TV Restaurants

Who Runs Caffe Dante Now? Best Thing I Ever Ate Update (New York, NY)

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 1 New York, New York

Current status

New owners

As of October 2026, Caffe Dante operates under new ownership — confirmed via vinepair.com, September 7, 2021.

What the source shows: VinePair reported on September 7, 2021 that Linden Pride took over Caffe Dante from the Flotta family in a 2015 off-market deal and wanted to keep the Dante name; Wikipedia notes the owners kept the original Caffe Dante sign and still serve coffee in the morning at the MacDougal Street cafe and bar. How we decide a status →

What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

The Best Thing I Ever Ate's pilot episode featured Caffe Dante, a longtime Italian cafe on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village known for espresso and old-world atmosphere. Caffe Dante opened in 1915 and was run by the Flotta family beginning in 1971, according to the current operators' account on dante-nyc.com. In 2015 the Flotta family sold the cafe to Linden Pride and Nathalie Hudson, who rebranded the space as Dante and added an Italian food and cocktail menu, according to dante-nyc.com. The bar has since been recognized in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings; Time Out reported on 2019-10-04 that Dante was named the world's best bar. A site check on 2026-09-08 found dante-nyc.com online and listing reservations, gift cards, and multiple additional locations, indicating the business remains active under the Dante name.

The episode Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 1

Episode Pilot
Air date not confirmed
Title: Pilot · What was featured: Italian espresso and old-world Greenwich Village cafe fare

Also in Season 1 Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season 1: 57 of 88 still open · 4 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 12 Season 1 episodes →

Nearest restaurants By distance from 79-81 MacDougal St

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Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 3 references

  1. dante-nyc.com https://www.dante-nyc.com/our-story/
  2. timeout.com https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/dante-nycs-famous-greenwich-village-bar-has-been-named-the-worlds-best-bar-100419
  3. vinepair.com https://vinepair.com/articles/next-round-linden-pride-caffe-dante/
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Record btiea-0007 · checked by Cal Marchetti.