The year was 1995. Internet was relatively new, few people knew what it was, and fewer knew what the @ symbol was. That’s when Glenn McGinnis, Nicolas Barnes, and Chris Townsend opened the now iconic @Cafe on Tuesday, April 25, 1995 in New York’s 12 St Marks Place, with the slogan “Eat, Drink, ‘Net.”
The place had few computers with a broadband connection, which cost the owners $9000 a month. @Cafe soon became a hub for internet enthusiasts, although most people kept pestering the owners asking what the @ symbol was.
