From humble beginnings in a room at Greenbelt’s Community Center in 1995, the New Deal Cafe has grown into a premiere music and art venue, serving delicious food along with craft beer and wine.
Hundreds of other music halls and restaurants have come and gone in the past 30 years, but the New Deal has survived and thrived! And the Cafe hasn’t lost the qualities that made it unique from day one: a friendly, laid-back atmosphere; a commitment to community; and a cooperative, not-for-profit ethos.
Local government leaders honored the cafe on its 30 years!
Join Us
Check out the festivity schedule!
We invite you to join us in celebrating our anniversary, and to support us as we move into the future! As a volunteer-run, not-for-profit cooperative, we rely on people like you to stay in business. Please click on this link if you’d like to become a member, volunteer and/or make a donation.
History
For years, Greenbelters caught up with their neighbors in places like the grocery store and the gasoline station–less than ideal locations for chatting and relaxing. Greenbelt needed a coffee house.
Discussions began about opening a cafe. Early on, the venture was dubbed the New Deal Cafe because the Works Project Administration, a part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Depression-era New Deal, built the city of Greenbelt.
This being a town with cooperative housing and several co-op businesses, the Cafe was planned in the same tradition. It would be staffed with volunteers and directed by a member-elected board.
To see if the idea had community support, an open house was held on November 5, 1994. Over 600 people showed up to support the project.
A group of hard-working volunteers brought the idea to fruition, and on December 30, 1995, the cafe opened in Greenbelt’s Community Center. Initially open just on Friday and Saturday nights, the Cafe offered light meals, desserts, coffee and free live music.
In October 1999, a storefront space came available in Greenbelt’s Roosevelt Center. The board decided the time had come to make the New Deal a full-time venture. In April 2000, the dream was realized with the opening of the “new” New Deal Cafe in our current front room.
In the years that followed, the Cafe expanded into the back room when the tenant of that space left. Our music program has expanded to include top talent in a wide variety of styles, and we’ve been recognized as one of the top 35 folk music venues in the country, as well as one of the best places the D.C. region to hear live music.
We’ve faced our share of challenges and changes, but thanks to the hard work of our staff, managers, board of directors and volunteers, we’re still alive and kicking!
For more details, read the extended history that Rex Wingerter assembled for the 30th anniversary.
Join Us!
As we’ve mentioned, the New Deal is a member-owned, volunteer-run, not-for-profit cooperative. That means we all need to pitch in if we want to keep our one-of-a-kind venue alive and kicking!
If you’re already a member, tell your friends, co-workers and family members about us and encourage them to join! If you’re not a member, what are you waiting for? Now’s the time to join!
We urge you to make some kind of contribution to Cafe–whether it’s volunteering as a bartender or sound engineer, or helping out with marketing or accounting, or making a cash donation. Even a small contribution makes a difference–especially if you can convince family members and friends to match it.
Remember, it’s your Cafe–it won’t survive for another 30 years without your help!
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