Cibar (Irving Inn)

Before it was a hotel with a martini lounge beneath it, 56 Irving Place had been a men's club, a speakeasy and a beauty parlor^{1, 2}. It's two townhouses from around 1834^{3, 4}. Varian Fry went to Marseille in August 1940 and, as an agent of the Emergency Rescue Committee, smuggled out more than 2,200 anti-Nazi and Jewish refugees⁵. When he came home in November 1941, it was to an apartment at No. 56 Irving Place, where he would write his book⁵.

After a three-year renovation, the two houses opened as the Inn at Irving Place in December 1994⁵. Cibar was the bar beneath it, plush with pink walls, sleek black couches and modern chandeliers⁶. The specialty was elegant cocktails, like an elderflower, vodka and lychee martini, and DJs spun every night but Monday⁶. Our old listing recommended it for a quiet martini with friends, rich friends. Time Out reckoned it made even jeans-clad tipplers feel swishy⁶.

In June 2026 a customer called it a reliably chill lounge that had been a neighborhood staple forever, with good drinks, still reasonably priced⁷. Then a customer reported it closed as of August 17, 2026⁷. Cibar's own website still says it's closed only on Sunday and Monday⁸.

The Inn at Irving Place still invites guests to stay at 56 Irving Place, with Lady Mendl's Tea Salon on the parlor level². The rich friends can have tea.