There are few things rarer than an empty New York City, but stick around in August, and you have the whole place to yourself. The trains are empty, the sidewalks are yours, and some would say, it is the greatest place on earth when everyone else has fled. So, skip the Jitney or a last-minute Eurotrip. Instead, wander aimlessly (or with purpose) one pint at a time. We’ve mapped out eight of the city’s finest pubs, from a Financial District taproom (voted the best bar in the world) to a 170-year-old East Village saloon. Consider this your excuse to stay in the city all August long (or at least for a Saturday). These are the best pubs in NYC.
Bar: The Dead Rabbit
Location: Financial District, 30 Water Street
Start where the city itself began. Housed in a brick townhouse dating to 1828, The Dead Rabbit has been crowned World’s Best Bar — not once, but twice. The ground-floor Taproom is a sawdust-on-the-floor, dollar-bills-on-the-wall Irish pub. Order a Guinness, a plate of fish and chips, and don’t skip the Irish coffee, which has a cult following. Head upstairs to the Parlor for cocktails built from 19th-century punch recipes and menus that read like graphic novels. If you’re lucky enough to be here on a Sunday, the live Irish band is reason enough to linger.
Bar: Ear Inn
Location: Hudson Square/SoHo, 326 Spring Street
Walk north into what was once the shoreline of the Hudson River — literally. The building housing the Ear Inn was originally constructed in the 1770s for James Brown, a Revolutionary War veteran. The bar itself has been pouring drinks since the 1800s, making it one of the oldest continuously operating watering holes in the city. It got its slightly odd name in the 1970s, when the owners painted over part of the neon “BAR” sign to dodge a landmark permit. Low ceilings, dark wood, and a continuous all-ages crowd. Fun fact: if you doubt its long history, a hand-painted marker on a wooden panel by the door shows the high-water flood mark left by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, alongside a second line marking the original 1766 Hudson River shoreline.
Bar: White Horse Tavern
Location: West Village, 567 Hudson Street
New York’s second-oldest continuously run tavern, open since 1880, White Horse Tavern was a sailor’s bar before it became the unofficial living room of the Beat Generation. Dylan Thomas drank his last drinks here; Jack Kerouac was ejected so many times that a regular carved “KEROUAC GO HOME!” into a bathroom stall. A 2019 refresh polished it up, including the cocktail list, but luckily, didn’t touch the brass rail, the horse-head chandeliers, or the sprawling outdoor seating. Order a pint, grab a spot outside, and toast to the ghosts.
Bar: Lord’s
Location: Greenwich Village
From the team behind Dame, Lord’s brings a special-occasion polish to modern British pub food, dubbed by the owners as “nose-to-tail cooking”. Think a menu built for pairing wine or a pint with proper fish and chips. It’s the more refined stop on this crawl, so save it for when you want a real sit-down course between rounds.
Bar: Dean’s
Location: Greenwich Village, 6th Avenue
Another more-polished option. Next door to its sister restaurant, King, sits Dean’s, from chef Jess Shadbolt and Annie Shi, the duo behind some of downtown’s most loved rooms. Shadbolt grew up in England, and she’s cooking from memory; the fish and chips are crisp and generous, and the quail scotch eggs are a don’t-miss. If you are feeling daring, the stargazy pie, with its fish heads poking through a golden crust, is the table spectacle worth ordering. Get a Guinness at the bar while you wait for a table, because there’s almost always a wait.
Bar: Pete’s Tavern
Location: Gramercy Park, 129 East 18th Street
Head north to Gramercy for New York’s oldest continuously operating bar and restaurant, pouring drinks from the same forty-foot rosewood bar since 1864. O. Henry was a regular and is said to have written The Gift of the Magi here. The tavern also stayed open straight through Prohibition, disguised as a flower shop. The tin ceilings and tile floors are all original. Order a pint, take the booth, and let the neighborhood and history work its magic.
Bar: McSorley’s Old Ale House
Location: East Village, 15 East 7th Street
The finale starts here: America’s oldest Irish saloon, pouring only two beers: light or dark. Both brewed to McSorley’s own recipe, since the 1850s. No piece of memorabilia has come off the walls since 1910, the floor is still sawdust, and the wishbones hanging from the lamps were left by soldiers heading off to fight in World War I, a promise to return and collect them. Lincoln and Roosevelt both drank here. Order in twos, the McSorley’s way, and take in a bar that feels genuinely unchanged by time.
Bar: Swift’s Hibernian Lounge
Location: NoHo, 34 East 4th Street
End the night a few blocks away at Swift’s, an ornate, wood-paneled room with chandeliers and a bar program to match, widely considered to pour the best Guinness in the city. Smithwick’s is on tap alongside it, the Irish coffees come iced or hot, and a corned beef and cabbage taco keeps the menu from taking itself too seriously. If you want one last stop with a proper Irish vibe to close out the crawl, this is it.
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FAQs
Q: Is this pub crawl walkable in one day?
A: Yes, the route runs roughly four miles from the Financial District to the East Village or you can grab a cab or the subway between stops.
Q: Which stop has the best fish and chips?
A: Dean’s and The Dead Rabbit are the standouts; Lord’s is the move if you want it paired with a more curated wine/ cocktail list.
Q: Do I need reservations anywhere?
A: Dean’s and Lord’s are worth booking ahead, especially on weekends. The rest are walk-in, first-come pub culture, part of the charm.
