McSorley’s Old Ale House

John McSorley opened this ale house on East 7th Street in 1854, and it kept pouring through Prohibition by serving a 'Near Beer' to keep the doors open. Women weren't legally allowed inside until 1970. The bar still serves only two beers, a light and a dark, always in pairs, poured for communal tables scattered with a thin layer of sawdust. There's no TV, no music, and it's cash only.