Beckett’s History
Beckett’s is located in a landmark building in the Stone Street Historic District, and has proudly been serving the Financial District for several decades. Learn more about the rich New York history and Irish cultural heritage that inspired and built Beckett’s to what it is today.
➵ 1693
A historically significant address
Beckett’s is not only located on Stone Street — the oldest paved street in NYC — but specifically on the address where William Bradford set up New York City’s first printing press in 1693.
Our building became a protected NYC landmark in 1996 and was added to the National Register of Historical Places in 1999.
➵ 1995
Beckett’s opens in the Financial District
Beckett’s was first opened on Pearl Street in 1995, a few blocks from the current address on Stone Street, which we relocated to just a few years later.
We’re proud to have been serving the Financial District for three decades — through thick and thin —whether it’s been as the go-to lunch spot and watering hole for the stock broker crowd during the iconic 90’s Wall Street era; through the tumultous times of 9/11, the 2008 stock market crash, or the 2020 pandemic; or as the lively sports bar where locals come together, which we’ve tranformed into today.
➵ Our namesake
Who was Samuel Beckett?
Beckett’s is named after Samuel Beckett (b. 1906, d. 1989), the famous Irish award-winning poet and novelist, born in Dublin.
He is considered one of the last modernist writers, and one of the key figures in what Martin Esslin called the Theatre of the Absurd. When Beckett won the Nobel Prize in 1969, his wife Suzanne, who anticipated he wouldn’t enjoy the fame, commented: “This is a catastrophe”. Beckett refused to attend the Nobel ceremony.
“Perhaps my best years are gone… but I wouldn’t want them back. Not with the fire in me now.” — Samuel Beckett
Location
81 Pearl St 48 Stone Street
New York, NY
10004