Union Square
Venues and stops in this neighborhood
Places
12 places · 6 venues · 6 stopsEverything we cover in Union Square, A to Z. Pick a venue for what is on, or a stop for somewhere to be before or after.
Sawdust on the floor and a wood-burning fireplace that gets lit in winter, in a bar that has stood at 287 Third Avenue since 1895. Peter O'Connell took it over in 1991 and gave it the current name. The mahogany bar is original and the Guinness pour takes as long as it should.
Every day, 11am to 4am
Opened at 45 East 18th in 1892 and still running a dumbwaiter that hauls plates from the basement kitchen to the upstairs dining floor, the oldest one working in the city. Tin ceilings above a long mahogany bar, and a burger that has not changed much. The upstairs is where you go when the bar is three deep.
Mon, 11:30am to midnight. Tue to Thu, 11:30am to 12:30am. Fri, 11:30am to 1am. Sat, 11:30am to 12:30am. Sun, noon to 10:30pm
On the corner of Irving Place and East 18th since 1864, which makes it the longest continuously operating bar and restaurant in New York. The front bar is the original and the booths are worn, and O. Henry is supposed to have written The Gift of the Magi in one of them. It is open until 2am seven days a week.
Every day, noon to 2am. Kitchen closes at 11pm Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday
A narrow takeout counter on East 17th run by a Syrian family for about three decades, selling a falafel sandwich for a few dollars. The owner opened a candy store on the block in 1989 and worked his way to this. There is nowhere to sit, so take it into Union Square.
Mon to Sat, 11am to 8pm. Closed Sunday
Four floors of used and new books at Broadway and 12th, open since 1927 and still run by the founding family. The dollar carts sit outside on the Broadway side and the rare book floor is at the top. You can spend ten minutes or two hours and nobody will approach you.
Listings updated September 2026 post 10am to 9pm daily. The store's antiquarian trade listing gives a later 10:30pm close, so the evening edge is not settled
GrowNYC has run this market at the north and west edges of Union Square year round since 1976, with more than 140 growers and producers rotating through. It runs four days a week in all weather. Buy something you can eat standing up and take it into the park.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 8am to 6pm, year round