New York Cafe Budapest

Also known as New York Kávéház

The New York Café opened in 1894 in the basement of the New York Life Insurance Company's Budapest palace, and within years had become the working office of Hungarian literature. Frigyes Karinthy, Dezso Kosztolanyi, and much of the Hungarian literary press operated from its tables and upstairs galleries for the first decades of the 20th century.

The New York Café in Budapest opened in 1894 as part of a New York Life Insurance Company palace, and its Neo-Renaissance interior of frescoed ceilings, gilded columns, and crystal chandeliers quickly became the working headquarters of Hungarian literature. Writers including Frigyes Karinthy and Dezso Kosztolanyi held court here; major Hungarian newspapers were edited from the upstairs gallery. Renamed “Hungaria” under communism, it reopened as the New York in 1989. Now inside the Anantara hotel, it is still one of the most extraordinary cafe interiors in Central Europe. Metro M2 to Blaha Lujza ter; daily 8:00-24:00.