PDT in the East Village: The Phone Booth Bar That Launched the Speakeasy Revival

The phone booth that became a door

At 113 St. Marks PlaceEast VillageThe neighborhood east of the Bowery that birthed punk at CBGB and still runs on venues, dive bars and immigrant kitchens., the entrance remains intentionally easy to miss. Crif Dogs occupies the street-level hot dog shop. Inside, a vintage wooden phone booth stands as a kind of vestibule: pick up the receiver and the booth’s back wall opens into PDT. The mechanics are simple, but the effect is not. The bar opened May 24, 2007, founded by Jim Meehan, Brian Shebairo and Chris Antista. It is widely cited as the bar that launched the modern speakeasy revival across the US.

Why the speakeasy revival followed

PDT did not invent secrecy. Prohibition-era bars had already turned concealment into a survival tactic. What PDT changed was the template: a recognizable front business, a prop-like entry, a reservation list, and a cocktail program serious enough to justify the theater. The bar’s name, Please Don’t Tell, reinforced the joke quietly without explaining it. That remains the point. The phone booth became a meme before smartphones made everything a meme. Other bars copied the pattern in New York and beyond, using laundromats, barber shops, and unmarked doors as thresholds. PDT remained the reference point. Its location near ChinatownChinatownManhattan's dense, working Chinese neighborhood of markets, dumpling counters and a century and a half of history. and Little Italy also placed it within a nightlife corridor where old New York and new cocktail culture overlap.

What PDT is now

The bar still sits behind the phone booth inside Crif Dogs, which is the central fact of the story. That persistence matters. Trends usually shed their original props, PDT kept its prop and made the ritual part of the brand. The phone booth is not a gimmick that failed. It is the door. The hot dog shop is not a cover that disappeared. It is the address. For travelers, the appeal is not just a drink. It is the brief, slightly ridiculous moment of picking up a receiver and stepping through a wall.

How to visit PDT

Check the official PDT page for current hours and reservation policy, then plan around the East Village. The bar is at 113 St. Marks Place, inside Crif Dogs. The phone booth is the entrance, stand in the booth, pick up the receiver, and wait for the back wall to open. Off-peak times may be easier for walk-ins, but a planned slot is the safer approach. Dress is casual, and the space is small. For a wider Lower Manhattan context, pair the visit with a walk through Chinatown and Little Italy or a sunset trip to the Brooklyn BridgeBrooklyn BridgeThe 1883 Gothic-towered suspension bridge whose elevated walkway is the city's most famous free walk.. A guided East Village drinks-history walk can add context on the neighborhood’s saloon past, from $45 (estimated). Check traveler reviews on the activity page. If the night is still young, Central ParkCentral ParkThe 843-acre engineered wilderness at Manhattan's heart, designed by Olmsted and Vaux in 1858. is a short subway ride north for a late walk.

More on the place itself: chinatown little italy.