La Lanterna di Vittorio

La Lanterna has been a MacDougal Street fixture since 1977, when Carlo "Vittorio" Antonini, a Ligurian sailor turned restaurateur, opened a caffè in the ground floor of an old Village townhouse. The front rooms run on candlelight and working fireplaces in winter; the back opens into a covered garden room that stays green year-round. The menu is simple — thin pizzas, salads, and a long list of desserts and coffees — and nobody rushes you through any of it.

It is a date-spot of the old Village school: inexpensive enough to linger, dim enough to talk. The basement has long hosted jazz as the Bar Next Door; check what is on before you go, as the music calendar has had on-and-off eras.