Dante has occupied 79 MacDougal Street since 1915, when it opened as a caffe serving Italian immigrants in a Greenwich Village still becoming itself. For a century it was a neighbourhood institution before Linden Pride and Nathalie Hudson transformed it in 2015 into an aperitivo temple that honours the caffe's Italian roots while building one of the most celebrated cocktail programmes in the world. The Garibaldi — Campari and fresh-squeezed orange juice, fluffy with air, bright as a Roman sunset — became a signature that launched a thousand imitations. The Negroni variations are textbook. The spritzes are calibrated to the millilitre. And the sidewalk tables on MacDougal still feel like an Italian piazza, which is exactly what Dante has always been.
Location
Greenwich Village, New York
Map
Insider Intel
The Garibaldi — Campari and fluffy orange juice, the drink that made Dante famous in its current incarnation. A Negroni from the variations menu, which rotates seasonally and is consistently among the best in the city. The Martini, built with quiet authority. An Aperol Spritz on the sidewalk in warm weather, because MacDougal Street deserves it.
Afternoon from 2pm for the Italian caffe experience — espresso shifting to aperitivo as the light changes. The sidewalk tables on MacDougal are prime real estate from May through October. Evening for the full cocktail programme. Brunch on weekends is excellent and less crowded than dinner service.
79 MacDougal Street, Greenwich Village. West 4th Street station (A/B/C/D/E/F/M). Cocktails $18-22. Reservations accepted for dinner; the bar is walk-in. Named World's Best Bar in 2019. The sidewalk seating is first come, first served and worth the wait. Cards accepted. The building has housed a bar or caffe continuously since 1915.