Bridge Cafe, Historic restaurant in Lower Manhattan, United States.
Bridge Cafe is a restaurant housed in one of Manhattan's oldest wooden buildings on Water Street, near the Brooklyn Bridge in Lower Manhattan. The interior still has its original pressed-tin ceilings and a traditional wooden bar that run the length of the main room.
The building opened as a drinking establishment in 1794, making it one of the oldest continuously operating food and drink venues in New York City. It survived the Prohibition era and has remained in use ever since, changing hands but keeping the same address.
The Bridge Cafe sits at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and draws visitors looking for a low-key spot away from busier parts of the waterfront. The wooden bar and pressed-tin ceiling give the room a feel that is hard to find elsewhere in the neighborhood today.
The cafe sits close to the base of the Brooklyn Bridge and is easy to reach on foot from the waterfront or nearby neighborhoods. The building is old and the rooms are narrow, so it is worth knowing that space is limited, especially on busier evenings.
The site is one of the very few in Lower Manhattan where food and drink have been served without interruption since the 18th century. Hurricane Sandy flooded the building in 2012 and forced a long closure before it eventually reopened.
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