Old Town Bar
45 E 18th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 529-6732
www.oldtownbar.com

I had the recent pleasure of meeting an old friend for a couple Bud Lights at the Old Town Bar on 18th Street and Broadway in Manhattan - just north of the Union Square restaurant scene, and down the block from the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site.  I chose this bar to meet for it’s convenient location, it’s history of serving writers, artists, and other famous types, and also the fact that at 2:00 in the afternoon it’s quiet enough to hold down a conversation.

The Old Town Bar has been serving since 1892.  Interestingly, a twin bar was constructed on 19th street in the same year, but it was later dismantled and moved to Massachusetts.  During Prohibition, the Old Town was a speak-easy under the aegis of Tammany Hall, then on 17th Street.  For perhaps the first half of the restaurant’s existence, the menu was of German influence.  Virtually the entire establishment is original: The mahogany and marble bar is 55 feet long, the marble portion formally functioning as a lunch counter.  The tin ceilings are 16 feet high, there is 258 sq ft of bevel edge plate mirror.  The giant urinals, a historic icon themselves of sorts, were made by Hinsdale in 1910.  I years past the upstairs was “The Ladies and Gentlemens’ Dining Room.”  The dumbwaiters are New York’s oldest restaurant conveyors.

The appeal of the bar and restaurant to New Yorkers and tourists alike, authors and television producers remains to this day.  Nick Hornby held his book release party for About a Boy at the Old Town.  Pete Hamill, on the jacket of A Drinking Life says of the Old Town, “For the one bar that still makes me thirsty.”  It has appeared in episodes of Sex & The City, in The Devil’s Own with Brad Pitt & Harrison Ford, & Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway.

Stroll in on a weekday afternoon, and enjoy some peace and quiet, a burger,a beer, and a good book.  Gaze up occasionally at the TV screen showing one sport or another.  Leave your stuff at the table and walk along the cracked tile floor, a floor often copied at newer French Bistros to the men’s room with the aforementioned giant urinals.  When you get back your things will still be there. 

If you go on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night, or perhaps Sunday during football season you may not get the quiet you had during the week, but the atmosphere will remain the same.  It is virtually hipster-free like the e surrounding neighborhood.  The food ain’t too bad either.  You can order most classic bar foods these days including mozarella sticks, fried calamarri, chili, or chicken strips, salads, sandwiches, and a nice selection of hearty, moderately priced burgers.  And don’t be afraid to order a real drink.  The bartenders know what they’re doing.  A place like the Old Town Bar doesn’t stay in business for over 100 years by mixing Red Bull and vodka.

Not recommended for a first date.  It’s too laid back.  However, it’s probably pretty good for a second or third date, depending on the girl (or guy).  Better yet go with a group of friends, with a colleague, an old flame, a professor, or just by yourself.  They won’t look at you funny.  In fact, they may even chat with you for a while.  Another thing that has kept them in business for over 100 years.

~Sam