Showing posts with label Corner Bistro. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corner Bistro. Show all posts

Monday, August 18, 2025

We talked with the owner of Corner Bistro about what to expect from the East Village outpost

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

The East Village location of the West Village standby Corner Bistro is expected to open on Sixth Street and Avenue A sometime in September. (First reported here.) 

On Saturday, we met with owner Elizabeth McGrath, who has been busy preparing the space — inside and out.
She cleared up one mystery. Out front, she's the one maintaining and redoing the tree bed (noted here and here), planting a curly willow she raised from a sprout along with evergreens, and building a wooden planter. 

She also reached out to artist Ian Dave Knife about the crocodile tree trunk. With his permission, she plans to add a plaque and care for the piece going forward.
McGrath, who is also a sculptor, has been hands-on with the renovation — polishing acid-etched windows, scrubbing away graffiti, and painting the temporary "Corner Bistro coming soon" signage herself. 

Her husband, artist and muralist Donald "Don" McGrath, is painting a cherry blossom mural outside. (Don is a former SNL artist who worked on Robert Smigel's "TV Funhouse" and "The Dana Carvey Show.")
Corner Bistro opened in 1961 on West Fourth Street in the West Village. Elizabeth — daughter of Corner Bistro's original owners, Bill and Lorraine O'Donnell — took over the business in 2015. 

The space 
The restaurant will have two entrances: the Avenue A side will lead into the bar, and a new Sixth Street door will open into the dining area. 

There is also a small, separate space, officially 501 E. Sixth St., that is for lease.
Inside, there's a new white oak bar, black-and-white tiled floors in the bar area, sanded wood planks in the dining room, and copper, tin, and mirror accents. (The interior isn't quite ready for more photos.)
Seating will include a banquette in the back, a large round table up front, smaller rounds, and two-tops. Downstairs will be used for storage. Bathrooms and the bar are ADA-compliant. 

"The new bistro will pay attention to history, but it cannot replicate the original Bistro," she said, mentioning that Yoko Ono once waited tables there. 

The menu 
Like the West Village original, the East Village Corner Bistro will serve its well-known burger. This location has a kitchen, allowing McGrath to add menu items like meatloaf, chopped steak with onions, a mushroom burger, and a brunch service. 

Coffee will come from Aldo's Coffee on Long Island, which will also be sold by the pound. 

Other details 
The bar-restaurant has a full liquor license until 4 a.m. daily (a temporary license will be in place until the permanent one arrives). 

Elizabeth McGrath said she wants the restaurant to honor the building's history and preserve the East Village character.

The retail space was once home to Sidewalk, the restaurant, bar, and live music venue — and host of the Antifolk Festival — that closed in February 2019 after a 34-year run. 
McGrath, who lives on Long Island with Don and a farm full of animals (dogs, horses, sheep, a donkey, chickens), said she looks forward to getting to know her EV neighbors. 

"The East Village has a great vibe, and lots of dogs. We're dog people," she said. "We loved getting to know our neighbors at Boris & Horton [the dog cafe at 195 Avenue A] and are interested in maybe having an adoption event."

Monday, August 11, 2025

A look at the coming-soon Corner Bistro

Photos by Stacie Joy 

In late July, someone wrote "Corner Bistro Coming Soon" in green paint on the windows at the currently vacant 94-96 Avenue A at Sixth Street. This likely was not the official coming soon signage the business had planned.
Anyway, the West Village burger institute is opening an outpost in the East Village, as we first noted here

We've been waiting to get more information on timing, etc. However, we haven't heard back from ownership or the attorney who represented Corner Bistro during the May Community Board 3 meeting. CB3 signed off on the liquor license application in May

There is also a public notice on the door for a 500-foot hearing with the State Liquor Authority (SLA) dated Aug. 1.
According to the SLA website, the license remains pending...
To date, we haven't seen much activity from the storefronts, which housed the sports bar Offside Tavern until late last year. Before that, August Laura had a brief run beginning in October 2019 but faced a stop-start schedule during the pandemic and finally closed in December 2021. 

The address is best known as the longtime home of Sidewalk — the restaurant, bar, and live music venue (and host of the Antifolk Festival) that closed in February 2019 after a 34-year run. 

Corner Bistro opened in 1961 on West Fourth Street in the West Village. Elizabeth McGrath — daughter of Corner Bistro's original owners, Bill and Lorraine O'Donnell — took over the business in 2015. 

This wouldn't be the burger institution's first time branching out. Corner Bistro opened a location in Long Island City in 2012, which shuttered in 2020 due to pandemic-related pressures. An outpost at the Gotham West Market food hall in Hell's Kitchen also closed in 2020. 

Monday, May 5, 2025

More details emerge on Corner Bistro's proposed East Village location

Photo by Stacie Joy 

As we reported this past Friday, NYC classic Corner Bistro is eyeing an expansion to the East Village. 

There is more information about what to expect at its new outpost, 94 Avenue A at Sixth Street, via the questionnaire now online at the Community Board 3 website. 

The EV Corner Bistro would have daily hours of 11 a.m. to 4 a.m., with 17 tables seating 50 diners. The proposal also shows a 31-foot bar with 15 stools.
Unlike the previous tenants, Corner Bistro only plans to use the ground floor for customers, with the basement reserved for storage and food prep. 

Corner Bistro opened in 1961 on West Fourth Street in the West Village. Elizabeth McGrath — daughter of Corner Bistro's original owners, Bill and Lorraine O'Donnell — took over the business in 2015.
 
This wouldn't be the burger institution's first time branching out. Corner Bistro opened a location in Long Island City in 2012, which shuttered in 2020 due to pandemic-related pressures. An outpost at the Gotham West Market food hall in Hell's Kitchen also closed in 2020. 

The most recent tenant at 94 Avenue A, the sports bar Offside Tavern, closed late last year. Before that, August Laura had a brief run beginning in October 2019 but faced a stop-start schedule during the pandemic and finally closed in December 2021. 

The address is best known as the longtime home of Sidewalk — the restaurant, bar, and live music venue (and host of the Antifolk Festival) that closed in February 2019 after a 34-year run. 

And as we noted in Friday's post, an application doesn't guarantee a concept will move forward — as we saw in December 2023 with the Paulie Gee's outpost that never materialized at 107 First Ave., now home to Adda Indian Canteen (among other examples).

CB3's SLA committee meets next on May 19 at 6:30 p.m.

Friday, May 2, 2025

NYC institution Corner Bistro eyeing an East Village expansion

Photo by Stacie Joy 

An iconic East Village corner space may soon be home to an NYC classic. [Find an update here.]

Reps for Elizabeth McGrath, owner of the decades-spanning Corner Bistro on West Fourth Street, are on this month's Community Board 3 SLA Committee agenda, seeking a liquor license for 94-96 Avenue A at Sixth Street — the onetime home of Sidewalk Cafe.
So far, only the application is on file with CB3. The accompanying questionnaire, which typically offers more insight into an applicant's plans, has not yet been made public. The CB3 SLA Committee is scheduled to meet on May 19. (Keep in mind that an application doesn't guarantee a concept will move forward — as we saw in December 2023 with the Paulie Gee's outpost that never materialized at 107 First Ave.) 

We've reached out to McGrath — daughter of Corner Bistro's original owners, Bill and Lorraine O'Donnell — for more details on the potential expansion. 

This wouldn't be the burger institution's first time branching out. Corner Bistro opened a location in Long Island City in 2012, which shuttered in 2020 due to pandemic-related pressures. An outpost at the Gotham West Market food hall in Hell's Kitchen also closed in 2020. 

The most recent tenant at 94-96 Avenue A, Offside Tavern, closed late last year. Before that, August Laura had a brief run beginning in October 2019 but faced a stop-start schedule during the pandemic and finally closed in December 2021. 

The address is best known as the longtime home of Sidewalk — the restaurant, bar, and live music venue (and host of the Antifolk Festival) that closed in February 2019 after a 34-year run.