Fear of Corner Bistro Closing Appears To Be Unfounded
The iconic bar, famed for its burgers that the New York Times once called the best in the city, is still in business despite sightings of papered-over windows in recent days that alarmed some loyal customers. A brief shut down last week was just so new flooring could be installed.
| 17 Jul 2024 | 04:20
The iconic West Village bar, famous for serving beers and burgers, is still in business despite rumors of closure. (
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West Village pedestrians noticed papered-over windows on the restaurant’s facade and deduced it must be closing for good. But Straus News found that was happily not the case. (
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Rumors swirled last week that the landmark West Village establishment Corner Bistro on the corner of West Fourth and Jane St. was shutting its doors for good, much to the dismay of tourists and locals alike who have frequented the bar since 1961.
Alarmed passerbys reported paper covering the windows and mistook simple renovations for permanent closure.
“We just shut down to redo the floors,” bartender Matt told Straus News. He has worked at the restaurant since mid-April and was peacefully folding napkins as a single patron sat at the bar with a beer and a burger.
“The floor used to be the wood you see back there,” said Matt, pointing toward the restaurant’s other room.
“Now it’s tile.”
It’s safe to say the only thing that’s changed about the iconic West Village bar is the new flooring.
The establishment has a long and fabled history dating back to the early 1900s when the building was home to a rooming house that operated a small restaurant on the ground floor. When the rooming house eventually went out of business, the owners maintained the restaurant and bar.
Eventually, Prohibition sequestered the bar to the back, where an illegal speakeasy operated. To cover this part of the business, the owners decided to turn the entry room into a butcher shop.
Once Prohibition ended, the business was sold to a local ward heeler named Barney McNichol, who ran his bar “Barney’s” on the corner into the 1950s. It eventually went under and was sold yet again to the Frisco brothers, who aptly opened Frisco’s–a bar for gay men that was later raided and shut down by NYPD Public Morals Squad. Apparently, the Frisco brothers refused to pay protection money to the Mob, who commanded the city’s gay bars, and thus their business also went under.
Given the NYPD raid, it was unclear if the storied spot on West Fourth and Jane Street would regain its liquor license and open again. Thankfully, a local writer and friend of Nelson Rockefeller, Tania Gomez, wanted to turn the closed venue into a French restaurant and was able to secure a license after all. She named her new establishment the Corner Bistro, so everyone could find it, and supplied the iconic orange neon sign that sits above the bar’s entrance to this day.
Her ownership ended relatively quickly, and the bar was sold to Bill O’Donnell, who remained the owner until he died in 2016. He devised the joint’s famous burger, keeping it upon securing ownership of the establishment because it was the restaurant’s easiest and most popular option. His daughter Elizabeth inherited ownership.
All in all, the iconic West Village spot can endure a hell of a lot more than some papered-up windows. It isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.