(212) 254-3706

115 Macdougal St (Btwn Bleecker and W. 3rd Sts)
New York, NY 10012 40.72999 -74.000499

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Neighborhoods: Greenwich Village, Downtown

CAFEWHA.COM

Years in business

Established in 1960

Hours:

Sun, Tue-Thu 8:30pm-2:30am

Mon 9pm-2:30am

Fri-Sat 8:30pm-4am

Last updated 8.14.11

Category:

Bars & Clubs, Restaurants, Musical Entertainers

Payment Methods:

American Express, Visa, MasterCard

Restaurant Special Features:

Bar Menu

Cuisine:

Middle Eastern

Bar & Club Type of Music:

Reggae, Funk, Soul & R&B, Rock & Pop

Bar & Club Special Features:

Live Music

What People Are Saying About Cafe Wha?

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

The Scene – Back in the '60s, the likes of Hendrix and Dylan played here before they were famous. These days, a youthful mix of students and tourists dances in the aisles to the sounds of the Cafe Wha Band, which pumps out high-energy, workman-like covers of everything from the Beatles to Marley. Low ceilings and tables crammed close to the stage make for a cramped, intense atmosphere. – – The Draw – The house band is in residence from Wednesday to Friday; Mondays play host to one of the city's more popular Brazilian nights, Tuesdays a funk band takes over and…

Editor's Tips

When to Go:
Get here before 10pm on weekends. The good seats fill up fast, and so does the line around the block.
Save Money:
There's no cover on Wednesdays. On Mondays and Tuesdays, it's $10; Thursdays, $5; Fridays, $12 and Saturdays, $15.
ambiance
97.55000114440918% positive
  1. Great great great music, fun crowd, good service, and etc etc... where is there a place like this in LA?
  2. The live band is so much fun, they can impersonate any type of music genre.
  3. Musics good and crowd is fun, but when u cant move or dance, it gets lame really fast!
  4. highly recommend this place to anyone who is looking for great music and fun, but don't attend if you hate dancing, because here, you just can't help yourself.
  5. Go here for a girls night out- or for a fist date- actually it's great for first dates- very lively, sing-a-long music and great atmosphere that will get chemistry going.
  6. The atmosphere is always in party mode and the band and it's memebers are awesome!
  7. My fiance recommended this place because he thought it would be a fun place to go with my 8 friends for my bachlorette party.
  8. My fiance recommended this place because he thought it would be a fun place to go with my 8 friends for my bachelorette party.
  9. The atmosphere is fun and full of energy, leave your inhibitions at the door go in and have a great time - I think it's impossible NOT to have a good time at Cafe Wha.
  10. love cafe wha, it is the most fun i have when i go out and hope that it never chages
  11. stopped in one night by chance and was such a great time that have brought many friends back weekly- is always fun, music great- luv variety of talent in C. Wha band- elan n jason win best vocals hands down- finally found a spot lacking in pretentious cro
  12. It is also a great place to take people from out of town since it is so much fun!
  13. it's a great place to have fun and listen to the best music in town.
  14. is a great place to relax, unwind, and have fun.
  15. best value and NYC fun
  16. It is the perfect place to go when you just want to have fun.
  17. The atmosphere is fun and the location attracts a great crowd.
  18. Sure there's a bit of a cruise ship atmosphere (as someone stated below) but it's a FUN & entertaining vibe if you go in there knowing what to expect.
  19. Great Ambiance great house band and a lot of fun packed in a small cozy space
  20. The atmosphere is just fantastic and people here all have a good time regardless of the day.
  21. The bands interpretations were fun & upbeat (Was that "Dueling Banjos" on guitar and bass?)
  22. The atmosphere is just fantastic.
  23. The bands(because I've heard all three of them) are excellent quality musicians and they are alot of fun.
  24. If your looking for a quite spot with romantic music dont go.
  25. Great bands, fun to dance, sing along.
  26. This is a place to have fun, good drinks and music from one of the best live bands in New York!
  27. is an exciting, high energy pased atmosphere where the food is good and the music is great.
  28. The music is great and very fun!
  29. The band was really fun and seemed to enjoy interacting with the crowd.
  30. the band seem to genuinely have fun on stage which translates to great entertainment for the audience.
  31. I've lived in New York for three years, and I had kind of given up on finding any really fun place to see live music.
  32. Drinks were a tad steep, but all in all I really enjoyed the music and the atmosphere.
  33. Great music and the most important thing: You can see that the people on stage are having fun!
  34. The atmosphere is capturing, and its created by the amazing group of musicians that are on stage.
drinks
96.30000114440918% positive
  1. The drinks are reasonable and the food is great.
  2. Slightly overpriced drinks buts that the norm.
  3. The music is so diverse and the drinks are good.
  4. this one of the bar that have more beutiful girls, and the band is one of the best in new your city, and the food is good, every Wednesday and Sunday there are the best.
  5. The drinks were very good and not as expensive as you would expect from NYC.
  6. The drinks and food is decent, but the performers are just so good!
  7. best damn band, bar none
  8. You want to have a night filled with great music, great dancing, great drinks, and great food?
  9. the music is great and the drinks are fantastic.
  10. This is the best bar, with the best music I have ever been to.
  11. This is a place to have fun, good drinks and music from one of the best live bands in New York!
  12. the best music, the best band, the best drinks.
  13. drinks are reasonable and the vibe is always easy.
  14. If you enjoy a variety of popular music, sweet & strong mixed drinks, munchie food, & gorgeous men whose smiles make you melt.
  15. This bar is without a doubt the best place to listen and dance to a great live band.
  16. The best bar in town
  17. The food and drink was affordable.
  18. Good mix from classic rock to reggae, and great value at only $12 plus one drink.
  19. cafe wha is the best bar in the whole city.
  20. The vibe in the place is energetic, the food and drinks are good and the crowd is quite friendly.
  21. Service was good, drinks were small and pricey.
  22. The band, the audience, the service, the drinks was fantastic.
  23. You can't go wrong when you have a great band, great service, great drinks and food, plus a great crowd.
  24. The charismatic band alone is worth the trip but throw in the good food, cheap drinks and the rare friendly wait staff, what else can you ask for.
  25. Good music, good food, good drinks.
  26. If they had treated me respectfully and used some good business sense, I would have had my coffee at the table with my friends and spent about $30.
  27. IF you can get seating, you can order your drinks at your table while the waiters/resses wait on you as they do at the comedy clubs.
food quality
100.0% positive
  1. You want to have a night filled with great music, great dancing, great drinks, and great food?
  2. You can't go wrong when you have a great band, great service, great drinks and food, plus a great crowd.
  3. The drinks are reasonable and the food is great.
  4. is an exciting, high energy pased atmosphere where the food is good and the music is great.
  5. the food is really good, the sangria is tasty and so are some of the band members!
  6. Looking for a good time, good music, lovely food.
  7. this one of the bar that have more beutiful girls, and the band is one of the best in new your city, and the food is good, every Wednesday and Sunday there are the best.
  8. The food is good and the band is out of this world!
  9. The drinks and food is decent, but the performers are just so good!
  10. The vibe in the place is energetic, the food and drinks are good and the crowd is quite friendly.
  11. Great wings and the Whachos are to die for!
  12. The charismatic band alone is worth the trip but throw in the good food, cheap drinks and the rare friendly wait staff, what else can you ask for.
  13. Good music, good food, good drinks.
  14. If you enjoy a variety of popular music, sweet & strong mixed drinks, munchie food, & gorgeous men whose smiles make you melt.
  15. The food and drink was affordable.
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. If you enjoy a variety of popular music, sweet & strong mixed drinks, munchie food, & gorgeous men whose smiles make you melt.
  2. Not only were they talented, they played a wide variety of music that was just bumpin'--people were dancing and just having a great time~
  3. They play a great variety of song, some of which sound better then the original performances.
  4. stopped in one night by chance and was such a great time that have brought many friends back weekly- is always fun, music great- luv variety of talent in C. Wha band- elan n jason win best vocals hands down- finally found a spot lacking in pretentious cro
  5. The music is so diverse and the drinks are good.
overall
100.0% positive
  1. best place in town
  2. Make sure you get there early though to get a pretty good place to sit - gets crowded and FAST.
  3. On Mondays they usually have live brazilian music and, being that I am from Brazil, I must say it is the best place to listen to some good brazilian music outside of Brazil!
  4. best place in town!
  5. Had a great time in a great place.
  6. the best place to be in new year eve i will be there with all my best friends
  7. Cafe Wha is the best place in the Big Apple.
  8. by far the ABSOLUTE best place to go to hear some AWESOME live music.
  9. but on the other hand, it is also a great place to dance, get wound up, and party!
  10. is the best place to take out of town guests or your local friends for a good time.
  11. It is the best place in the entire world for a good night out.
  12. It's just the best place in New York!
  13. What a great place.
  14. Great great great music, fun crowd, good service, and etc etc... where is there a place like this in LA?
  15. Wha wha wha what a great place
  16. cafe wha is a great place, there is no second place for the best place to hang in the city, CAFE WHA, the peoples choice!
  17. only comes in second to Manny's car wash (which closed down) so that is why it is now the best place for live music!
  18. Its a nice place where you can bring a date or group of friends to enjoy live music.
  19. is the best place to go, if you want to spend a night with friends, singing, dancing.
  20. the best place for livemusic in Manhattan, New York City
  21. We love live music, and this is a pretty good place to go.
  22. Fabulous music and great people~* Came in from SF and I must say, my most attractive date took me to this place and I had a great time!
  23. Just a great place to hang at, and now beeing back in Sweden I miss it soooo much, hope to be back soon and for sure go dancing, moving and groving to the music at Cafe Wha?
  24. This bar is without a doubt the best place to listen and dance to a great live band.
  25. It is also a great place to take people from out of town since it is so much fun!
  26. is a great place to relax, unwind, and have fun.
  27. it's a great place to have fun and listen to the best music in town.
return potential
75.0% positive
  1. wouldn't return and definitely wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.
  2. will definitely go back again and again, it is an awsome place with some of the most talented people I have heard in a long time.
  3. Just a great place to hang at, and now beeing back in Sweden I miss it soooo much, hope to be back soon and for sure go dancing, moving and groving to the music at Cafe Wha?
  4. will always drop by everytime I come back to the big apple!
service
84.09000396728516% positive
  1. It is also a great place to take people from out of town since it is so much fun!
  2. The staff is great and they let you make reservations for large partys.
  3. loved the different races of people that were present and it definitely felt like one big melting pot.
  4. Fabulous music and great people~* Came in from SF and I must say, my most attractive date took me to this place and I had a great time!
  5. It's really great, some waitress is really worst, but it's fine.
  6. Great music and the most important thing: You can see that the people on stage are having fun!
  7. Some clubs will offer a Tourist friendly atmoshere.
  8. I've met some great people there and made some new friends for life.
  9. Brian stepped up to the mike and sang a stunning rendition of "She's Always A Woman" by Billy Joel, with a sexy, rock twisted voice that the crowd loved, and people were dancing in the aisles to James Brown tunes!
  10. It is a unique, friendly environment.
  11. Very expensive for mediocre music and shockingly rude staff.
  12. The music was great as were the people working there.
  13. The band, the audience, the service, the drinks was fantastic.
  14. Great music, great dancing, gorgeous women, and the service is always top notch.
  15. The charismatic band alone is worth the trip but throw in the good food, cheap drinks and the rare friendly wait staff, what else can you ask for.
  16. Not only were they talented, they played a wide variety of music that was just bumpin'--people were dancing and just having a great time~
  17. But peole are very friendly, even the waitresses that have to go trough all these excited, dancing and celebrating people!
  18. will definitely go back again and again, it is an awsome place with some of the most talented people I have heard in a long time.
  19. IF you can get seating, you can order your drinks at your table while the waiters/resses wait on you as they do at the comedy clubs.
  20. The service was good.
  21. You can't go wrong when you have a great band, great service, great drinks and food, plus a great crowd.
  22. oh & a mix of friendly patrons from all over the world, you will love Cafe Wha?
  23. -band understands what people likes to listen to.
  24. Compared to all other nightclubs where they play techno and stuff, these people play GOOD music to dance, sing along or just listen to.
  25. Also Jennifer is the best waitress ever - EVER.
  26. The server we had was attentive and friendly.
  27. Village 9/27: Rude staff and extremely mediocre (and weird) band.
  28. But, the combination of poor management and poor customer service put a damper on the evening.
  29. the only thing is that the service is a little slow.
  30. We sang along with the band all night long and the service was prompt even when the place was full.
  31. it was sunday night and the house band played amazing tunes from rock and roll to reggae and R & B we were treated very kindly by all staff members and specially by the manager on duty Anthony and the server Jonathan
  32. And I love the my waitress never fails to ensure that no one at the table is driving.
  33. But, and I cannot emphasize this enough, the service is HORRIBLE.
  34. Great great great music, fun crowd, good service, and etc etc... where is there a place like this in LA?
  35. Got great seats next to the stage and had a wonderful time with our waitress.
  36. The atmosphere is just fantastic and people here all have a good time regardless of the day.
  37. The bands are always fantastic, and the servers I get there are always very friendly.
  38. Great band, respectful waiting staff, great crowd.
  39. The music is just great, people are friendly and the music band is perfect!
  40. Our waitress was really nice and very helpful-even though it was PACKED she still made sure we were ok and had everything.
  41. The band is great, the people are great, the service is good.
  42. The energy of the people there were amazing, you'd even want to dance to the music because it was so good.
  43. The vibe in the place is energetic, the food and drinks are good and the crowd is quite friendly.
  44. Good music, great waitresses, Best Bands.
value
84.61999893188477% positive
  1. has the best band you will ever see so it is with out a doubt worth the trip to go.
  2. The drinks were very good and not as expensive as you would expect from NYC.
  3. The Cafe Wha had a great run, but at those prices and no more band I don't think it's really worth it anymore.
  4. The food and drink was affordable.
  5. Service was good, drinks were small and pricey.
  6. we felt that this was the best night we had for a long time and surprisingly the prices are reasonable (if not cheap)
  7. Good mix from classic rock to reggae, and great value at only $12 plus one drink.
  8. best value and NYC fun
  9. not too expensive and a great live band rippin' all night long.
  10. Very expensive for mediocre music and shockingly rude staff.
  11. But definitely an awesome place worth checkin out at least once!
  12. Slightly overpriced drinks buts that the norm.
  13. The charismatic band alone is worth the trip but throw in the good food, cheap drinks and the rare friendly wait staff, what else can you ask for.
wait time
71.4300012588501% positive
  1. Band has got to be the best live band I have heard in a long time!
  2. will definitely go back again and again, it is an awsome place with some of the most talented people I have heard in a long time.
  3. We sang along with the band all night long and the service was prompt even when the place was full.
  4. not too expensive and a great live band rippin' all night long.
  5. the only thing is that the service is a little slow.
  6. we felt that this was the best night we had for a long time and surprisingly the prices are reasonable (if not cheap)
  7. Go here for a girls night out- or for a fist date- actually it's great for first dates- very lively, sing-a-long music and great atmosphere that will get chemistry going.
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

10/24/11

If You like Live Music and Entertaining Show

by Vanessanicole

I love Cafe Wha, another great place to go is The Griffin NYC to Michael Fredo's Wednesday night party. They have a great show and an open bar from 8-9:30. Free admission too. Michael Fredo with The Benny Reid Orchestra is a great Jazz/ Ratpack show.

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

09/24/10

Must-Go for Visitors and New Yorkers alike

by CraigSmalls2010

I'm a native New Yorker, and recently started going to the Cafe Wha? and now I'm hooked! Their house band is phenomenal, and they play all different sorts of music. By far, the best house band I've seen in the city. Whether you are just visiting or have been around a while, you've gotta check this place out, it always makes for a great night with friends

4 Star Rating: Recommended

09/04/10

Exciting and fun Live Band performance!

by Athena Chang , Citysearch Contributor

Cafe Wha? delivers the Wow effect. It seems like a tourist trap but if Bob Dylan used to play here, I have to visit this indie band mecca.

I came here on a Tuesday night so it was not too overly crowded nor did they charge cover although there is a 2 drink minimum.

The band they had that night was real amazing. Everybody in the band can sing. They know how to work the audience too. There was not a single down moment.

Drinks are a little expensive for what it is but I guess you are paying really for the live performance and the fun atmosphere.

3 Star Rating: Average

03/14/10

Good and Bad

by Johns22332

We love live music, and this is a pretty good place to go. On the night we went (a Thursday) the band was pretty good, but looked a little unhappy. A couple of the singers were really good. Service was atrocious.

  • Pros: Nice intimate room
  • Cons: Horrible service
3 Star Rating: Average

01/04/10

The band was really good.

by msdecember

We heard many good things about Cafe Wha? from family who goes there often.. I'm not really a fan of live music from house bands doing covers so it never was on the top of my list of places to visit. The decision maker was really their website advertisement of Sunday having no cover.. Having trekked all the way from Jersey on one of the coldest nights ever.. we decided to still go in after we were told it was $10 a head to enter due to it being a holiday weekend.. (whatever, dude.. it was freakin January 3!!!)... (add that onto the 2 drink minimum per person).. I was a bit bummed at first but after deciding to make the most of it (that and the stiff martinis I ordered).. I ended up actually enjoying myself. The band was really great and made the evening cool.

  • Pros: Great band, strong martinis, history
  • Cons: So very overpriced, misleading on cover charges, very tight

The Details on Cafe Wha?

Place Categories:

  • best place
  • great music
  • good mixed drinks
  • best great live music
  • love cafe wha
  • good lovely food
  • great fun crowd
  • good service
  • fun atmosphere
  • great better people
  • recommend great show
  • really nice my waitress
  • awesome lead singers
  • terrific quality musicians
  • nice spot
  • poor customer service
  • not too low acoustics
  • great dancing
  • great good comedian
  • best experience
  • mediocre loud music
  • fun vibe
  • best bar
  • best house band
  • great live band

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