Le Figaro Café 184 Bleecker St. (@ MacDougal St.)
Greenwich Village
212.677.1100
Le Figaro Café:
Unlike most cafes, Le Figaro features brilliant white light shining down from interrogation-style bare-bulb fixtures overhead. The torturous illumination is effective—the patrons talk as if their lives depend on it. Clips from Paris’ Le Figaro newspaper serves as wallpaper, which gives the impression that this place is in the process of being painted. Le Figaro gets packed on weekends, so you may find yourself drinking a $3.50 Warsteiner next to hysterical English tourists or wheeler-dealer entrepreneurial types who lack the gift of voice control. Have a burger, grilled salmon ($13.50), or better yet, a jumbo cafe latte ($3.50) and cheesecake ($4.75). Then bolt.
