City Beautiful BLOG

The famous Bohemian cafes of Greenwich Village were once the heart of New York’s counterculture. These eateries were once frequented by the irreverent cultural icons who shaped American art, literature, and music over food and copious amounts of alcohol.

Chumley’s

86 Bedford St

Chumley’s was established in 1922 by socialist activist Leland Chumley, who transformed a former blacksmith’s shop into a meeting place for the Industrial Workers of the World. During Prohibition, it evolved into a speakeasy that attracted some of the 20th century’s most celebrated writers, including E.E. Cummings, William Faulkner, Eugene O’Neill, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway—earning its reputation as a Village literary landmark.

A passionate lover of literature, Leland Chumley had a tradition: whenever a patron published a new book, he would request the dust jacket and proudly display it on the wall, creating an ever-growing tribute to the writers who drank and created within its walls.

Sadly, Chumley’s has closed its doors.

White Horse Tavern

567 Hudson St

The White Horse Tavern is best known for its role in the Bohemian culture of the 1950s and 1960s when it became a favorite haunt of local writers and artists. Originally opened in 1880 as a longshoremen’s bar, it was transformed into a literary hub after being discovered by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

Incidentally, he made the place infamous when he drank himself to death, beating his own personal record by downing eighteen shots of whiskey. Dylan Thomas’ portraits line the Tavern’s walls, while a plaque above the bar commemorates his last fatal visit.

The White Horse Tavern became a regular gathering place for literary heavyweights like James Baldwin, Norman Mailer, and Anais Nin, as well as a drinking spot for Beat writers like Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. The latter was asked to leave the establishment more than once, a sentiment immortalized by the words scrawled on the bathroom wall: “JACK GO HOME!”

Minetta Tavern

113 MacDougal St

The famed Minetta Tavern opened its doors in 1937 and quickly became the local hangout for writers and poets. Literary greats such as Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, Eugene O’Neill, E.E. Cummings, Dylan Thomas, and the eccentric Joe Gould were all known to frequent the Tavern, turning it into a kind of unofficial clubhouse for the Village’s creative elite.

The Tavern preserved its look with dark wood, checkerboard tiled floors, and caricature-lined walls, but these days, it’s a fancy restaurant the Bohemians would have never been able to afford.

Cafe Dante

79-81 MacDougal St

Café Dante first opened its doors in 1915 as a local Italian restaurant popular with new Italian immigrants. By the 1970s, it had become a beloved neighborhood spot—drawing both locals and celebrities seeking a taste of authentic Italy. Al Pacino, Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, Jerry Seinfeld, and Bob Dylan were just a few of the famous faces who passed through.

The walls of Caffe Dante are lined with photographs of the eclectic cast of characters who have graced its space. From Bohemian-era writers like Anaïs Nin and Ernest Hemingway to countercultural icons like Robert Mapplethorpe and Patti Smith, the café has long been a magnet for creative souls.

Golden Swan

314 West 11th Street

The original Golden Swan opened around the turn of the 20th century at the corner of West 4th Street and Sixth Avenue. For nearly 50 years, it served as a haven for poets, playwrights, the West Village’s bohemians, Irish street gangs and Ashcan artists. Its doors closed in the 1920s, a casualty of Prohibition, and the building was later demolished to make way for the West 4th Street subway station. Today, its memory is preserved in the tiny Golden Swan Garden, located on the site of the original saloon.

The Golden Swan was depicted in a painting by John Sloan and ispired Eugene O’Neill’s Harry Hope’s saloon in The Iceman Cometh. Both Sloan and O’Neill were loyal patrons—so much so that they were once considered as much a part of the bar as the stools they occasionally slept on.

Now, the Golden Swan moved to its new beautiful location at 314 West 11th Street. While its original walls are gone, its spirit lives on.

The Olive Tree Cafe/Comedy Cellar

117 MacDougal St

The Comedy Cellar dubbed the “Harvard of comedy clubs,” has been a cornerstone of New York’s stand-up scene since its founding in 1982. The intimate club is famed not only for its stellar lineups but also for launching the careers of some of comedy’s biggest names. The Comedy Cellar features a showcase-style structure: each show includes five to seven comedians performing tight sets of 10 to 15 minutes, keeping energy high and surprises constant.

Many comedy legends got their start here, including Louis C.K., Dave Chappelle, Amy Schumer, Colin Quinn, Jon Stewart, Kevin Hart, and Ray Romano. It has also welcomed icons like Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, and Robin Williams.

Directly above the club is The Olive Tree Café, a Village staple known for its Mediterranean fare, cozy chalkboard tabletops, and silent Chaplin films playing on a loop. After the show, it’s where comics often gather—cracking jokes off-stage over late-night hummus and fries.

Cafe Wha?

115 MacDougal St

Café Wha? is a Greenwich Village mainstay with one of the most colorful histories in New York. Opened in 1959 in a former horse stable, the basement space coffeehouse was the place to smoke, sip espresso, and debate Sartre.

It soon evolved into a performance venue and comedy club, becoming a launchpad for folk singers, artists, beat poets, rock musicians, and comedians—many of whom rose to stardom. Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, Bill Cosby, and Richard Pryor all took early turns on its stage. Mary Travers—before she became the “Mary” of Peter, Paul and Mary—waitressed there.

Bob Dylan made his New York debut here on January 24, 1961, after hitchhiking cross-country from the Midwest. His first regular gig was as a daytime backup harmonica player.

In the mid-1960s, Jimi Hendrix fronted a band called the Blue Flames, playing five sets a night, sometimes six nights a week, for tips.

For two months in 1967, a young Bruce Springsteen played afternoon sets at the club with his first band, the Castiles.

Today, Café Wha? remains a beloved Village venue known for its vibrant and eclectic music calendar. Its guiding principle endures: whatever the style or genre, great music, and true talent always shine.

North Square/Washington Square Hotel

103 Waverly Pl

The North Square shares its fame with the Washington Square Hotel, which has welcomed American icons for over a century.

In April 1918, a young and dashing Ernest Hemingway arrived in Greenwich Village. He stayed at the Washington Square Hotel for three weeks before shipping off to serve in World War I.

Welsh poet Dylan Thomas checked in during his first U.S. tour in the 1950s, drawn to the hotel’s proximity to his favorite Greenwich Village bars.

Bob Dylan stayed at the hotel twice—first in 1961, then again in 1964, when he shared Room 305 with Joan Baez.

In 1963, newlyweds Michelle and John Phillips lived at the Washington Square Hotel, where they co-wrote California Dreamin’. That bitterly cold winter and her homesickness for California inspired the iconic song.

When the Rolling Stones arrived in New York for their first U.S. tour in 1964, the hotel became their home base.

There were many others but one of the most revered guests was the rock & roll legend Chuck Berry who chose the Washington Square Hotel as the place to stay in New York in the 1970s.