to comment and share your memories. Thank you for following along as I explore Omaha and the surrounding area!

Bonus pics

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