Tag Archives | makdissi street

Looks like tonight will not witness De Prague’s closure as the owner Raed Habib decided to give the place another shot over the next couple of months following a demonstration that was organized by around 70 of his loyal customers near his house. You can read all about it here.

I never knew the bar meant a lot to so many people. The whole thing makes you wonder if it was a publicity stunt since it got 3 articles on The Daily Star website in a couple of days, and they were overwhelmed with customers today who wanted to say goodbye to the place!

As per this article in The Daily Star yesterday, De Prague will be closing its doors today after 8 years of operating in Hamra.

The reasons of the closure as stated by the bar’s general manager Pascale Azzi are the declining number of customers as well as the smoking ban that was introduced in September last year. Moreover, in a second article published today, the owner Raed Habib added that the bar will also be closing due to the general change of atmosphere in Hamra in addition to the increasing violence incidents in the neighborhood.

These reasons didn’t really make sense to me because the economic recession and the smoking ban are affecting all the shops in Hamra, yet many places like February 30 and Main Street for example are doing pretty well and always seem to be full at night.

What I guess De Prague should have done to stand out from the competition is possibly taking advantage of the relatively large space they have to setup a small stage and host music bands to get more people to come.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure soon enough some investors will be renting the place and starting a new bar to replace De Prague.