History
In 1919, a group of noted writers convened for the very first time at The Algonquin Hotel. It was such an enjoyable occasion they decided to return the next day. For ten years the group, later dubbed the "Vicious Circle" and including Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Harold Ross among others, came back to the hotel restaurant every day. The New Yorker magazine was created and founded here in 1925.
Today the Round Table hangs an iconic portrait of the "Vicious Circle" in the exact spot where they chose to dine. Blue Bar has been a part of our hotel since 1933 and the end of prohibition. John Barrymore, actor and then hotel resident, convinced the general manager that as an actor, one looks most attractive under blue lighting. As a practical joke, they placed blue gets over the lighting and the Blue Bar was born. Over the years Blue Bar has welcomed patrons such as Tennessee Williams, William Faulkner, Ella Fitzgerald and many other popular entertainers. The Blue Bar is now at home in the hotel's Annex, an old horse stable, and on the walls hang several Al Hirschfeld caricatures. Hirschfeld was a frequent visitor to the hotel beginning in 1926.