Opened in 1855 by Charles Ignatious Pfaff, the original Pfaff’s was modeled after the German Rathskellers that were popular in Europe at the time. Charles Pfaff's beer cellar was located on Broadway near Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. To enter the beer cellar—which was actually a vaulted ceiling bar and restaurant—its patrons had to go down a set of stairs. From the mid-1850s to the late 1860s, Pfaff’s was the center of New York’s revolutionary culture. As writer Allan Gurganus has said, "Pfaff’s was the Andy Warhol factory, the Studio 54, the Algonquin Round Table all rolled into one." Habitués included journalist and social critic Henry Clapp, Jr., Walt Whitman, author and actress Ada Clare, poet and actress Adah Isaacs Menken, playwright John Brougham, artist Elihu Vedder, pianist and composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, actor Edwin Booth, author Fitz Hugh Ludlow, and humorist Artemus Ward. Whitman called Charlie Pfaff "a generous German restaurateur, silent, stout, jolly," as well as "the best selector of champagne in America." Whitman also wrote an unfinished poem about Pfaff’s called "The Two Vaults," which included the lines: Writer Fitz James O'Brien also wrote an ode to Pfaff's and to the clientele; an annotated copy of these lyrics titled At Pfaff's was pasted by Thomas Butler Gunn into his 1860 diary and can be seen at The Vault at Pfaff's website. Clapp, considered by many the "King of Bohemia", founded The Saturday Press as New York's answer to the Atlantic Monthly. Started as a literary magazine, The Saturday Press eventually became a countercultural zine "with a mix of poetry, stories, radical politics, and an enthusiastic spirit of personal freedom and sexual openness. Before it folded in 1868, it published numerous poems by Whitman and a short story by Mark Twain. The Saturday Press championed Leaves of Grass, a move that many view as a significant factor in the success of the 1860 edition." In 1870, Charles Pfaff moved his business up to midtown. Whitman wrote about Pfaff’s in Specimen Days after a visit to the restaurateur's newer location many years later:
Current status
The original location at 653 Broadway eventually became an envelope factory. In 1975, it became a disco called Infinity, which was destroyed by fire in 1979. Today, the location is home to a few shops. In the spring of 2011, the Vault at Pfaff’s was re-established at 643 Broadway. Like in the original, today's patrons descend a set of stairs into a refurbished cellar. The subterranean lounge serves wine, cocktails, and food from a small but upscale menu, which is now printed on newspaper and resembles The Saturday Press format made famous by Henry Clapp, Jr. The oak bar, a prominent feature of the space, is over 150 years old. During restoration of the space, a 19th-century fieldstone wall was discovered and now accents the back room. The furniture designin the Vault is inspired by a saloon car design from the mid-19th century period. Katherine Blackburne, a New York City-based artist, collaborated with designer Mark Zeff to paint panels on the back of the sofas to echo saloon car murals popular at that time. References to notable authors, artists, politicians and stars are evident throughout the space. As recounted in Whitman's unfinished poem about Pfaff’s, there are also two vaults in today's space. The Vault at Pfaff's has since closed.
