9. The Odeon, Tribeca

Photo via Delia Cabe courtesy of The Odeon

Although Tribeca is now filled with Art Deco relics and historical landmarks that have attracted celebrities from across the world, when The Odeon was first starting out, Tribeca was a seedy part of town to say the least. Or as Cabe writes, parallel to the history of Tribeca itself,  The Odeon, “had none of the cachet it has today,” when it opened in 1980. However, just two months after it opened, the American-French bistro was awarded 2 out of 4 stars by The New York Times, which officially put it on the map. Just like that, The Odeon, again like Tribeca, became somewhat of a hodgepodge melting pot for creatives from all groups, including celebrities such as Madonna and Cher, artists Basquiat and Warhol. Of course, the most important to The Odeon’s history was perhaps Jay McInerney, who used the bar as somewhat of a mascot for his classic novel Bright Lights, Big City. 

Cabe describes walking into The Odeon today like “walking into a preserved time capsule. Decades after its opening, it feels as if it has been there forever,” she writes. This includes several of the original Art Deco pieces of the restaurant (the walls, columns, terrazzo floor) with all new additions done in a way that feels truly authentic to the Art Deco aesthetic. Therefore, although contemporary visitors to The Odeon can’t throw them back with Basquiat until 4 a.m. anymore, the restaurant (closing at the more conventional midnight on most nights) still evokes the same feelings of creative energy it had at its inception.

Signature drink(s): The Cosmopolitan (which it claims to have been the originator of in 1988) and its more modern counterpart, a Ginger Martini