Bar Mercer Already Feels Like a Longtime Soho Staple
Dianna Hubbell files the full Rundown for RESY
In 1993, restaurateur John McDonald opened MercBar behind an unmarked door at 151 Mercer Street in Soho. The slick, late-night lounge was an instant hit with the art set, with The New York Times writing of crowds in limos pouring into the neighborhood after dark. Although the place shuttered in 2013, it left a lasting impact on the city’s nocturnal scene, as did McDonald, who went on to found a string of other restaurants including Lure Fishbar, Cha Cha Tang, and Bowery Meat Company.
Then in January 2025, McDonald opened Bar Mercer on the corner of Mercer and Houston, in the same space where he had previously run Bar Tulix. The way McDonald describes it, the space is something of an inversion of its spiritual predecessor both in name and concept. Much like MercBar, the cocktails, which are organized by spirit on the menu, are excellent, but here the food is the real star of the show.
At the helm is chef Preston Clark, who is also the executive chef and culinary director at Lure Fishbar. As the son of the James Beard Award-winning chef Patrick Clark, he got into the restaurant business early. By the time he was a teenager, Clark landed his first cooking job at the iconic Tavern on the Green. Stints at other prestigious restaurants followed, including seven years in Jean-Georges’ fine dining empire. Bar Mercer’s perpetually changing specials offer him unprecedented room to showcase his technical finesse and creativity.
We caught up with Clark and McDonald to find out what visitors can expect at their new hot spot.
1. The restaurant is meant to feel like it’s been a part of the neighborhood for decades.
Bar Mercer may be brand-new, but the space already has the broken-in feel of a well-loved leather jacket. The interior is all checkered floors, sexy lighting, and lots of red in a way that feels more timeless than retro. Black-and-white photos on the wall harken back to a much older era of the area, including one shot in 1935 on the lot where the restaurant now stands.
Much of the character here comes from the fact that McDonald intentionally filled it with furnishings that have history behind them. “It’s all super personal to me,” McDonald says. “I’m constantly collecting things and buying at auctions, so everything’s old.”
While Bar Mercer isn’t a speakeasy, it does next to nothing to announce its presence. “[There’s] deliberately, no signage, no branding outside at all, no branding outside,” McDonald says. “We built the room to feel like it’s been here. Granted, it has been here, because I’ve been [at this space] for 15 years. We’re adding another layer to the existing history.”
Behind the scenes, there’s another reason the restaurant feels more seasoned than it is: much of the kitchen crew have followed Clark and McDonald for years. “You’re nothing without your team and we definitely have great teams in place,” Clark says. “I have the same guys in the kitchen that have been with me for a decade-plus.”
