NYC before Urban Outfitters, Duane Readegreens and Starbucks popped up on every block? Here's a look back to the '80s for nostalgia-heads, courtesy of photographer David Vega. Instead of focusing on CBGB, however, what about the Lone Star Cafe (1976-1989)? It was on East 13th Street and Fifth Avenue, and brought in mostly country acts, from Willie Nelson to Roy Orbison—though James Brown and the Blues Brothers also took the stage there.
In 1989 the venue was sold, according to an old NY Times article, the iguana went on the auction block and had been living in Virginia until 1997, when it returned to NYC. It was then housed at Pier 25, but word is it has since vanished.
These days, don't even expect to see the shell of the former venue—it burned down and condos are going up in its place. You can, however, get an interior look through Bob Fosse's 1979 All That Jazz, the film's nightclub scenes were shot there.
