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

No photo of this bar survives from the 2008 site.

A New York on Tap pick

Royale (East Village)

Formerly C-Note

157 Avenue C · at 10th St.
East Village, Manhattan

In 2026

Still pouring

Checked October 18, 2026.

Overview

In the ongoing culture wars of the East Village bar scene, Royale is a huge strike for UESification. Between the plasma TVs, baseball caps, rounds of shots and the girls whose most comfortable mode of communication is via a series of high pitched squeels you can easily forget that not too long ago this used to be one of the best Jazz bars in New York.
In the ongoing culture wars of the East Village bar scene, Royale is huge strike for UESification. Between the plasma TVs, baseball caps, rounds of shots and the girls whose most comfortable mode of communication is via a series of high pitched squeels you can easily forget that not too long ago this used to be one of the best Jazz bars in New York.

Why you should go

  • The beer's cheap enough ($3 for a can of Butternut Beer & Ale) and the burger's and fries are tasty enough that you can almost overlook everything else.

What you should know

  • The $6 burger is made in the Corner Bistro style. Slippery with fat, topped with American Cheese, and immensely satisfying.
  • This was the former location of C-Note an East Village jazz standby.
  • There's a large deck outback with seats for dozens
  • The jukebox is a terror. Get one guy with a twenty burning a whole in his pocket and a Phil Collins fetish and your night can be ruined.

History

Still not going anywhere

Royale opened around 2006, and its owners included Dave and Alexis Weakley and Josh Berman1, 2. In January 2016, after a rumor that another bar would take the space, management said it had renegotiated a 10-year lease and wasn't going anywhere2. We once counted its plasma TVs as a strike for UESification in the East Village culture wars; it is still open seven days a week at 157 Avenue C1.

Sources

  1. royalebarnyc.com
  2. evgrieve.com

Researched October 2026.

What's nearby