GRAMERCY & UNION SQUARE, MANHATTAN
Pete's Tavern
Irving Place's bar since the 1860s — it stayed open through Prohibition as a 'flower shop' and O. Henry drank here.
On the corner of Irving Place and 18th Street, in a building that dates to 1829, there has been a bar since at least the 1860s, and Pete's calls itself the oldest continuously operating bar and restaurant in New York. Through Prohibition it carried on behind the front of a flower shop. The room looks and feels its age, in the good way.
O. Henry lived a few doors up Irving Place and wrote the bar into his story 'The Lost Blend'; the house legend that he wrote 'The Gift of the Magi' in a booth here is just that. Come for a beer and a burger at the bar on a winter afternoon, or a table on the sidewalk in summer.
Editor’s tip
Take a pint at the front bar, then walk two blocks north to look through the gates of Gramercy Park.
Make an evening of it — beautiful stops nearby
Also in the neighborhood
GRAMERCY & UNION SQUARE, MANHATTAN
La Dong
A Bib Gourmand Vietnamese room off Union Square — lotus lamps, turmeric crêpes and pho poured tableside over wagyu.
Vietnamese · Date Night · $$
GRAMERCY & UNION SQUARE, MANHATTAN
Narkara
Northern and Isan Thai cooking off Union Square — dry-curry short rib, herb soup and sausage platters.
Thai · Date Night · $$$
Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.