This neighborhood guide is curated by one of our New York City–based editors who calls it home.
The West Village is home to me, even if it’s not the address on my gas bill. I’ve lived all over New York City in the last 12 years, but as a gay New Yorker, I forever feel a pull to this slice of Manhattan, where so much of LGBTQ+ history is anchored in places like the Stonewall Inn, Julius’, and Marie’s Crisis. Sure, there’s more to the neighborhood than just gay bars then and now: cultural establishments like the Village Vanguard jazz bar and the Church of St. Luke in the Fields; taverns and theaters over a century old; the chic shops and au courant restaurants on Charles, Jane, Perry, and the like. But queer life and legacy are inextricable from what makes the West Village so great. It’s that living history that I hope to share in some small way with you, dear reader, through this perfect-day itinerary in the West Village.
Matt Ortile
Matt Ortile is an editor at Condé Nast Traveler, where he covers LGBTQ+ travel and ethical tourism, among other topics. Additionally, he is the author of The Groom Will Keep His Name, a memoir about moving to the US as a gay Filipino immigrant. He has lived in New York since 2014.
A note on how I’m geographically defining the area: The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street to the north. Depending on who you ask, it stops at either Greenwich Avenue, Seventh Avenue, or Sixth Avenue to the east; and either Houston Street or Christopher Street to the south. The bigger the West Village, I say, all the better. For this guide, I’ll extend its southern and eastern boundaries to Houston and Sixth, respectively. Other popular restaurants and museums like Pastis or the Whitney feel too much like they belong to the Meatpacking District, a micro-neighborhood with its own distinct feel, and so do not appear here, even though I dearly love both and suggest you check them out too.
As for how to use this guide, these timestamps are a loose suggestion. This is really just an extensive list of the cafés, restaurants, shops, bars, theaters, and businesses in the West Village that I dearly love and recommend to one and all, whether visitor or local. You won’t need reservations for everything (some only take walk-ins), but making an appointment is always recommended in this town where it can sometimes feel like you’re you’re no one without Resy Global Dining Access. And do what you can to support the folks you meet here—it’s thanks to the artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs who keep the West Village local and cool, at once trendy and classic. Here’s my slice of the West Village.
On the corner of Christopher and Gay Streets, ad hoc : cafe serves filling breakfast options.
Courtesy of ad hoc : cafe
The French-inspired Café Cluny has been a West Village mainstay since 2006.
Courtesy of Cafe Cluny
9 a.m. Wake up with the village at a café
One of my favorite things to do in the West Village is watching it wake up. I love the business owners opening up shop, servers bringing out tables to the sidewalk, kids with nannies hitting the playgrounds, cute couples dragging themselves out of bed for a bagel and a coffee from Blackstone on Hudson. There are plenty of takeaway options, but you should treat yourself to a quiet moment before a long day by parking at one of the cafés in the neighborhood and observing the morning scenes unfold.
Snag the window seat at charming Paquita on West 10th and order a pistachio financier and a pot of one of their many teas and tisanes; sit on the sidewalk at Fellini on Seventh with an espresso and give your best impression of a Roman flâneur; or grab a matcha and a fresh bouquet of flowers at Rosecrans on Greenwich. For what it’s worth, all three are open all day, up to at least 8 p.m., so they’re ideal pit stops at any time. If you’re a breakfast person, get your carbs and eggs in at Café Cluny on West 4th, a Parisian bistro with a great brunch (spot your favorite celebs in the dining room, either as their pencil caricatures hung on the walls, or in the flesh); or ad hoc : cafe, tucked into the basement of a building on Christopher and Gay Streets, which does coffee, hot sandwiches, and an array of twee home goods.
11 a.m. Get acquainted with the village’s history
The West Village is one of the most quintessential Manhattan neighborhoods, thanks in no small part to how often it’s depicted in films and television. Yes, there’s Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment building from Sex and the City on Perry Street, as well as the one from Friends on the corner of Bedford and Grove. (You can’t miss either site; walk by and you’ll see tourists crowding the sidewalks to snap selfies, much to the chagrin of the residents.) But there’s so much more history in these streets that gives the West Village its uniquely New York character.
Whenever I have friends in town, I bring them to Christopher Park, a tiny triangle of green bound by Christopher, Grove, and West 4th Streets. Call it woo-woo, but I really do feel the weight of LGBTQ+ history whenever I come through: The Stonewall Rebellion, a cornerstone event of the gay liberation movement, began in this area on June 27, 1969. Yes, the park sits right across from the Stonewall Inn and the relatively young Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center. The latter opened in 2024 with a compact museum and a calendar of cultural programming; the former is good for pre- and post-dinner drinks.
