This month, Pete’s Candy Store celebrated 25 years on Lorimer Street. And even more impressive is that it did so without ever having to sacrifice the true essence of the venue and bar along the way.
Back in the late ’90s, owner Andy McDowell zeroed in on 709 Lorimer to become home to the venue he dreamed of opening after leaving the film and TV industry. Unsurprisingly, the neighborhood looked vastly different back then, and what’s currently a bustling area surrounding McCarren Park was much less so pre-Y2K (and for multiple more years after that).
“I ended up discovering the Pete’s storefront just ’cause I had walked by it a few times. The location at the time, particularly between Frost and Richardson, was like the Bermuda Triangle; nobody walked by there,” McDowell, who moved to Williamsburg in 1990, recalled. “For me, I was like, ‘Oh, this is perfect. This is like an oasis.’ So that was part of the charm.”
Prior to becoming Pete’s in December 1999, the space at 709 Lorimer had previously been a general store (Funzi’s), a greasy spoon-type diner, gambling spot, social club, and all-around neighborhood haunt (particularly for Italian-Americans at the time). Jerry Trotta, the previous building owner, grew up in it and watched ownership pass between his grandfather and father, then ultimately to him. It was Trotta who rented it to McDowell for a reported $800 a month (according to a 20th anniversary profile by Bedford + Bowery) at the time. For perspective, according to StreetEasy, you could rent 1/6th of an apartment at 695 Lorimer for that price today.
As the story is told, former tenant and business owner Pete Caruso is the reason for the Pete’s Candy Store moniker, and the name stuck even as it transitioned to its current form under McDowell and replaced poker tables in the back room with a stage for performances.
“I was interested in doing something that was more than a bar, and I really felt like live music was such a burning center of things to give meaning to a place,” McDowell said.
And give meaning it did. Pete’s has had no shortage of heavy-hitting artists and musicians come through its doors, including Vampire Weekend, Sharon Van Etten, Devendra Banhart, Norah Jones, and the beloved Reverend Vince Anderson and his Love Choir, to name only a few. (Dua Lipa also filmed her “Don’t Start Now” music video there in 2019.) And while those names are solid draws today, Pete’s has always maintained its commitment to platforming and showcasing up-and-coming, indie, and unknown acts, especially through their open mic nights.
Over time, Pete’s has also continued to grow its programming, from hosting weekly trivia and comedy shows to serving as a regular meeting spot for Astronomy on Tap and Zine Fest. Jamie Hook is one such regular and programming wizard who has grown with Pete’s, starting with his idea for a lecture series, then talk show, and now he currently hosts its famed Kentucky Derby party and a silent writing night every Tuesday.
“I must have gotten involved with [Pete’s] right after their fifth birthday or so,” Hook explained. “It feels like a place that’s so intimately defined as New York that God forbid I were ever to become big for my britches, there’s no pants large enough to break me away from Pete’s.”
One (or many, most likely) might ask what the special sauce is for keeping a quintessentially New York place like Pete’s running so long. For McDowell, the answer is incredibly simple: the people.
“I think it comes from, it sounds corny, but the love that was put into it. In the very beginning, it was basically built by me and my friends. And then it was staffed by me and my friends and we all did it together, basically,” he noted. “It had a very organic beginning and I feel like that connectivity has stayed with it the whole time. The demographics of Williamsburg eventually shifted, and so, to a certain extent, the customer base has changed, but the connection and cohesion of the staff has remained and that’s such an important thing. Our staff is just the best.”
“[Pete’s] is a humble place,” Hook concurred. “I think the humility is really woven through the place. And it’s a tight operation — nothing survives as a bar in New York unless it can shut down all the random noise that comes with it. I think that’s something very under-appreciated about Pete’s. Most of [the work] is forgotten, but when you do that much, eventually someone’s gonna cross your stage who is gonna go onto a brilliant career, and because of how it’s organized, that’s very, very palpable with Pete’s.”
And while McDowell, despite personally being the type to avoid a crowded bar until he opened one, could tell early on that Pete’s was something special, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been plenty surprised along the way. There was Covid, of course, but even more so, he didn’t expect to learn just how much a small business like Pete’s could mean to people.
“I had no real plans for what I was gonna do. I never really thought that I was gonna end up staying in New York for all these years,” he admitted. “I think I would’ve been a lot more cynical if I was not involved in this business. But people care about what they do and what they’re connected to, and so I’m sort of surprised by how warm and local people really are.”
If none of the above has you convinced that Pete’s can withstand many more decades in the neighborhood, have no fear. Not only does McDowell now own the building after it was sold to him by Trotta, he has no grand plans to change up the formula that’s proven to work all these years.
“My only hope is that it stays exactly the same. It’s gonna be the same old Pete’s Candy Store,” McDowell said.
Keep an eye on Pete’s Instagram for details about a bigger 25th anniversary celebration materializing in the next few months.