The Commerce Inn: Via Carota’s Owners Run a Shaker-Plain Tavern on a West Village Corner
The Commerce Inn doesn’t have a happy hour. It’s Rita Sodi and Jody Williams’s early American tavern at 50 Commerce Street, on the corner of Barrow Street in the West Village. The tavern is open every day from 9am to 11pm, and what it gives away instead of a discount is access: walk-ins are always welcome, and reservations are limited.
The verdict: come for the tavern, not a deal. This is the Via Carota team cooking from heirloom American recipes in a Shaker-plain room. The house lists pickled oysters in bread-and-butter brine, rarebit, pot pies and plain, good vegetables. The bar pours clear milk punches, smoky spirits and wine from small American producers, Finger Lakes to Sierra Foothills. The honest caveat: walk-in welcome doesn’t mean walk-in fast. Google reviewers in September 2026 report waiting about an hour, and one party of two was quoted 90 minutes.
What to Expect
There’s no happy hour, early window or bar special, and the house says menus and prices are subject to change. The dining room serves breakfast and lunch from 9am to 3pm on weekdays, brunch on weekends, dinner every night from 4 to 11pm, and roasts on Sundays. The tavern runs straight through, 9am to 11pm.
What to order, per the critics: the Infatuation (review updated July 2026) pushes the lobster toast with lemon aioli (“forget lobster rolls”). It also likes the patty melt with Swiss and garlic aioli and, at brunch, the steak and eggs. It calls brunch the best time to go and the busiest, so book ahead if you can. The Michelin Guide singles out a dry-aged ribeye with butter, garlic and rosemary under fried onion rings, alongside potted shrimp and plenty of vegetables.
Go here instead: for an actual happy hour, 61 Grove Street, a three-minute walk away, runs one from 4 to 7pm on weekdays (from noon on Thursdays and Fridays), per its own specials calendar. That makes it a sensible place to wait out a Commerce Inn queue. For the rest of the neighborhood, see our West Village happy hour guide.
The Room
The building went up as a carriage house in 1911 and has been a restaurant for generations: a speakeasy, then Blue Mill Tavern, Grange Hall, Commerce and Fifty, which closed in 2018. Sodi and Williams opened The Commerce Inn in December 2021, after a pandemic delay, and borrowed the look from the Shakers. Expect plaster walls, custom cabinetry, peg rails, linen-covered tables, wood floors and a block of ice behind the bar. There are two sides: a snug tavern with the bar, and a roomier, more formal dining room with white tablecloths. It isn’t built for lingering. It is built for a martini and a pot pie on a cold night. For more rooms like this, see the best date night restaurants in NYC.
Who The Commerce Inn Is For
| Occasion | Why It Works |
|---|---|
| A walk-in dinner in the West Village | Walk-ins are always welcome, and the tavern runs 9am–11pm |
| Weekend brunch | The Infatuation calls brunch the best time to go; book ahead |
| Out-of-town guests | A 1911 carriage house turned Shaker-style tavern from the Via Carota team |
| Sunday dinner | Roasts every Sunday |
| A drink at the bar | Clear milk punches and small-producer American wine |