Restaurants have always had a short shelf life in New York.
But even in today’s frat bar-happy, quasi-Bridge and Tunnel East Village, some old-school eateries are still drawing crowds.
From the January 1986 issue of local arts newspaper the East Village Eye comes this ad for Life Cafe—once a refuge for the bloody and battered who were caught up in the Tompkins Square Park riots of the late 1980s.
I never knew Yaffa Cafe had a slogan. But here it is in their ad from the same newspaper.
Tags: Avenue B, East Village in the 1980s, East Village restaurants, Life Cafe, New York City in the 1980s, Tompkins Square Park riots, Yaffa Cafe
Ephemeral New York 
August 4, 2010 at 5:31 pm |
[…] 1980s ads for Life Cafe and Yaffa Cafe in the East Village Eye [Ephemeral NY] […]
August 4, 2010 at 7:24 pm |
i ate in the yaffa a few times. once the dish was taking forever so i asked about it and was told “a glass broke and the pieces went in your order, so we had to make another one.” i appreciated that!
August 5, 2010 at 12:34 am |
I remember Life Cafe and Yaffa Cafe since the 1980’s–still great–love the tofu scramble at Life and the crepes at Yaffa.
August 6, 2010 at 7:36 pm |
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/realestate/08scapes.html?_r=1&hp
Maaaaayyyybe an interesting ephemeral new york post?
August 6, 2010 at 8:24 pm |
Oh yeah, I read that this morning, it’s fascinating. The Times covers it better than I ever could, but here’s a little more on Colonnade Row and a cool 19th century photo:
https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/2008/06/08/new-yorks-most-elegant-address-in-1833/