361 Bowery, New York, NY 10003
Phebe’s—located on East Fourth and Bowery, halfway between CBGB and La MaMa—was known as the “Sardi’s of Off-Off-Broadway” (the Times Square hotspot Sardi’s drew an uptown Broadway crowd).
The close proximity of underground theater venues and punk clubs created other social connections. The Mumps’ Kristian Hoffman lived right down the street from CBGB, and the first thing he did every evening was stop by the bar to see what was happening. “Then we’d go to Phebe’s and have a blueberry pie and ice cream,” he said, “then wait for friends to show up.” Located on the corner of Bowery and East Fourth Street, Phebe’s was known as the “Sardi’s of Off-Off-Broadway” (the Times Square hotspot Sardi’s drew an uptown Broadway crowd). “You needed a place to hang out,” Agosto Machado said, “and Phebe’s offered a safe refuge. Not every bar wanted theatrical people, because it was a conservative Eastern European neighborhood.”
From Chapter 30 of The Downtown Pop Underground — order online, or from a local independent bookstore