KGB Bar
Bar · East Village
85 E 4th St, New York, NY 10003
Highlights
Soviet-themed bar hosts readings, live music, and offers strong drinks.
Soviet-themed bar hosts readings, live music, and offers strong drinks.
"This space used to be a Ukrainian social club where communists and socialists would meet. It eventually turned into a vaguely Soviet-themed bar that now draws both brooding grad students and the city’s literati for affordable drinks and a legendary reading series. There are free readings on most nights in the cramped, cool rooms littered with art and propaganda posters. Check the calendar for events, or stop by for cheap drinks before a comedy show at New York Comedy Club next door." - bryan kim, willa moore, will hartman, sonal shah
"Originally a speakeasy owned by mobster Lucky Luciano, KGB Bar opened in 1993 as a Communist-themed bar and literary hangout. The bar (which has its own literary review) hosts free readings, live music in its Red Room, and shadowy figures that appear in the bar’s mirror late at night." - Laine Doss
"So you’ve been reading Roadside Picnic on the train everyday and the brooding bookworm of your dreams still hasn’t appeared to ask you out to peruse Russian sci-fi at The Strand. You can find yourself a literary type who likes cheap drinks and communist relics at KGB Bar. Everyone there is probably too snooty to ever use the phrase “meet cute,” but they’re probably also secretly looking for one, so check the calendar for a night with a book reading you’re into." - bryan kim, matt tervooren, neha talreja
"KGB is a vaguely Soviet-themed dive bar attached to the Kraine Theater, and it’s home to its own active literary scene. There are free readings most nights in the cramped but undeniably charming space, which is littered with art and propaganda posters from the fallen Soviet empire. An homage to the historically Ukrainian neighborhood and hidden social clubs for Ukrainian socialists, this is a fun place to talk to literary types about the last book you read." - neha talreja, carina finn koeppicus, kenny yang, bryan kim
"KGB is a vaguely Soviet-themed dive bar attached to the Kraine Theater, and it’s home to its own active literary scene. There are free readings most nights in the cramped but undeniably charming space, which is littered with art and propaganda posters from the fallen Soviet empire. An homage to the historically Ukrainian neighborhood and hidden social clubs for Ukrainian socialists, this is a fun place to talk to literary types about the last book you read. Despite the theme, KGB doesn’t actually stand for that KGB—it’s named Kraine Gallery Bar, after the owner’s old gallery." - Neha Talreja
