There have been quite a few different owners of Julius’ over the years and each one of them has added groups of photographs over the bar area and in the back room. In the 1950s, the bar started being frequented by a large gay clientele including Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, and Rudolf Nureyev. They originally had been gas-powered but later were electrified. We also still use the original wagon wheel light fixtures, which came off of the old ice wagons that delivered ice to the bar. You can even see where the barrels were tapped!
The Jacob Ruppert Brewery was established in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan in 1867 and was one of the largest and most prominent breweries in New York City and the United States. The smaller barrels that we repurposed as seating were the original beer barrels from the bars’ beer delivery by the Jacob Ruppert Brewery. The wood bar itself is even propped up by vintage beer barrels! There are decades of carvings in the bar and it is interesting to see all the names and dates of people who drank here over the years. The long wooden bar that we still use today dates back to at least Prohibition or possibly even before Prohibition. The bar still uses the original wagon wheel light fixtures that were originally gas-powered.
It cost $200 for the license to be issued under the name Julius’ Restaurant and it is license number 120.Ĭarved in the bar are the names and dates of people who drank at Julius’ over the decades. We have the original liquor license dated June 30, 1934. After Prohibition ended, the bar was legally licensed as Julius’. When they were replaced, they had to make them look old by putting pits and scratches in them and dulling the brass. There are some that are missing from the base of the bar because they came loose, and we even had to replace four of them that were stolen at one point. We can’t date the Basset Hound footrests but they are definitely very old and for the most part, have survived throughout the years. Because we are the third oldest bar in New York City in constant operation under the same name, the Prohibition bartender story also doesn’t make a lot of sense. That’s the story I like to believe and why we pretty much use the Basset Hound dog as our logo. People say that the original owner’s dog was a Basset Hound named Julius and that is why there are all these Basset Hound footrests. One is that during Prohibition, the bartender’s name was Julius, so people starting saying, “Oh, let’s go see Julius.” Another one involves the solid brass footrests, the Basset Hounds at the base of the bar.
The name Julius’ has different stories attached to it. Some say that the original owner’s dog was a Basset Hound named Julius and that is why there are all these Basset Hound footrests at the base of the bar. It cost $200 for the license to be issued under the name Julius’ Restaurant
The bar holds the original liquor license dated June 30, 1934. During Prohibition and even during the Gay Bar raids in the 1960s, the tunnel served as an escape route.
It’s been bricked up due to newer fire code regulations, but when all these neighboring buildings were erected in the 1800s, tunnels were put into the basements for coal delivery purposes. In the basement, there was an old tunnel that led across the street. Unfortunately, we had to take the door down and replace it during the renovation but Helen still has it at her home. Until around fourteen years ago, we still used the original back door entrance, which even had a peephole in it. When the City would shut down one door during a Prohibition raid, people would just use a different entrance or exit. At one point this corner was a stagecoach stop and between the two buildings was a courtyard where they would bring in the horse and carriages.ĭuring Prohibition, this was a popular speakeasy and there were seven doors that functioned as entrances or exits. Julius’ is actually comprised of two buildings and when you are inside you can see a little dip in the ceiling where the two buildings were connected. This space dates back to the 1840s when it originally operated as a dry goods store. The following is transcribed from an interview with long-time bartenders, Tracy O’Neill and Daniel Onzo.