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

No photo of this bar survives from the 2008 site.

Cafe Katja

79 Orchard St. · btwn Grand & Broome
Chinatown, Manhattan

In 2026

Still pouring

Checked October 16, 2026.

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Overview

This cozy and unpretentious Austrian restaurant and bar serves home-style meat heavy dishes as well as a good selection of hard to find and seasonal German and Austrian brews. They also make their own pickles and pretzels.

History

The little Austrian place that kept growing

Cafe Katja opened as a little place at 79 Orchard Street and didn't stay little: it went on to expand twice, taking over more storefront space on Orchard Street1. Its two partners met years ago in the kitchen at Monkey Bar and opened it in 20071; Eater reported that October that the low-key Austrian restaurant had opened2.

When we listed it, we liked its hard-to-find seasonal German and Austrian beers and its homemade pickles and pretzels. In 2013 The Lo-Down's readers chose it as the best restaurant on the Lower East Side1.

It's still at 79 Orchard, between Broome and Grand Streets, serving contemporary Austrian and American food3. We filed it under Chinatown. Its own site puts it in the heart of the Lower East Side3, and we'll take the correction.

Sources

  1. thelodownny.com
  2. ny.eater.com
  3. cafekatja.com

Researched October 2026.

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