Always Open

Esperanto Café

114 MacDougal St., New York, NY 10012

*** (Worth a Visit)

In the city that never sleeps, Esperanto serves quite well as a café that never shuts. Located in the heart of Greenwich Village, the Bohemian capital of Manhattan in the early 1960s, the café’s interiors reflect an artistic, untraditional aesthetic that actually seems to fit into its infamous surroundings. A wall-hung old bicycle, a piano on its last legs, a rundown sofa, and a telephone booth are cleverly positioned in the café and interspersed with raggedy wooden chairs and tables to give a quite complete feel of a lived-in apartment, charming nevertheless.


If the décor isn’t enough of a reason to go, the café also brews up some good eats and drinks to keep you coming back. Various selections of coffee, paninis, pizza, desserts and more are available at your request. Having spent hours at a time sitting in this café on several occasions myself, I can vouch that one is bound to meet some interesting people as well—from artists, actors, and musicians to students, businessmen, and occasionally hippies. It is quite the fun place to go to if you’re looking to relax or catch up on some people-watching.