Old Town Bar & Restaurant

Photograph: Meghan Petersen

The place:
Old Town Bar & Restaurant (45 E 18th St between Broadway and Park Ave South, 212-529-6732)

The drinker: Brooklyn native, Army veteran and high-school classics teacher Philip Schwartz, 69, has been coming here four times a week since 1966—Schwartz says his colleagues tease that the bar calls out his name whenever he walks by.

The routine: Schwartz arrives solo, but often joins his posse of fellow locals and vets at the bar “south of the pumps” (their lingo for taps) around 4pm. By 6pm, a younger set takes over and the military men begin covertly analyzing the newcomers using clicks (kilometers in the army, barstools here). “It’s our way of talking about them in code: Check out so-and-so, two clicks north of the pumps.”

The order: Though Schwartz isn’t attached to one particular drink, he admits to sometimes downing a Jameson “all in one gulp.” He smiles wistfully when talking about his occasional Canadian Club and ginger ale, which reminds him of his father’s drink; when Schwartz would join his dad at Brooklyn pubs as a boy, “I’d have a ginger ale, he’d have a Calvert and ginger ale.”

He says: “In 1966, there were no beers on tap. The staff seemed surly. There was a hot plate in the back for hot dogs.” Now, Schwartz says, “It’s a social club that we all look forward to. Even people who come in here looking for hipness are impressed by the majesty of the place itself.” As for service, “When my in-laws visited, I just left them drinking Bloody Marys at the end of the bar. The barkeep took care of them.” We asked one of his fellow regulars, Dave Gustafson, if Schwartz is the best representation of Old Town. “Let’s put it this way,” he replies sourly, “he’s been here the longest.”

—Alex Van Buren

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