PubKey Bar: Where Bitcoin Culture Meets Serious Bar Food

Photography courtesy of Pubkey Google Business Profile

There is a bar in Greenwich Village, New York City, where a real-time Bitcoin ticker scrolls across the wall while someone at the end of the bar nurses a Miller High Life mixed with Campari and sweet vermouth. They call that drink “The Pleb.” It costs a few bucks. You can pay with Bitcoin if you want.

That is PubKey in a nutshell — a wood-paneled tavern that feels like the neighborhood spot your grandfather drank at, except the regulars are debating the Lightning Network between rounds.

It is not a tech conference with a liquor license. It is not a cryptocurrency expo with a hot dog cart. It is a bar, first and last, that happens to take the subject of Bitcoin seriously. There is a difference, and the people who built PubKey understand it well.

The Setup: Greenwich Village, New York City

PubKey opened in 2022 at a time when crypto bars sounded like either a Silicon Valley vanity project or a punchline. Co-founder Thomas Pacchia, a former derivatives lawyer, had a clearer idea of what he actually wanted to build. His pitch was simple: a place where someone who had been reading about Bitcoin but did not quite understand it could walk in, order a pint, sit down next to a Bitcoiner, and just start talking.

The room delivers on that promise. Wood paneling. Draft beers. Comfort food that does not apologize for being comfort food. A “Buy Bitcoin” sign that greets you at the door. The vibe is tavern, not trade show.

What comes out of the kitchen is a different story entirely. Head Chef Greg Proechel cut his teeth at Eleven Madison Park, one of the most decorated restaurants in the country, and that background shows in the way he approaches what are, on the surface, bar classics. The hot dogs are not your standard ballpark tube steaks. The burgers use Wagyu beef and arrive in towering, triple-stacked configurations that have no business being as good as they are.

Here is the detail that separates PubKey from every other bar with an ambitious menu: everything gets fried in tallow. Beef tallow. Old-school, rendered-fat cooking that produces a depth of flavor and a crunch on the fries that vegetable oil simply cannot replicate. It is the kind of culinary decision that gets made when someone in the kitchen actually cares how things taste, not just how they photograph.

For the record, PFF needs to score these wings. A kitchen cooking in tallow, with Michelin-trained instincts behind the menu, frying chicken wings? That is a field assignment, not a suggestion.

The Bitcoin Layer

Paying your tab in Bitcoin at PubKey is not a gimmick. The bar uses the Lightning Network, a second-layer protocol built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that makes transactions faster and essentially free. You close out your tab the same way you would anywhere else, except the payment settles in satoshis.

The real-time ticker on the wall keeps the price honest. Every patron in the room knows exactly what Bitcoin is worth at the moment they are drinking. It is a small thing that turns an abstract digital asset into something immediate and present.

Currently, about seven percent of transactions at the NYC location happen via Bitcoin. That number matters less than what it represents: a working proof of concept that cryptocurrency can function as an everyday payment tool in a real, busy bar serving real people.

The weekly meetups that happen at PubKey push this further. Topics cycle through the Lightning Network, Bitcoin mining mechanics, and the philosophical underpinnings of decentralization, but the format stays loose. Past gatherings have included Christian Langalis, better known as “Bitcoin Sign Guy,” whose surprise appearance sparked one of the more memorable nights in the bar’s short history. These are not panel discussions. They are bar conversations that happen to be about something worth understanding.

PubKey also runs a podcast studio out of the location, broadcasting conversations with researchers, developers, and the occasional elected official. The bar has hosted President Trump, Senator Cynthia Lummis, Representative Ritchie Torres, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, among others. The list is deliberately bipartisan. Pacchia has described Bitcoin as a nonpartisan issue, and the guest roster reflects that.

The DC Expansion: Penn Quarter, December 2025

PubKey opened its second location at 410 Seventh Street NW in Washington DC’s Penn Quarter neighborhood on December 19, 2025. The space occupies 12,000 square feet in the former Hill Country Barbecue building, and Pacchia did not scale down the ambition to fit the address.

The DC location runs deeper than the NYC original. In addition to the bar floor with its familiar tavern aesthetic and Bitcoin vocabulary woven through the menu, there is a podcast studio, an event space for programming, and the Bitcoin Policy Institute operating out of a back section of the building. Pacchia has referred to the DC location as a “Bitcoin embassy,” and the framing is not wrong. The city where cryptocurrency legislation gets written now has a standing room where the people writing that legislation can pull up a stool and hear a different perspective.

The Pleb made the trip south. So did the Orange Pill Whale, an ever-changing tiki drink served in a Pepe-inspired frog mug that costs $100 and is payable only in Bitcoin. You do not keep the mug, but you walk out with a sweatshirt and a hat and a story about the time you bought a cocktail with digital currency in the nation’s capital.

The DC menu carries its own flag as well. The Washington Place, an Old Fashioned with bergamot, sits alongside the Cydonia, a rose-flower Cosmo. The kitchen brings the same tallow-fried ethos from New York. A steakhouse is slated to open in the basement sometime in the spring.

The shift from Greenwich Village to Penn Quarter is not just geographic. PubKey is positioning itself at the intersection of hospitality and policy at a moment when the intersection matters. That is a smart play, and it is one that a brand like Pints, Forks & Friends should be paying close attention to.

Why This Bar Matters Beyond Bitcoin

PubKey could easily have gone the other direction. They could have built a slick crypto-themed nightclub with bottle service priced in BTC and influencer walls designed for Instagram. Instead, they built a tavern. A real one, with sawdust-and-wood-panel DNA, with a chef who knows how to cook and a kitchen committed to using beef tallow because beef tallow tastes better.

That combination — genuine hospitality wrapped around a genuine idea — is exactly what makes a bar worth writing about and worth visiting. The Bitcoin part is interesting. The food is the reason to go back.

At PFF, we believe the best bars are the ones where something is actually happening, where the room has a reason to exist beyond filling seats and moving product. PubKey has a reason. It has two locations now, and a third is likely a matter of time.

The wings, though. Someone needs to review the wings. We are working on it.

Frequently Asked Questions About PubKey Bar

What is PubKey bar?

PubKey is a Bitcoin-themed bar and media concept with locations in Greenwich Village, New York City, and Penn Quarter, Washington DC. It combines a wood-paneled tavern atmosphere with weekly cryptocurrency meetups, live podcast programming, and a gourmet menu developed by a chef trained at Eleven Madison Park.

Can you actually pay with Bitcoin at PubKey?

Yes. PubKey accepts Bitcoin payments through the Lightning Network at both locations. Lightning enables near-instant transactions with minimal fees, making crypto payment practical for settling a normal bar tab. Roughly seven percent of transactions at the NYC location are completed in Bitcoin.

What is the food like at PubKey?

The menu focuses on elevated pub classics developed by Head Chef Greg Proechel. Signature items include Wagyu beef burgers, loaded hot dogs, and hand-cut fries. Everything that gets fried is cooked in beef tallow, which produces a distinctly richer flavor profile than standard vegetable oil.

Where is PubKey DC located?

PubKey’s Washington DC location opened December 19, 2025 at 410 Seventh Street NW in the Penn Quarter neighborhood, in the former Hill Country Barbecue space. The venue covers 12,000 square feet and includes a bar floor, podcast studio, event space, and the Bitcoin Policy Institute.

What is The Pleb drink at PubKey?

The Pleb is PubKey’s signature cocktail, built on a negroni sbagliato foundation: Miller High Life, Campari, and sweet vermouth. The name is a Bitcoin community reference. It is served at both the NYC and DC locations.

What is the Orange Pill Whale at PubKey?

The Orange Pill Whale is a rotating tiki drink served in a Pepe-inspired frog mug that costs $100 and is the only item on the menu that must be purchased exclusively with Bitcoin. It includes a sweatshirt and hat as part of the package.

Does PubKey have events and programming?

Both locations host a regular schedule of events including weekly Bitcoin meetups with rotating speakers, trivia nights, karaoke, live podcast recordings, and curated speaker series. The DC location partners with Gemini for a live event series called Gemini Live at PubKey.

Who are some notable guests who have visited PubKey?

PubKey’s guest list includes Donald Trump, who spent approximately $998 in Bitcoin buying food for patrons during a 2024 campaign visit, as well as Senator Cynthia Lummis, Representative Ritchie Torres, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, Michael Saylor, and the Winklevoss twins.

Is PubKey only for Bitcoin enthusiasts?

No. Co-founder Thomas Pacchia has described the bar as a place specifically designed for people who are curious but not yet converted. The format of a neighborhood tavern is intentional: lower the barrier to entry, remove the intimidation factor, and let the idea sell itself over a beer.