Learn Hardcore Hungarian: A város központjában ez a kávézó a legjobb, ezért sokan jönnek ide. - In the city centre this café is the best, so many people come here.

Hungarian usually drops the 3rd person present of the copula van in equational/adjectival sentences. So you say Ez a kávézó a legjobb (literally “This café the best”), not “van a legjobb.”

You do use van to state existence or location: A kávézó a központban van.
In the negative of this kind of predicate, van is still omitted: Ez a kávézó nem a legjobb.
For negative existence/location, use nincs/nincsenek: A kávézó nincs a központban.

Why is there an article before the superlative: “a legjobb”?

With superlatives, Hungarian normally uses the definite article a/az, both attributively and predicatively:

Predicate: Ez a kávézó a legjobb.
Attributive: a legjobb kávézó Leaving the article off sounds ungrammatical in neutral prose; you’ll mainly see it dropped in headlines/slogans. Also note the adverb form: legjobban (“the best/most well” as an adverb), e.g., Ő fut legjobban.

What does “A város központjában” literally mean, and how is “központjában” formed?

Literally: “in the city’s center.”

város = city (with article A)
központ = center
-ja/-je = 3rd person possessive on the possessed noun → központja = “its center”
-ban/-ben = inessive case “in” → központjában = “in its center” So: A város központjában = “in the city’s center.” You can also say the longer but common variant a városnak a központjában (with -nak/-nek). The j in -ja/-je is part of the possessive suffix, not a mere “linking letter.”

Why is it -ban (központjában) and not -ben?

Vowel harmony: words containing any back vowel (a, á, o, ó, u, ú) take back-vowel suffixes like -ban. központja has back vowels (o, a), so -ban is used: központjában.
By contrast, a front-vowel word takes -ben, e.g., szívben (“in [the] heart”), but házban (“in [the] house”) takes -ban.

Why “ez a kávézó” and not “ez kávézó” or “ez az kávézó”?

Hungarian demonstratives are normally used together with the definite article:

Singular: ez a
- consonant-initial noun (e.g., ez a kávézó), ez az
  - vowel-initial noun (e.g., ez az étterem)
Plural: ezek a kávézók Saying ez kávézó is only possible in a classificatory sense (“This is a café”), not as “this café.” Also, you can’t say ez az kávézó before a consonant; az appears only before vowel-initial nouns.

Can I reorder the sentence? Does the meaning change?

Yes; Hungarian word order is flexible and reflects topic/emphasis.

A város központjában ez a kávézó a legjobb (as for the city center, this café is the best) – the location is topicalized.
Ez a kávézó a legjobb a város központjában – slightly more neutral, the location follows the predicate.
A város központjában a legjobb ez a kávézó – emphasizes that among the cafés in the center, this one is the best. All are acceptable; the first foregrounds the location as the frame/topic.

Why is it “ide” and not “itt” after “jönnek”?

Hungarian distinguishes motion vs. location:

ide = “to here” (motion toward here)
itt = “here” (static location) Since jönni = “to come” implies motion, you need ide: sokan jönnek ide. For a static statement you’d use itt: Sokan vannak itt (“Many people are here”).

Can I say “sok ember jön ide” instead of “sokan jönnek ide”? And what’s the difference between “sok,” “sokan,” “sokak,” and “sokat”?

sok = “many/much” as a quantifier before a noun: sok ember jön ide (“many people come here”).
sokan = pronominal “many (people)” used as subject: Sokan jönnek ide. Very natural and common.
sokak = “of many people,” used with postpositions/cases: Sokak szerint (“according to many”), sokaknak tetszik (“many people like it”).
sokat = “a lot/much” (adverbial/accusative): Sokat eszik (“he eats a lot”), Sokat jár ide (“he comes here a lot”). For frequency, sokszor = “many times”: Sokszor jön ide.

Why is there a comma before “ezért”? Is it required?

Yes, typically. ezért (“therefore/that’s why”) connects two independent clauses, and Hungarian punctuation normally uses a comma before it:

… a legjobb, ezért sokan jönnek ide. You could also write two sentences (… a legjobb. Ezért sokan…) or use a semicolon. To express the cause directly, you can use mert (“because”): Sokan jönnek ide, mert ez a kávézó a legjobb.

Where can “ezért” go in the clause?

Common placements:

Clause-initial: Ezért sokan jönnek ide. (default)
Before the verb (with something topical in front): Sokan ezért jönnek ide.
After the topic but before the verb: Ide ezért jönnek sokan. All are acceptable; moving ezért changes what is foregrounded (reason, place, or subject), but the causal meaning stays.

If I want to stress the destination “here,” can I say “Ezért ide jönnek sokan”?

Yes. Putting ide immediately before the verb jönnek focuses the destination: Ezért ide jönnek sokan (nem oda). Other focusable variants exist, e.g., Ezért sokan ide jönnek, but the strongest focus position is directly before the finite verb.

What’s the difference between “kávézó” and “kávéház”?

kávézó: modern “coffee shop/café,” often smaller, casual.
kávéház: traditional “coffeehouse,” evokes a classic, sometimes larger, old-world style. Both are understood; the nuance is cultural/ stylistic.

Could I say “A városközpontban” instead of “A város központjában”? What about “belvárosban”?

Yes:

A városközpontban uses the compound noun “city center.”
A belvárosban ≈ “in the downtown/inner city.” All are natural; A város központjában is a possessive construction (“in the city’s center”), while városközpont and belváros are lexicalized place names.

Why “jönnek” (plural) and not “jön” (singular) with “sokan”? Could I use “járnak” instead of “jönnek”?

sokan is a plural subject (“many people”), so the verb agrees: jönnek.
járnak implies habitual/regular visits: Sokan járnak ide = “Many people come here regularly.” jönnek can be neutral or refer to a specific occasion/context.

Do we need the initial article in “A város központjában”? Can we drop it?

In normal sentences you keep it: A város központjában. Dropping A would sound telegraphic. You might omit it in headlines or notes, or you can avoid the possessive structure by using the compound: Városközpontban (no article needed).

What’s the difference between “ezért” and “azért” here?

ezért = “for this reason/therefore,” referring to what was just said: Ez a kávézó a legjobb, ezért sokan jönnek ide.
azért … mert … forms a correlative pair: Azért jönnek ide, mert ez a kávézó a legjobb. (“They come here because this café is the best.”) So use ezért to point back to a stated cause; use azért … mert … to build a “because” clause explicitly.