Penn Station’s Adored Tracks Bar to Close at Summer’s End

The popular commuter bar Tracks Raw Bar & Grill — known by its frequenters as Tracks Bar — will be one of several victims of a massive Penn Station construction project, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Construction on a new entrance to the transit hub will shutter ten businesses, including a Jamba Juice, a McDonald’s, and a Dunkin’ Donuts. But most of the outcry on social media has been about Tracks, a beloved bar with raw seafood that was a rare gem in the bustling station.

Opening in 2003 next to the window that sells tickets to the Long Island Rail Road, Tracks is a long and narrow bar littered with train-related memorabilia. It regularly fills up for happy hour and houses loyal regulars, who the New York Times once claimed are willing to miss a train just for some time here. One of those regulars told the Times that all he does is nod to one of the long-time bartenders to order his usual gin and tonic.

It’s often seen as a chiller, more approachable answer to Grand Central Oyster Bar. In addition to drinks, there’s the raw bar with oysters, crab, clams, and more seafood. There’s also burgers and sandwiches and other seafoody, casual fare like fish and chips and clam pasta.

Construction on the new Penn Station entrance starts next week, part of a $600 million renovation for a new entrance, but Tracks and the other impacted businesses will remain open until August 31. There’s no word yet on whether it will be able to return when construction is complete.

Here’s what people are saying about the impending closure:

• Tracks, a Popular Commuter Bar, Set to Close at Penn Station [WSJ]
• Where Rush Hour and Happy Hour Overlap [NYT]
• Penn Station’s Unpretentious Oyster Bar [New Yorker]