Oldest Bar in New York

Table Of Content

• I was overall pleasantly surprised by the burger at McSorley's, but I wish the cheese had been more melted.
• Turkey wishbones
• History
• Notable patrons
• The bartender who served me was Irish, making for an even more authentic experience.
• Sports memorabilia is also prevalent throughout the bar.
• Within seconds, your drinks are slammed down on the table.

I'm not a huge beer drinker, but even that seemed pretty inexpensive to me. Plenty of famous people have walked through its doors, like Teddy Roosevelt, Woody Guthrie, John Lennon, Babe Ruth, Hunter S. Thompson, and Harry Houdini. President Abraham Lincoln is rumored to have paid McSorley's a visit, and E.E. McSorley’s is known as a place for good political conversation. The bar is a significant part of East Village history since its founding and has been shaped by American political discourse over time.

I was overall pleasantly surprised by the burger at McSorley's, but I wish the cheese had been more melted.

He unlocked the saloon at seven, swept it out himself, and spread sawdust on the floor. Until he became too feeble to manage a racing sulky, he always kept a horse and a nanny goat in a stable around the corner on St. Mark’s Place. He kept both animals in the same stall, believing, like many horse-lovers, that horses should have company at night. During the lull in the afternoon a stable-hand would lead the horse around to a hitching block in front of the saloon, and Old John, wearing his bar apron, would stand on the curb and groom the animal.

Turkey wishbones

In 2011, New York City passed a law forbidding bars and restaurants from keeping cats. Minnie was forced out and, five years later, the Department of Health closed McSorley’s for four days while they resolved a rodent problem. Perhaps the most famous artifacts are the wishbones dangling from a gas lamp above the bar. After finishing a free meal at the bar, soldiers departing to serve in WWI left their wishbones—from turkeys, chickens, and one duck—intending to collect them upon their safe return. In 2011, a city health inspector insisted that the wishbones, encased in years of dust, be cleaned. McSorley’s has all the hallmarks of a classic tourist attraction, but Buggy says it’s the regulars who really make the place special.

History

Historians credit the Cooper Union Address as the turning point in Lincoln’s campaign. It helped him vault over his rival Stephen A. Douglas to secure the nomination as the Republican presidential candidate. After nearly two centuries of operation, the bar has compiled its own canon of secrets. Now, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, I’m going to share of few of my favorites with you.

Notable patrons

Some of these veterans clearly remember John McSorley, the founder, who died in 1910 at the age of eighty-seven. They refer to him as Old John, and they like to sit in rickety armchairs around the big belly stove which heats the place, gnaw on the stems of their pipes, and talk about him. As a businessman, Bill was anachronous; he hated banks, cash registers, bookkeeping, and salesmen. He would count out the money four or five times and hand it to the driver in a paper bag. He understood ale; he knew how to draw it and how to keep it, and his bar pipes were always clean. In warm weather he made a practice of chilling the mugs in a tub of ice; even though a customer nursed an ale a long time, the chilled earthenware mug kept it cool.

In 1939, when then-owner Daniel O’Connell died and left the bar to his daughter, Dorothy O’Connell Kirwan, she honored the no-women policy and appointed her husband as manager. When the bar celebrated its centennial, Kirwan had her celebratory drink outside on the sidewalk. After women were finally admitted, Kirwan declined to be the first woman served, a decision that makes more sense if you know that the first women’s restroom wasn’t added until 16 years later. The legendary backroom (where the ale flowed during prohibition), is adorned with the infamous, and very risque (for its time), portrait of a nude with her parrot. The old fireplace is also in the backroom-that’s where the original owner-John McSorley held court (as witnessed in a well-known John Sloan sketch nearby). Above the fireplace is the McSorley’s motto “Be Good or Be Gone”, as well as a portrait of Peter Cooper, founder of Cooper Union.

McSorley's Irish Pale Ale

You’ll also find a signed copy of Frank McCourt’s best-seller Angela’s Ashes (A gift from the author after his Tom Snyder television interview which took place in the Old Ale House). Save time—automatically create your print menu with one click. The Health Department said when McSorley corrects the issues, it can ask for re-opening inspection. The department also said if McSorley's could have corrected the problem at the time the violations were discovered, it could have stayed open. "My wife and I feel we're the custodians of McSorley's, just keeping a watchful eye over the place. Our job is to make sure those swinging doors remain open. "I've traveled the world, I know every bar in this city, and there's nothing like this. It's a real special place," he said.

Sports memorabilia is also prevalent throughout the bar.

New Year, Very Old Restaurants - The New York Times

New Year, Very Old Restaurants.

Posted: Mon, 08 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Such treatment did not annoy customers but made them snicker; they thought he was funny. In fact, despite Bill’s bad disposition, many customers were fond of him. They had known him since they were young men together and had grown accustomed to his quirks. They even took a wry sort of pride in him, and when they said he was the gloomiest, or the stingiest, man in the Western Hemisphere there was boastfulness in their voices; the more eccentric he became, the more they respected him.

Within seconds, your drinks are slammed down on the table.

Coins are dropped in soup bowls—one for nickels, one for dimes, one for quarters, and one for halves—and bills are kept in a rosewood cashbox. It is a drowsy place; the bartenders never make a needless move, the customers nurse their mugs of ale, and the three clocks on the walls have not been in agreement for many years. The backbone of the clientele, however, is a rapidly thinning group of crusty old men, predominantly Irish, who have been drinking there since they were youths and now have a proprietary feeling toward the place.

I asked him what he’d been drinking and he said, ‘Near beer in McSorley’s.’ ” The prohibition ale cost fifteen cents, or two mugs for a quarter. McSorley’s Old Ale House reveals a lot about New York history as its walls capture many of the greatest moments in American history. As the walls are covered with newspaper articles, photographs, records, and more, a visit to McSorley’s is an educational experience. To this day, McSorley’s is the only New York City bar that still throws saw dust on the floor. It is another lasting tradition that McSorley’s has kept since its founding. The tradition started back when many customers were chewing tobacco and spit would go flying everywhere.

The beef patty was juicy and decently large, while the onions and tomatoes tasted very fresh. The fries were also piping hot when I received them and deliciously crispy. The only downside in my opinion was that the cheese on the cheeseburger wasn't melted on the patty.

I actually enjoyed the lack of choice, which made ordering fast and simple. When Business Insider's Sarah Jacobs visited in 2017, the beer cost $5.50. She noted that the beer cost only a dime per mug in 1940, and in 1966, two of the half-pints cost 35 cents.

Many photographs of him are in existence, and it is obvious that he had a lot of unassumed dignity. He patterned his saloon after a public house he had known in Ireland and originally called it the Old House at Home; around 1908 the signboard blew down, and when he ordered a new one he changed the name to McSorley’s Old Ale House. That is still the official name; customers never have called it anything but McSorley’s. Old John believed it impossible for men to drink with tranquillity in the presence of women; there is a fine back room in the saloon, but for many years a sign was nailed on the street door, saying, “Notice. When other women came in, Old John would hurry forward, make a bow, and say, “Madam, I’m sorry, but we don’t serve ladies.” This technique is still used.

Quenching the thirsts of everyone from Abraham Lincoln to the lower denizens of the Bowery since 1854, John McSorley served his own beer in orders of two distinctive small glasses, with the only option being whether you chose light or dark. I could have spent hours looking at every piece of art and history, and it made me feel a sense of pride in my Irish heritage. It felt as if I were in a living time capsule, surrounded by people who were there for a great time in one of the most historic spots in the city. Entering McSorley's feels like a trip back in time, and there are signs of its history all around.