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"In the middle of an apartment complex in the South Street Seaport, T.J. Byrnes is an unlikely gathering place for groups of people reading poetry around tables draped with thick red tablecloths. But thanks to a seemingly endless number of rooms, this cavernous Irish pub has become a premier large-group gathering spot downtown. T.J. Byrnes has been open since 1995 and is typically frequented by Guinness drinkers at the bar, or lobster eaters on the occasional Friday Lobster Night. More recently, it's also also become a haven for dirty martini drinkers. (They make a good one here, with three olives.) Drifting down from Dimes Square, the martini crowd tends to slink in around 11:30. Writer’s groups and solo drinkers with a standing bar seat A coveted pen and a small scarf" - bryan kim, molly fitzpatrick, willa moore, will hartman