__NOTOC__ Pete's Tavern, located at 129 East 18th Street on the corner of

Irving Place Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along its , 11 ...

in the

Gramercy Park Gramercy ParkSometimes misspelled as Grammercy () is the name of both a small, fenced-in private park, and the surrounding neighborhood (which is also referred to as Gramercy), in Manhattan in New York City. The approximately park, located ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, is a

pub food A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

restaurant and the oldest continuously operating restaurant and bar in New York City.

History

The building that houses Pete's was built in 1829, and was originally the Portman Hotel;, p.206 liquor may have been sold there as early as 1851 or 1852 – when it was a "grocery & grog" store"History of Pete's Tavern" on the tavern's menu – and the first official drinking establishment founded by 1864. It was bought in 1899 by Tom and John Healy, and became Healy's."Lexington Avenue / Irving Place Songline"
/ref> During

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, when selling alcohol was illegal, the bar continued to operate disguised as a flower shop. The writer

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the Ma ...

lived down the street at 55 Irving Place from 1903 to 1907, and Healy's appears in his

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

"The Lost Blend" under the name "Kenealy's". Local legend also has it that he wrote his well-known story "

The Gift of the Magi "The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by American writer O. Henry, first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little mone ...

" in Healy's second booth from the front, but this appears to be apocryphal. The present name dates to the purchase of the establishment by Peter D'Belles in 1926. Although the tavern claims to be "an official historical landmark", it is neither a designated New York City landmark nor is it on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. It does, however, lie within the

Gramercy Park Historic District Gramercy means 'many thanks'. It is derived from the French term , meaning 'big thanks' which is still in use in south of France's Provençal language as 'gramerci'. The term may refer to: Places in the United States * Gramercy, Louisiana * Gram ...

designated by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...

in 1966. Gary Egan is proprietor of Pete's Tavern and has been General Manager of the restaurant for over 30 years.

In popular culture

Pete's Tavern has appeared in numerous films and television programs, including ''Two for the Seesaw'', ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...

'', ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

'', '' Endless Love'', ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

'', ''

Nurse Jackie ''Nurse Jackie'' is an American medical comedy-drama television series that aired on Showtime from June 8, 2009, to June 28, 2015. Set in New York City, the series follows Jackie Peyton ( Edie Falco), a drug-addicted emergency department nurse ...

'', ''

Spin City ''Spin City'' is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996, to April 30, 2002, on ABC. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show is set in a fictionalized version of the New York City mayor's off ...

'', ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

'', ''

Across the Sea of Time ''Across the Sea of Time'' is a 1995 American IMAX 3D adventure film produced and directed by Stephen Low, and written by Andrew Gellis. It stars Peter Reznick as a young Russian boy who travels to the United States in search of his ancestor's f ...

, The Guru,

Blue Bloods ''Blue Bloods'' is an American police procedural drama (film and television), drama television series that aired on CBS from September 24, 2010, to December 13, 2024, across 14 seasons and 293 episodes. Its main characters were members of the fi ...

'', ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series created by Jon Bokenkamp and developed by John Eisendrath. It stars James Spader as Raymond Reddington, an international criminal and one of the FBI's Most Wanted fugitives ...

,'' and more recently, '' Fleishman is in Trouble''. It has also been used as a location for television commercials such as

Miller Lite Miller Lite is a 4.2% ABV reduced calorie light American lager beer produced by Molson Coors. It was introduced in 1973 in limited markets by the Miller Brewing Company (then owned by Philip Morris, Inc.) and began being distributed nationa ...

ads with Ben Davidson and

Tony Esposito Anthony James "Tony O" Esposito (April 23, 1943 – August 10, 2021) was a Canadian-American professional ice hockey goaltender, who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 15 of those for the Chicago Black Hawks. He was one of ...

, as well as print advertisements."Pete's Tavern History"
/ref>

References

External links

* {{authority control Drinking establishments in Manhattan Gramercy Park Restaurants in Manhattan

History

In popular culture

See also

References

External links