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PJ Clarke's
PJ Clarke's
Daniel Krieger

The Oldest Bars in New York City

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PJ Clarke's
| Daniel Krieger

With development encroaching on New York's classic haunts, now is the time to recognize the stalwarts: the city's oldest bars serving beer and booze, some for over a hundred years. Here's a reminder of the places with character, characters, and decades' worth of stories.

Note: Restaurants are listed based on geography, south to north in Manhattan. This is an updated map originally published in 2012.

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Fraunces Tavern

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A whole lot of beer gets poured at Fraunces Tavern, established in 1762, but it's also a gathering spot for several cocktail and whiskey clubs, with the Dingle Whiskey Bar a destination for its Scotch collection.

Mulberry Street Bar

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This Little Italy bar and restaurant has been open since 1908, starting as a dive and going a little classier more recently.

Ear Inn

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In a building that dates from 1817, the Ear Inn started serving beer and spirits in the mid-19th century, operating without a name until new owners christened it the Ear Inn in 1977. Go here for fantastic regulars, late-night music, a fine Guinness, owner Martin Sheridan and staff.

McSorley's Old Ale House

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This originally men-only pub has roots to 1854 but did not allow women in until 1970. Choose from dark or light ale, and now, Feltman's hot dogs.

McSorleys

Julius'

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New York's oldest gay bar, opened in Greenwich Village in 1840 as a grocery, operating as a bar since 1864.

White Horse Tavern

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Dating back to 1880, the White Horse Tavern was a center of bohemian culture in the '50s and '60s, as a favorite of Dylan Thomas, Jack Kerouac, James Baldwin, and others.

Pete's Tavern

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O Henry was a regular at this Union Square drinking hole. It opened in 1864—though drinking likely happened in the location before that—becoming Healy's in 1899 and Pete's Tavern later on.

Old Town Bar

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The Old Town Bar has been serving drinks near Union Square since 1892. It also purports to have the city's oldest dumbwaiter and 102-year-old urinals in the men's room.

Peter McManus Pub

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Open since 1911 and in this location since 1936, this is a family-run neighborhood pub. Like lots of longtime places, it's in danger of closing due to development by the year's end.

McManus Cafe

Rudy's Bar & Grill

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Rudy’s got one of New York’s the first liquor licenses when prohibition ended in 1933 and has since become one of the city's finest dive bars. "Sidle up to the original mahogany bar, custom-made for $300 on the Bowery," reads the website. "You’re hip-deep in good company now in our legendary microcosm of New York, as friendly, unpretentious, and wildly diverse as the best of the city itself." Free Hebrew National hot dogs with the purchase of a drink.

Landmark Tavern

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Originally opened in 1868, the Landmark Tavern — an original gastropub — kept pouring drinks through Prohibition by turning its third floor into a speakeasy. It's the site of the original shoreline and had been a dockworker bar. The Landmark changed hands around 2004 and was refurbished.

P.J. Clarke's

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PJ Clarke's building on Third Avenue was built in 1868, becoming a bar in 1884. Starting when PJ Clarke himself bought the bar in 1912, it became a destination for the rich and famous, including Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, and Nat King Cole. The bartenders there make a pretty mean Manhattan.

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Fraunces Tavern

A whole lot of beer gets poured at Fraunces Tavern, established in 1762, but it's also a gathering spot for several cocktail and whiskey clubs, with the Dingle Whiskey Bar a destination for its Scotch collection.

Mulberry Street Bar

This Little Italy bar and restaurant has been open since 1908, starting as a dive and going a little classier more recently.

Ear Inn

In a building that dates from 1817, the Ear Inn started serving beer and spirits in the mid-19th century, operating without a name until new owners christened it the Ear Inn in 1977. Go here for fantastic regulars, late-night music, a fine Guinness, owner Martin Sheridan and staff.

McSorley's Old Ale House

This originally men-only pub has roots to 1854 but did not allow women in until 1970. Choose from dark or light ale, and now, Feltman's hot dogs.

McSorleys

Julius'

New York's oldest gay bar, opened in Greenwich Village in 1840 as a grocery, operating as a bar since 1864.

White Horse Tavern

Dating back to 1880, the White Horse Tavern was a center of bohemian culture in the '50s and '60s, as a favorite of Dylan Thomas, Jack Kerouac, James Baldwin, and others.

Pete's Tavern

O Henry was a regular at this Union Square drinking hole. It opened in 1864—though drinking likely happened in the location before that—becoming Healy's in 1899 and Pete's Tavern later on.

Old Town Bar

The Old Town Bar has been serving drinks near Union Square since 1892. It also purports to have the city's oldest dumbwaiter and 102-year-old urinals in the men's room.

Peter McManus Pub

Open since 1911 and in this location since 1936, this is a family-run neighborhood pub. Like lots of longtime places, it's in danger of closing due to development by the year's end.

McManus Cafe

Rudy's Bar & Grill

Rudy’s got one of New York’s the first liquor licenses when prohibition ended in 1933 and has since become one of the city's finest dive bars. "Sidle up to the original mahogany bar, custom-made for $300 on the Bowery," reads the website. "You’re hip-deep in good company now in our legendary microcosm of New York, as friendly, unpretentious, and wildly diverse as the best of the city itself." Free Hebrew National hot dogs with the purchase of a drink.

Landmark Tavern

Originally opened in 1868, the Landmark Tavern — an original gastropub — kept pouring drinks through Prohibition by turning its third floor into a speakeasy. It's the site of the original shoreline and had been a dockworker bar. The Landmark changed hands around 2004 and was refurbished.

P.J. Clarke's

PJ Clarke's building on Third Avenue was built in 1868, becoming a bar in 1884. Starting when PJ Clarke himself bought the bar in 1912, it became a destination for the rich and famous, including Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, and Nat King Cole. The bartenders there make a pretty mean Manhattan.

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