Haunted Pub Crawl Near Me in Gramercy: O. Henry's Booth at Pete's Tavern

Pete's Tavern has poured drinks at 129 East 18th Street, on the corner of Irving Place, since 1864, and the bar calls itself New York's oldest continuously operating restaurant and bar. That makes it a natural first stop for anyone typing haunted pub crawl near me in Gramercy. The doors open at noon every day and stay open until 2 am, a house draft costs $9, and the ghost most people come looking for is a writer who never paid much of a tab.

The ghost story here is literary rather than gruesome. Frommer's New York guide tells readers they might see O. Henry sitting alone in a booth, unkempt, sipping beer between paragraphs of The Gift of the Magi. The tavern's own history page is more specific: William Sydney Porter, a neighborhood regular, wrote that story in the second booth around 1905, while living down the street at 55 Irving Place, and it ran in print that December. He also slipped the bar, then called Healy's, into his story The Lost Blend.

What separates Pete's from a themed Halloween bar is that almost nothing has been added for effect. The forty-foot rosewood bar, the carved back bar, the pressed-tin ceiling and the tile floor have been in place since 1864, according to the owners, and so have the wooden booths and the cabinets above them. The walls carry old photographs of locals, celebrities and the room itself. On a crawl, it is the stop where the age is real and the decor is simply what survived.

Start with the beer list. Pete's 1864 House Ale is $9 on draft, the same price as the Easy Light Lager and Brooklyn Lager, while a Guinness Stout runs $11. A non-alcoholic Guinness is also $11, which helps if you are pacing yourself for four or five bars. Threes Brewing's Logical Conclusion IPA is $11 for drinkers who want something local and hoppier. Order the house ale first anyway: it is the only pour named for the year the bar opened.

Food matters on a crawl, and Pete's kitchen runs later than most. The O. Henry Chicken Wings come with celery and bleu cheese for $17, a fair share for two people standing at the bar. The Classic Nachos, piled with pico di gallo, three cheeses, guacamole, black beans, sour cream, jalapeños and red onion, cost $19 and feed a group. The kitchen closes at 11 pm Sunday through Thursday and at midnight on Friday and Saturday, so eat here if this is a late stop.

If the crawl is your dinner, sit in a booth and order properly. The Fish and Chips use fresh cod fried in a batter made with Pete's own ale and arrive with fries, malt vinegar and tartar sauce for $29. Shepherd's Pie with ground lamb and beef, English peas and a mashed potato crust is $28 and comes with one side. Skip the 16oz grilled New York strip at $44 on a pub night; it is a sit-down plate that slows the group down.

Timing shapes the night. Happy hour runs Monday to Friday from 4 pm to 6 pm, which is the best window for the booths before after-work crowds fill the front room. Weekends after 9 pm bring a younger, louder crowd standing two deep at the rail. If your group wants the second booth for photos, come early on a weekday and ask politely; it is a working table, not a roped-off exhibit, and staff will seat whoever is waiting.

Pete's takes reservations through Resy, linked from its website, and that is worth doing for groups of four or more on a Friday or Saturday. Solo drinkers and couples can usually find space at the bar without one. If the bar room is full, the dining rooms behind it share the same original fittings, and the sidewalk cafe, which the tavern dates to the early 1950s, works on mild October evenings. The upstairs room with its own bar is reserved for private parties.

The room itself rewards a slow look. Light is low and mostly tungsten, the booths are narrow and high-backed, and the photographs climb nearly to the tin ceiling. On a weekday you will see Gramercy regulars with a pint and a newspaper, office groups from Park Avenue South, and literary tourists asking about the booth. The unwritten rule is simple: the bartenders keep the rail moving, so order, pay and step back so the next person can reach the taps.

The Prohibition chapter is the part that makes Pete's feel like a crawl stop rather than a dinner spot. When alcohol was outlawed, the tavern disguised itself as a florist, with orchids, roses and gardenias in the window. Customers who knew the password came in through a side door, now the first dining room, and were led through a dummy refrigerator door into the bar. The owners say the hinges of that door are still intact. Ask the bartender to point them out.

The ownership trail is short and documented. The building went up in 1851 as the Portman Hotel, with a grocery and grog store on the ground floor that began serving in 1864. Tom and John Healy bought it in 1899 and ran it as Healy's Cafe, the name O. Henry knew. In 1922 they sold it to Peter D'Belles, and the name Pete's Tavern has stayed on the sign ever since, through Prohibition, repeal in December 1933 and every decade after.

After Pete's, walk the literary block instead of jumping straight to the next bar. Head north on Irving Place to 55 Irving Place, where O. Henry lived from 1903 to 1907, then continue two blocks to Gramercy Park. The park itself is private and locked to anyone without a resident key, so circle the iron fence along Gramercy Park South and look at the brownstone clubhouses facing it. From there, Park Avenue South and Union Square lead toward the rest of your crawl.

A few practical notes for the stop. There is no dress code beyond what you would wear to any neighborhood tavern. Street parking around Irving Place is scarce on weekend nights, so the subway is the better choice. Costumes are fine in October, but leave bulky props at home; the aisle between the booths and the bar is tight.

Pete's suits the crawler who wants history before volume: book clubs, visiting friends who ask for old New York, and anyone collecting famous bars in one evening. It suits groups less well after 10 pm on Saturdays, when the noise rises and the booths stay occupied. Treat it as the opening chapter of a haunted pub crawl. Order the 1864 House Ale, look for the second booth and the refrigerator hinges, eat something, then walk out into Irving Place.