Engebret Café

The charming, traditional house on the corner is the famous Engebret Café, the oldest in the city! In operation since 1857, it still bears the name of its founder. When Engebret Christoffersen decided to open a restaurant, he chose the most fashionable spot in town at the time: Bankplassen. Back in the late 19th century, the old Christiania Theater stood across the square, and this café soon became the top hangout spot for theatergoers and performers. It was the first public theater in Norway, and that’s why you can see the statue of stage actor Johannes Brun nearby, who performed regularly there. Other artists helped boost the café’s reputation too, such as Edvard Grieg, the famous Norwegian composer, Edvard Munch, whose name pops up all over Oslo, and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, a Nobel Prize-winning author and one of Norway’s literary giants. Even Crown Princess Mette-Marit worked here as a waitress in the late 1990s! The theater may have closed down, but the café’s popularity hasn’t wavered. Now listed as a cultural heritage site of Norway, Engebret Café is also a great place to try traditional Norwegian cuisine if you’re willing to splurge some money, because it’s not cheap!