Dante NYC
Italian restaurant · Greenwich Village
79-81 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012
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Highlights
Legendary circa-1915 cafe serving small plates & cocktails
Legendary circa-1915 cafe serving small plates & cocktails
"Dante is known for serving some of the best cocktails in town. Enjoy them in their cozy but crowded first floor or enter Dante's Inferno in the basement." - Y7K
"In 2015 the Australian couple transformed Caffe Dante (79-81 MacDougal Street) from what was at the time a 100-year-old institution facing closure, anchoring their long-running presence in the West Village." - Emma Orlow
"If you drink at a bar because you like the food, that sounds reasonable. But how often do you go to a restaurant just for the drinks? Elegant as it is, with its candlelit brick and bouncy banquettes, Dante is an oddball. Functionally, it’s a restaurant—mostly table seating, Italian-ish brunch and dinner menus—but the undisputed draw is the cocktail list. Established in 1915 as Caffé Dante, but under new management since 2015, the place has become an essential stop for dates, tourists, Negroni fanatics, and anyone who’d like to watch a bartender tweeze coffee beans onto an espresso martini as if they’re highly combustible. photo credit: Steve Freihon photo credit: Steve Freihon photo credit: Steve Freihon Pause Unmute This Greenwich Village spot, which also has a West Village location, deserves modern-classic status for the sheer volume and refinement of their cocktails alone. There’s a dedicated Negroni menu, a spritz menu, and a martini menu, among others. You could argue the house martini is a little wet for the current moment, but the vermouth service and Garibaldi with its frothy OJ have entered the city’s cocktail pantheon. The thing is, if you reserve a table, you’ll have to order food. (Walk-ins aren’t required to, but those seats are much harder to come by.) Even if it’s entirely unnecessary, we admire Dante’s commitment to trying to get you to eat between spritzes. Play along, and snack on a flatbread with salty cheese and pancetta, or try some orecchiette with big kernels of sausage. The food is very decent, almost noteworthy. But Dante will always be a drinks-first place. Food Rundown Negroni Dante is to Negronis what Joe’s is to pizza. The house one, which is kept on tap, has a strong bitter kick. If you need something milder, try the chocolate version topped with grated Valrhona. photo credit: Steve Freihon Vermouth Service This stemmed glass of chilled vermouth has a splash of sparkling water and one of the most iconic cocktail garnishes in NYC: a few frozen grapes. photo credit: Steve Freihon Orecchiette Dante has no business making such good pasta. This one arrives steaming and dusted with cheese, with crunchy broccolini and large crumbles of sausage. 12 Oz Veal Parmigiana Who’s ordering the $60 veal parm at Dante? We’d rather spend the money on a few house sazeracs and a fluffy margarita royale, but there is plenty to like about this dish. It’s big enough to split, with a minimal layer of tomato sauce and an abundance of shaved parm." - Bryan Kim
"Dante is one of those restaurants we never stop sending people to. An early-in-the-game drinks date that could turn into dinner? An easy big group dinner? You’re wandering around Soho or Greenwich Village and kind of want to drink a negroni and eat some burrata outside? Dante works for all of them. The setup here is sidewalk seating, but the chairs face out in that way that’s extremely pleasant and vaguely European-feeling." - katherine lewin, hillary reinsberg
"If you manage to get into Dante, you’d be remiss to focus only on the drinks. This historic bar attracts a fashionable crowd, and there's almost always a long wait, but the quality of the food and drinks holds up to the hype. The tiramisu here is excellent, and just a little sweet. They also work with Caffe Panna to create a rotating selection of exclusive ice cream flavors. Yeah, you’ll still have to wait in a line for them, but at least you’re waiting in line for ice cream and Dante at the same time." - carina finn koeppicus
