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
Fontana's, photographed for New York on Tap
Photo from the 2008 site

A New York on Tap pick

Fontana's

105 Eldridge St. · btwn Broome & Grand St
Chinatown, Manhattan

In 2026

Closed

Last licensed here under this name: 2015–17.

Checked October 15, 2026.

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Overview

Giant tri-level rock bar one-ups The Delancey.

History

From station house to rock bar

Fontana's occupied a building put up in 1869 as the Eldridge Street Police Station, which gave lodging to the destitute in conditions Jacob Riis described1. From 2004 Holly Ferrari, Mary Finn and Deannie Wheeler ran it as an upscale dive upstairs and a grimy rock club downstairs, with live music, standup comedy and a popular trivia night2, 3. In January 2016 the owners said they would close at the end of March: a new lease would have topped $30,000 a month, and running a neighborhood rock bar had become, in their words, economically unfeasible2, 4. A new proposal for the space lost a committee vote 4-3 that February5, and in 2023 Holy Ground said it would open an upscale steakhouse and barbecue restaurant there6.

Sources

  1. forgotten-ny.com
  2. thelodownny.com
  3. timeout.com
  4. dnainfo.com
  5. thelodownny.com
  6. nyc.gov

Researched October 2026.

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