Pete's Tavern

The story

During Prohibition, Pete's Tavern hid in plain sight as a flower shop. The building at 129 East 18th Street had been serving drinks since at least the 1850s, first as a grocery and grog store, then as Healy's after Tom and John Healy bought it in 1899. O. Henry lived a few doors down from 1903 to 1907, and Healy's appears in his story 'The Lost Blend' as Kenealy's. Peter D'Belles renamed it Pete's in 1926. It remains New York City's oldest continuously operating restaurant and bar.