[Photo from May 2013 via Facebook]
An East Village resident passed this item along... thinking that some EVG readers may (or may not!) have an interest in knowing that Cafe Bari has closed on the northwest corner of Spring Street and Broadway.
Here is part of a message posted to the Cafe Bari Facebook page:
In 1993 my father, Bari Omari, opened a business called Cafe Bari, on the corner of Spring St & Broadway, in Soho NY. Today, it is the heart of one of the largest tourist shopping attractions in the world. 21 years ago, this wasn't the case.
Bari Omari was one of the pioneers of Soho.
They closed after service last Saturday. (The letter includes a PS with a hopeful "Who knows, maybe Bari will surprise us & make a comeback one of these days.")
Can't say that we were ever in here (or know a thing about it) ... anyway, there's a rumor that Niketown is taking the space. Which seems about right.
Any EVG reader who would admit to ever setting foot in Soho knows that spots for food and rest are sorely needed there!
ReplyDeleteI lived up the block for a lot more than 21 years, and maybe went into this place twice, if that. It always seemed priced for tourists. So, you don't have to live in the EV to not care.
ReplyDeleteOpened in 1993 and self-described as "pioneer"? Oh please, at that time it was the third or fourth wave of increasingly upscale merchants devouring their predecessors.
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing ! I grew up there so he’s delusional. Lombardi’s is but not cafe Bari 😂
DeleteHeard a different rumor long ago that the entire corner was being targeted for a demo/rebuild/condoscondoscondos
ReplyDeleteI think this is the reteaurant that shared that insanely awesome graffitied hallway with kiosk. which also closed. whatever you think about the businesses,it's a drag to see that hallway go.
ReplyDeleteYeah, a "pioneer of SoHo" that opened in 1993.
ReplyDelete1983, yes. 1973, definitely. 1963, without question.
1993? The place looks like a nicer Au Bon Pain and was probably going for that. 'Never went to this place.
'Know what's a REAL pioneer cafe of SoHo? The Cupping Room.
D
Paper Magazine used to be located in the second floor. My first job in NYC was on Spring @ Lafayette - back when Balthazar was a hassidic wholesale leather merchant and Buffa's was the place to go for cheap eats. Used to see Jonathan Demme, Jim Jaumusch, Thurston & Kim, etc. in there all the time.
ReplyDeleteIs this the restaurant where MTV filmed an episode of Boiling Point featuring Lady Gaga and they threw her salad in the trash when she went upstairs to answer a phone call and she got really pissed off and didn't win the $100 cash prize?
ReplyDelete