Misty Gonzales has been tending bar at T.J. Byrnes, an Irish pub in the financial district of Manhattan, for 13 years. For most of that time, she has served office workers, college students, and city employees.
Two years ago, she noticed some unfamiliar faces. This new crowd was younger and usually stopped in for poetry readings, book-club gatherings, and parties. Apart from their age, their drink orders set them apart.
“Martini is the biggest thing — I couldn’t even get over how many people are drinking martinis,” Gonzales said. “Lots of Negronis, too.”
In the past year, the pub has hosted talks led by the art critic Dean Kissick, a holiday party for the leftist publication Dissent, a monthly reading series called Patio, a performance-art karaoke competition, and a pre-Valentine’s Day party for single readers of Emily Sundberg’s Substack newsletter Feed Me.
Some of Sundberg’s 180 guests were initially confused by the choice of location. “This was the first time people have texted me before being like, ‘What is this place?'” Sundberg, 30, who first went to the bar for a friend’s birthday a couple years ago, said. “I wouldn’t go as far as to call it the new Clandestino,” she added, referring to the downtown bar that is often bursting at the seams along Canal Street. “But if you have brand events — magazine parties, readings — it’s become a venue.”
At first glance, T.J. Byrnes might seem like an unlikely draw for writers, artists, and fashion types. The bar is nestled in an austere plaza behind a Key Foods grocery store, at the base of a 27-story residential building. The façade looks onto a courtyard it shares with a preschool and a diner. The interior is unassuming, with a dark wooden bar in the front and white tablecloths and red leather booths in the back.
The bar’s eponymous owner, Thomas Byrne, 70, can be found most evenings at a cluttered desk just inside the dining room or perched at a high-top near the entrance, keeping an eye on the scene. In a pinch, he pulls pints behind the bar.
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