The SideWalk Cafe was a music venue and restaurant/cafe in East Village, New York City founded in 1985.
[1] A number of well-known acts performed at the Sidewalk at the beginning of their career including Regina Spektor, Lana Del Rey, Hamell on Trial, Lach, The Moldy Peaches and Nicole Atkins.
"[2] The open mic was founded by Lach in 1994 and subsequently run by Ben Krieger (2008-2014) and finally Somer Bingham (2014-2019).
It also hosted the bi-annual New York Antifolk Festival, which featured the largest gathering of anti-folk musicians in the nation.
[3][4] Artists that performed regularly at the Sidewalk Cafe included: Elastic No-No Band, Dots Will Echo, Alan Merrill, John S. Hall, Jeffrey Lewis, Peter Dizozza and Schwervon!.