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> That said, it also isn't clear to me how money laundering can work if everyone suspects it at your business!

The huge wave of "American Candy" stores in the UK are apparently being investigated: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61777445

In that case, the alleged fraud relates to business rates (effectively property taxes). If it was empty, the landlord would have to pay them. If there's a business there, the business is liable .. unless, of course, it simply runs for a while and then vanishes.

There’s a bank near me. It is open usual hours but nobody seems to go there other than employees. Nobody goes through the drive through, nobody in visitor parking, ever.

When I used to work late at night I would drive by there would sometimes be people inside scurrying about.

It has been open for nearly 20 years like this.

Many people don't know this but a bank's primary business is lending, not borrowing. It's totally possible that it was a bank that did almost exclusively commercial loans and didn't have any retail savings/checking accounts.

A bank seems like one of the worst businesses to operate as a money laundering front. They are subject to a lot of disclosures and reviews other companies aren't.

That's what I figured too. There's just too much potential disclosure and so on.

Rando store would seem to be the best option.

I guess unless you're HSBC :)

There are also many banks that specialize in lending and borrowing in really large quantities.

One of those can keep an store open with no visible movement but still highly profitable.

> late at night I would drive by there would sometimes be people inside scurrying about

Sounds like the cleaners.

A couple of months ago I went with a friend of mine to get a kebab in a place we haden't been before. It was a very large restaurant in an important street of town, and yet it was mostly empty and the kebab was very below average. There were also people talking at a large table and constantly getting food without even ordering.

First thing I said to my friend was: "Yep, sure as hell they're getting the money from somewhere else"

I encountered something similar to this a long time ago in NYC. My friend who keeps tropical fish invited me to tag along with him shopping for interesting new additions to his tank.

We visited a couple in Chinatown that were striking similar to your Czech restaurant: employees kind of surprised to see someone come in the door, one operational fish tank with one or two fish in it amidst a large wall of empty tanks, comically outrageous over the top nobody-would-ever-pay-that-ever-ever prices. Figured it must have been some flavor of money laundering, but it also seemed... too obvious?

There used to be a popular teriyaki place in Seattle that I frequented. Nicknamed "scary terri" because the neighborhood was [still is] notorious for street crime and the clientele were weird. It was always crowded though, the food was cheap and good. It wouldn't seem like a money laundering business by the standard of "but nobody eats here".

Turns out the owner was a fence, buying and selling stolen goods. The police busted them a few years back.

This one? https://spdblotter.seattle.gov/2015/04/17/detectives-service...

"Scary" indeed: look at that health inspector report...

That's the one. It might not have been very healthy but it tasted pretty good.

I think this is quite common. Either money laundering or a legitimate front for something else. There was a very good Bosnian restaurant in my town about 15 to 20 years ago, but there was only one waiter, who may also have been the cook, and one half of the restaurant was always slightly darker and always had people who clearly "belonged there" sitting at a table in the corner. Perhaps I'm being unfair and it was just a gathering place for the local community and they decided to make a little money off of it as long as they had it, but it always gave me a weird vibe. In a different town I lived in there was an African restaurant that was never open, but always had two or three people in it drinking coffee. It was there for years and I never once saw it open or empty.

Austrian here. In my experience, good Bohemien food is hard to come by outside of where it's customary. Even in joints that don't seem to be money laundering.

I've had a similar experience with fellow classmates at a small osteria in Vienna we used to frequent when skipping English classes. But the food was actually decent and very cheap. But we never saw any other patrons.

True, but if you find yourself in La Paz, Bolivia, visit restaurant Vienna. It's been a few years since I've been, but the food was excellent as was selection of dishes, some of which I haven't had/seen since my childhood (I'm Slovenian).

I'm more Slovak than Czech but I'd be interested in knowing what the good Chicagoland Czech places are.

So, I actually have somewhat devastating news on this front :(. The issue is that all of these restaurants were owned and operated by old families and their clientele were mostly older people... so this entire community of interest is slowly dying (figuratively for sure; but also quite literately).

My family's favorite restaurant growing up was Riverside Family Restaurant. I was back home recently, and intended to have dinner there, but hadn't realized they had closed back in 2019.

https://www.rblandmark.com/2019/04/09/riverside-restaurant-o...

> “Most of the recipes were basically personal recipes, and some were fine-tuned, but the basic were always there,” Stanga said. “We still cook, we make the dumplings. So maybe that’s why we were around for so long. I think we tie people to their roots.”

Then Little Bohemia closed in early 2020 (before the pandemic, FWIW).

https://www.rblandmark.com/2020/01/21/riversides-restaurant-...

> Riverside Restaurant closed and now Little Bohemia. If you notice, they were both restaurants that served Bohemian/Czech food. Good comfort food. At present I can count more good ethnic Bohemian restaurants that have left the area than still remain. Of course who could forget Czech Lodge in North Riverside? A bit fancier than the usual. You could go up and down Cermak Road to satisfy your cravings.

> Luckily Czech Plaza in Berwyn and Klas in Cicero, both on Cermak Road are still open. In Stickney there is Josie’s. In Westchester, I’ve been told, there is a good place to go — or if you want to take a ride, go to Crystal Palace in Westmont. So there are still places to go, but I liked having them here. I’m starting to whine and that’s not good!

But they are wrong about Klas: it closed in 2016.

https://news.wttw.com/2021/07/29/ask-geoffrey-cicero-s-klas-...

> A connecting line – literally – for all these communities was 22nd Street, known today as Cermak Road.

> The street is named for Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, himself a Czech immigrant who served only two years in office in the early 1930s.

> Klas ultimately closed its doors in 2016 mostly for financial and operational reasons, although many hope not for the last time – more on that in a minute. ... As for the Klas Restaurant today, it’s currently unoccupied and not in great shape. ... Their goal is to turn the building into a museum of Czech history, as well as a bar and event space.

They probably just kept hearing about it as there is that campaign to rejuvenate it?

https://www.wbez.org/stories/whats-that-building-the-klas-re...

> In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chicago was a powerful magnet attracting Eastern European immigrants. One of the most colorful remnants of that era sits at 5734 W. Cermak Road in Cicero. Currently closed and moldering, an organized effort is trying to save it, and possibly transition it into a memorable place for immigrants from all parts of the world.

> Klas Restaurant has been vacant since it closed about five years ago. From the street, an exuberant exterior of half timbers, carved stone, wooden shutters and metal spires is still an eye-catching presence.

And then Czech Plaza closed in late 2020, now dealing with the post-COVID restaurant landscape.

https://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=45872

> Czech Plaza has announced it is closing at the end of December 2020. Really a sad situation, they were done in by the pandemic. They were also not able to really get in on the outdoor dining thing in the summer because they lacked space and are located on busy Cermak Road. The owner of the building (not the owner of the restaurant) is trying to sell it. So we have lost both Little Bohemia and the Riverside Restaurant, both in Riverside over the past few years, as well of course as Klas.

> What's left? Well Bohemian Crystal in Westmont seems to be open, as well as the Westchester Inn, and the McCook Bohemian Restaurant. If anyone ventures to go to these, I would check first as restaurants seem to close abruptly sometimes, change hours or their menus, or they are only doing carry out business now, although some are defying the Governor's orders and allowing in house dining. There is also Cafe Prague, in the city, but it does not look like they have much Czech food on the menu. If anyone else knows of a Czech restaurant in Chicagoland, please post here. Some may say the Golden Pheasant in Elmhurst, and the Bavarian Lodge in Lisle but I'm not sure these are really on point for Czech Food.

I am assuming the aforementioned "Crystal Palace" is the "Bohemian Crystal", which is the other restaurant my family would go to if and only if Riverside was closed. However, it is currently for sale, so I guess get it while the gettin's good? :(

https://old.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/ktw7jp/czech_plaza...

> Back on August of 2020, Bohemian Crystal was listed for sale on Zillow. I just checked the link once again and found this info:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/639-Blackhawk-Dr-Westmont...

> Redevelopment opportunity directly across the street from the new FMC Natatorium at Ty Warner Park development. The existing 6,371 square foot free-standing building sits on 1.45 acres located just off the busy Ogden Ave commercial corridor with a traffic count of 32,000 vehicles per day. Currently operated as a successful restaurant with multiple dining rooms, large fully equipped kitchen and bar. The existing building sits on an expansive lot with 84 surface parking spots. Surrounded by high-end car dealerships including McGrath Acura/Lexus of Westmont, Laurel BMW of Westmont, Infiniti of Clarendon Hills, Audi Westmont, Mercedes-Benz of Westmont and Napleton Westmont Porsche. Across the street from Standard Market gourmet grocery store. Convenient access from both Kingery Highway (Rt 83) and the Tri-State Tollway (I-294). Perfect redevelopment opportunity. Land is being sold with existing restaurant and all the equipment and fixtures. DO NOT DISTURB EXISTING BUSINESS.

(early edit:) Oh... and it is now listed as "Contingent" (I did all of this research back in April); if it already was then I didn't know what that meant at the time, but if the new owner isn't intending to keep a similar restaurant running--which I presume is unlikely, as it was listed as a "redevelopment opportunity"--then the Bohemian Crystal is about to go on the pile of dead restaurants :(.

(later edit:) And now tptacek noted below that they have actually announced that they will be closing soon :(. I am adding a quote of that letter here, for completeness.

http://www.bohemiancrystal.net/

> Dear Customers,

> With huge regret we have to inform you that after 41 years in business we are closing our restaurant, Bohemian Crystal. Our last day will be Sunday October, 2nd.

> We would like to thank to all our customers for their long term loyalty and friendship.

> Please, come to visit us before the front doors of our restaurant will be closed for good.

> Your Bohemian Crystal Restaurant Team

For my dinner in April, I started having to dig more deeply, trying to find ones I hadn't heard of before, and it just got more depressing.

https://old.reddit.com/r/ChicagoSuburbs/comments/bs59oe/favo...

> I frequently visited Bohemian Crystal in Westmont. Never had a bad meal in the five years I ate there. Westchester Inn is also on the list of my favorites.

> Seems like these kind of restaurants are slowly dying in the Chicago area. Muldau's in Brookfield is closed along with Chauteau Rose and Klaus restaurants once located in Cicero.

So that leaves only the Westchester Inn, the Bohemian Crystal (for now), and McCook Bohemian Family Restaurant & Lounge. The former two are closed on Monday, and I happened to be in town on a Monday, so I tried to go to McCook... and there was a handwritten special sign on the door saying they were closed for the day :(.

I ended up finding a place a very short drive away from there on Yelp which shockingly sold fruit dumplings (and seemed to be a Czech place generally)... but the reason they were confusing was because they were a really a catering outfit which also sold some frozen food, not a restaurant where I could get something to eat.

The (Czech) owner there told me to go to McCook, as they should be open; but when I told her they were closed for the day she got this super defeated look on her face as she sighed "of course" and then started going on a sad rant about how all of the Czech restaurants were gone.

She listed the couple others I knew, noting they were closed on Monday, and then mentioned the existence a fourth one I didn't know of which was also closed on Monday and Tuesday (but she couldn't remember the name, so I don't know what it was).

(final edit:) That fourth restaurant is probably Cafe Prague, which was mentioned earlier in a quote as "in the city, but it does not look like they have much Czech food on the menu". I checked, and they are, in fact, closed on both Monday and Tuesday. FWIW, their "Czech Specialties" menu is complete enough? (They don't have fruit dumplings, though, which I personally find very sad.)

My (Polish) friend and I ended up going to... Texas Roadhouse :/.

But so, there are still a handful of places that might be open if it isn't Monday. It isn't, though, the vibrant community it once was, back when I would hear people say "Czech-ago" :(.

Well, this is an amazing comment that I didn't super enjoy reading. And it looks like Bohemian Crystal has announced their closing as well:

https://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=45872

LTH seems to think Westchester Inn is still going strong. I'll have to hit it up. I've been to Prague a couple times and remember enjoying the food (I need more rose hips in my diet).

:( After posting, I re-checked that listing on Zillow--as I had done all of this research back in April--and saw it is now marked as "Contingent", but I hadn't thought to search to see if they had already announced anything. That's sad... I am now seriously considering flying out to Chicago next week to frequent there until they close.

The bottom of that thread also mentions Café Prague a lot... I realized that that was likely the fourth restaurant mentioned by the owner of the catering outfit (as the hours check out, being closed on both Monday and Tuesday). Their Czech menu is a subset of their full menu, but is way more complete than anywhere I have so far found in the US outside of Chicagoland and is frankly competitive with McCook.

So, I guess that means we are down to three remaining restaurants, with Westchester Inn being the only one that still has fruit dumplings (boiled, not fried), which I have found to be extremely difficult to find anywhere... I went to a town in Texas that is 90% Czech and, while people knew of and loved fruit dumplings, they didn't know of anywhere locally that had them :(. (I ended up not even managing to get Czech food in that town, due to conflicts with the opening hours.)

> That said, it also isn't clear to me how money laundering can work if everyone suspects it at your business!

Did you report this suspicion to any authority? Your answer should be there.

And proving it in court is hard work, and probably low down the list of attack surfaces your average organized crime syndicate has. Plus criminals are perfectly capable of running moderately-successful businesses and just inflating takings, and genuine restaurant owners are perfectly capable of running places that are only ever full at peak times and with bookings (or are on their way to bankruptcy)

Yet this is merely presumed, stated as fact. You may be right, yet...

Right or wrong, such reasoning means that you and others wave away reporting. And without any indication anything is wrong, the police may never know, never investigate.

Thus, the abridgement of process means failure is guaranteed.

Proving it in court becomes easier if you have more reports from patrons.

Good luck trying to convict people of serious crime based on a handful of people testifying they visited a restaurant and it was empty!

What report? I went to this restaurant and it wasn't busy? That is not a report, that is just conjecture. If a DA went to a judge with that as the evidence for a warrant, they'd be insulted and embarrassed by the judge.

It’s just conjecture but if there’s already an ongoing investigation it could help.

You can report stuff to the FBI and they will ignore most of it.

The FBI really doesn't want your garbage reports about random restaurants unless there's actual evidence of a federal crime. They're overworked as it is.

> That said, it also isn't clear to me how money laundering can work if everyone suspects it at your business!

You know, I've never had one of those microwave Velveeta Mac and Cheese cups. But I bet they're pretty good, in terms of guilty pleasures.

Not that I don't want authentic meals and experiences of course.

This is one of the funniest things I’ve read on HN in a long time, thank you!