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Please Don't Tell
Please Don't Tell
Restaurant information
Established	May 24, 2007
Owner(s)	Jeff Bell
Previous owner(s)	Brian Shebairo
Street address	113 St. Mark's Place, New York City
Coordinates	40°43′38″N 73°59′02″W / 40.727112°N 73.983766°W
Website	www.pdtnyc.com

PDT, also known as Please Don't Tell, is a speakeasy-style cocktail bar in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. The bar is often cited as the first speakeasy-style bar and thus originator of the modern speakeasy trend,^[1]^[2] and has influenced the American bar industry in numerous ways,^[3] including beginning a sea change in New York City's cocktail culture.^[2] In 2010, GQ rated it one of the top ten bars in the United States.^[4]

Attributes

The speakeasy bar is located in a hidden space alongside the hot dog shop Crif Dogs.^[1] Inside the shop is a wooden phone booth, which patrons use to be let into the bar; the back wall of the phone booth serves as the main door into PDT.^[3] The unmarked, complex way of entering that PDT employs is considered the ideal element of a speakeasy-style bar.^[5]

Inside, the bar has a small amount of space, for no more than four dozen people. The space has bar stools as well as a few booths and tables. The bar's menu includes craft cocktails and snacks, including gourmet hot dogs, tater tots, and french fries.^[3]

History

The bar was founded by Jim Meehan, Brian Shebairo, and Chris Antista in 2007. The three began work in March; the bar opened three months later, on May 24, 2007.^[3] The bar's origin was partly due to the space – the next-door hot dog shop had a liquor license, and the bar owners found a legal way to make the liquor license extend into the bar, with the entrance from within the hot dog shop. There is a separate door to PDT, but if it was in use, the liquor license would not have been valid.^[6]

In 2014, Jim Meehan, who was overseeing the bar's operations, moved to Portland, Oregon, to raise his family. Meehan's responsibilities then passed onto Jeff Bell.^[7]

In 2019, Bell, by then the bar's general manager, purchased the bar and Crif Dogs from the then-owner, Shebairo. Meehan was forced out of his position and taken off the payroll at that time; it was explained that he was living in Portland, Oregon for years by that time.^[1] Bell, who started at PDT around 2010 as a barback, attributed the decision to force out Meehan from Brian Shebairo, and amid rising rent and labor costs.^[7]

The bar became influential, including its co-founder Jim Meehan. Meehan was named best American bartender in 2009 at industry conference Tales of the Cocktail, and PDT earned the first-ever James Beard Award for outstanding bar program in 2012. Meehan went on to write the PDT Cocktail Book, containing some of the bar's recipes,^[3] along with the PDT Cocktails app. Both are frequently-used tools in many high-end bars.^[7]

A second location, PDT Hong Kong, is located in the landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel. The bar is also hidden behind a phone booth, and as of 2019 includes managing partners Jeff Bell, Brian Shebairo, and Jim Meehan.^[7]