NYC, Midtown East. This beautiful red brick Victorian building was built in 1868. In 1884 it became a watering hole run by a Mr. Jennings, and around 1902 an Irish immigrant named Patrick Joseph Clarke became bartender there. In 1912 he bought the place and it became known as P.J. Clarke's. The bar features lots of beautiful carved and etched wood, a tin ceiling, and original tiled floor. The men's room alone is a beautiful design with stained glass, and contains Art Noveau style urinals (which they are very proud of!), similar to those at the Old Town Bar.

There are many quirky things to observe here. The pay phone has been broken for decades. There are human leg bones tucked up in the rafters. Skippy, the bar's dog mascot was taxidermied and placed behind the bar. And the ashes of the man featured in TV ads for Winston cigarettes back in the day are stored on top of the bar back.

The list of famous patrons is quite long. Johnny Mercer wrote "One For My Baby" here on a napkin. Frank Sinatra always sat at table #20. Buddy Holly proposed to his future wife here. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Harris came here often (Harris' usual was a hamburger and 6 double vodkas). Ted Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, John Jr. and Caroline were regulars (Caroline was thrown out of the bar for being drunk at age 17). And Nat King Cole proclaimed having the "Cadillac of burgers" here (the name remains on the menu to this day).

Today the bar is owned by a woman named Thea and her husband Phil. When I told Gerry the bartender about my blog and all of the British pubs I had been to he told me Thea was from East Sussex and he would go get her so I could talk to her. She and I (and Phil) had such a lovely conversation. This is what a public house is all about!

To top it all off I had a Bengali IPA from Six Point Brewing in Brooklyn (one of my favorites back in the old days) and a delicious authentic grilled chicken Caesar salad (very rare to find anymore!) What a great start to the days pub crawl.