New York on Tap 2008
Archive · modern edition Every bar New York on Tap knew, as it stood around 2008, with a 2026 check on each one. This page in the 2008 edition

No photo of this bar survives from the 2008 site.

The Mean Fiddler

266 W. 47th St.
Midtown West, Manhattan

In 2026

Still pouring

Checked October 16, 2026.

Show on the map Directions See the 2008 page

Overview

This Irish pub once home to the infamous gay bar Stella's, is trying to achieve a more familty friendly brand of debauched night - the kind that ends in the whole bar singing off key to The Wild Rover.

History

Back from last call, Wild Rover intact

When we listed it, we said the Mean Fiddler was going for a more family-friendly brand of debauched night, the kind that ends with the whole bar singing The Wild Rover off key. The McNamee brothers, former bartenders themselves, had set up at 266 West 47th Street in 20051. Before they took over, the space was a gay bar1, Stella's, as we noted at the time.

In October 2020 IrishCentral reported that COVID, combined with an unflinching landlord, meant the pub could no longer survive1.

It didn't stay closed. A deal with a new tenant to take over the space fell through, by McNamee's account, and the bar reached a new agreement with its landlord2. It reopened in March 2021 with new flooring, a repainted bar and new kitchen equipment2.

It's still at 266 West 47th Street, open every day from 11 in the morning until 4 the next3. That leaves plenty of time for The Wild Rover.

Sources

  1. irishcentral.com
  2. ny.eater.com
  3. themeanfiddlernyc.com

Researched October 2026.

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