New York on Tap 2008
Archive · modern edition Every bar New York on Tap knew, as it stood around 2008, with a 2026 check on each one. This page in the 2008 edition
The Odeon, photographed for New York on Tap
Photo from the 2008 site

A New York on Tap pick

The Odeon

145 W. Broadway · at Thomas St.
TriBeCa, Manhattan

In 2026

Still pouring

Checked October 16, 2026.

Show on the map Directions See the 2008 page

Overview

How is it that the restaurant featured in "Bright Lights Big City" managed to sell any food at all in the 80s when it’s a list crowd was ruining its appetite racking up lines in the bathroom? Ah yes, the bar. The Bar.

History

Judged by its cover

The first novel The Odeon turned up in was Bright Lights, Big City, and Jay McInerney put its neon sign on the book's front cover1. Most restaurants have to settle for a review.

The space began as the Towers, built in 1933 by Louis Pantzer, whose son Artie took it over with Joan in 19552. On May 30, 1980, new partners trading as Orwell Restaurant Associates, Ltd., signed a 15-year lease on the Towers site3. They were Lynn Wagenknecht and the brothers Brian and Keith McNally4. The Odeon opened that fall and was an instant hit, especially with celebrities2.

Fifteen years turned out to be a conservative estimate3, 5. Lynn Wagenknecht still owned The Odeon in 2024, and it's still at 145 West Broadway4, 5.

Sources

  1. cntraveler.com
  2. tribecatrib.com
  3. vanityfair.com
  4. tribecacitizen.com
  5. theodeonrestaurant.com

Researched October 2026.

What's nearby