Johnny’s Bar

New York, New York

Field Note

Finding a dive bar in New York City is a bit more complicated than it once was, certain pockets of the city gentrified beyond the ability for an affordable, neighborhood drinking spot to make a go of it without resorting to expensive, excessively named cocktails. Johnny’s Bar is one West Village holdout, the postage stamp size of the space likely a benefit, allowing it to continue as it always has without risking redevelopment.

Owner Peter Gonzalez has helmed the West Village institution for at least three decades, relocating from Corpus Christi and subsequently opening Johnny’s Bar. In true dive bar fashion, signage is minimal, a large neon sign jutting out from the building simply reading “BAR” when not otherwise obscured by scaffolding. A small green sign under the bar’s front window is inscribed with the name of the bar and the trademark “Shot of the Day,” a West Village rarity.

When the bar opened in 1990, it was given no name, the neon sign prompting neighborhood regulars to simply refer to it as “Bar.” When the husband of a well-loved couple who lived above the bar passed away, the occasion was chosen to finally christen the bar with, you guessed it, the name of that beloved neighborhood resident, Johnny.

Decades of operation in New York City entrails weathering a storm or two, the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in sidewalk tents and the offering of hot dogs to comply with food & alcohol rules instituted by the city to accommodate otherwise restricted businesses. As the pandemic receded, so did the hot dog machine, vanished back to Gonzalez’s home.

In a city as wildly diverse as New York, Johnny’s Bar feels familiar, a slice of a dive bar found anywhere else in the country wedged into one of the densest cities on the planet. The format is unsurprising, an L-shaped bar on one side of the snug space with seating dotting the remaining square footage. String lights hover over the space behind the bar covered with license plates, stickers, liquor bottles and bits of dive bar wisdom captured in signs and handwritten notes. A running tally of drinks purchased for others can also be found behind the bar, two deceased regulars marked permanently at the top of the list.

In keeping with the dimensions of the space, the ceiling feels a bit lower here, painted blue and covered with at least one giant poster of a men’s magazine. Perusing the stickers that nearly surround the bar is worth the affordable price of admission, every corner of the world well represented (including this humble publication). Each layer of sticker feels a bit like a new geological era uncovered as witty sayings and nods to musical acts age as they can be found deeper and deeper among the assorted bursts of stickered color.

Vinyl floors underfoot and wood paneling throughout Johnny’s Bar add a bit of classic dive bar warmth mixed with interior brick that mirrors the bar’s exterior. Aside from a stool at the bar itself, the best seating option here is the small bench in the bar’s front window, the view obscured only by a small illuminated sign, providing ample view of the city outside with the comfort of a discount shot of the day in hand.