A fun little bit of news out of the beautiful city of Prague today...
The first Burger King (BKC:NYSE) will open in Prague in the next few months. And it's not only targeting the Czech Repbulic. It wants to become number one in European markets. To do that, it's already got operations in Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary, and it planning joints in Slovakia and Slovenia.
But it's got tough competition from McDonald's (MCD:NYSE), who is top dog right now with 70 restaurants serving 53 million customers. It's spent more than $172.2 million on restaurants in the Czech Republic.
When I was in Budapest, I grabbed a Whopper for a quick lunch before meeting my guide back at the hotel, Buro Panzio. It cost me 750 Forint, which is about $3.75 or so, and the place was packed. My last night in Budapest, I hit the town with some new friends, and ended up back at BK for a late-night snack. It was still packed, and one young, drunk, teenager was thrown out for misbehaving and bothering the customers.
It's not your traditional Hungarian restaurant, of course. BK doesn't have goulash on the menu... But I'd had goulash in nearly every country I'd been to on that trip, including the absolutely stunning Hungarian goulash at a nice little pub on the pedestrian Vaci utca.
Simply, the best.
So what's my opinion of international fast-food joints in gorgeous old towns?
I don't have a problem with it, so long as it blends... I mean, seriously, you don't really want to go to the Astronomical Clock in Prague and see those nuclear-yellow glowing golden arches in the background, do you? It would spoil the picture.
Starbucks has a place right off the Old Town Square. You wouldn't know it but for the sign in the window. Blends right in. (By the way, I slipped in to use their bathroom, and it was really dirty. But it was free...)
So with demand on the rise - the Czech Republic is estimated to have about 13,000 food stalls and restaurants in the country - people will have to make room at the table for fast-food companies.
