MiraMira Tours

Cafe Wha?

food drink
© OpenStreetMap © CARTO · OpenFreeMap

Cafe Wha? occupies a low-slung, basement-level space at one hundred fifteen MacDougal Street, marked by a steep staircase descending from the sidewalk into what was once a stable for horses. Manny Roth, an actor and veteran, opened the club in nineteen fifty-nine by hauling in broken marble for the floor and painting the walls black to create a subterranean atmosphere. He called it the swingingest coffee house in Greenwich Village, and the name itself came from the incredulous question, "What?"

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