Favorite defunct New York City restaurants

[Willly]

Shinbashi in midtown. Not the best food, but the kindest, most gentle, and most generous bartender you could ever meet. Sitting at the bar was always like entering another world where nothing else mattered. Drinks appeared exactly when needed, conversation occured when apppropriate, and nothing ever disturbed the peaceful vibe of the bar. Every Martini was perfect. I still wonder where he ended up...

[jeffreys1]

I miss D'artagnan. Poached foie gras in duck broth was heavenly.

I miss La Caravelle.

I miss the old Lutece.

I miss Su Su's Yum Yum on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights.

[GaijinGirl]

I miss Cooking With Jazz, in Queens. Small, and hard to find. But the best *(&(^^&*%* pecan encrusted salmon I've ever had!

--Janet (GG)

[TarteTatin]

Yeah, D'artagnan's French Kisses!

Foie gras mousse stuffed inside prunes, soaked in Armangac!

(They sell them on-line, but they are sometimes frozen and expensive, and nothing near as good as in the restaurant)

[Jmahl]

There was Sam Woo on Mott Street. Oh, the lemon chicken. Onec shared a table with Woody Allen. The Grotto Azzura, the lobster fra diablo, fried bread stuffed with cheese and fried percale. A place in Westchester called the Washington Arms for prime rib and Moreno's in Conn. I also miss Luis G. Siegel on 38th and I remember a place called the Château Lafayette with a large duck pond out back where you waited for your table. All gone, all gone.

But, on the brighter side, there are still some pretty good places left.

Food is memory,

Jmahl

[Sneakeater]

Is it too boring to say Lutece?

[albie]

Going way back to the late sixties/early seventies, and I have fond memories of Orsini's, The Italian Pavilion, San Marco, Romeo Salta, Fonda del Sol, and several of the original places on Restaurant Row, i.e., Al La Fourchette; Jack's Epicure and Chez Cardinale; then when East 56th was the bastion of upscale Italian, Lidia's old neighbors such as La Camelia, Altri Tempi, Girafe, Gian Marino, Tre Scalini, etc.

Anybody else out there remember these places?

[JohnL]

There was Sam Woo on Mott Street.  Oh, the lemon chicken.  Onec shared a table with Woody Allen.  The Grotto Azzura, the lobster fra diablo, fried bread stuffed with cheese and fried percale.  A place in Westchester called the Washington Arms for prime rib and Moreno's in Conn.  I also miss Luis G. Siegel on 38th and I remember a place called the Château Lafayette with a large duck pond out back where you waited for your table.  All gone, all gone.

But, on the brighter side, there are still some pretty good places left.

Food is memory,

Jmahl

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I think Grotto Azura is still there and open!

[chow guy]

Thre was a restaurant in NYC in the early 80's that i had never been to myself, but supposedly was "the" place to dine. It was very expensive for the time. I can't remember what it was called. Any thoughts?

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It could have been Dodin Bouffant or Quilted Girraffe...they were both very good and very pricey for the time.

[JohnL]

I loved

Flower Drum on second ave

Vienna 79

Madame Romaine de Lyon (omelet heaven)

Uncle Louise (east side in the fifties i believe--the spelling is correct)

John Clancey's (wonderful sea food in the village and later an uptown branch)

Chez Louis (David Lederman's truly amazing take on Le Amis Louis --Paris on Second avenue)

Hunam (second avenue in the forties)

Wilkinson's Seafood (York Avenue)

The Ideal Cafe (great German home style cooking on 86th Street)

Amsterdam

and who can forget:

Child's Pancake House

Tad's

Orange Julius

David's Chicken (takeout on third ave)

Edited March 13, 2006 by JohnL (log)

[rich]

Thre was a restaurant in NYC in the early 80's that i had never been to myself, but supposedly was "the" place to dine. It was very expensive for the time. I can't remember what it was called. Any thoughts?

←

It could have been Dodin Bouffant or Quilted Girraffe...they were both very good and very pricey for the time.

←

Could have been, but more likely it was The Palace located in the shadows of the 59th Street Bridge. It was very expensive and a mandatory 23% tip was added - 15 to the waiter, 5 to the captain and 3 to the wine steward. The average dinner for two was in the $350 range - very pricey for 1980. (I actually ate there in February, 1979.)

[chow guy]

I loved, and miss:

The Ideal...Yorkville 70's

Princess Pamela's Soul Food Kitchen... Lower Eastside 70's

Lutece...Eastside ... seems like forever

Oh Ho So... SoHo 70's

Chef Ma...Chinatown 70's

Hung Fat...Chinatown 70's

Le Champlain...Theatre district 60's

Rincon d'Argentina...Theatre district 70's

Munich Inn... Village 60's

The Front Porch...Village 70's

Hisae's... Village 70's

Luna...Little Italy 60's

Kiev..Lower East side 80's

Chanterelle... Easide 80's etc.

Mitali...Lower East side 70's

[JohnL]

Thre was a restaurant in NYC in the early 80's that i had never been to myself, but supposedly was "the" place to dine. It was very expensive for the time. I can't remember what it was called. Any thoughts?

←

It could have been Dodin Bouffant or Quilted Girraffe...they were both very good and very pricey for the time.

←

Could have been, but more likely it was The Palace located in the shadows of the 59th Street Bridge. It was very expensive and a mandatory 23% tip was added - 15 to the waiter, 5 to the captain and 3 to the wine steward. The average dinner for two was in the $350 range - very pricey for 1980. (I actually ate there in February, 1979.)

←

The Palace is a good possibility.

also

I recall The Forum of the Twelve Caesars (somethign like that)

[JohnL]

Claude's or Chez Claude (very fine French on 81st street I beleive)

also Trastevere--in a townhouse in the eighties)

and there was a place with the phrase "Duck Joint" in the name.

the original Brasserie.

El Toremolinos

Gatopardo

Rocky Lee's

Jam's

also--I wonder if Wo Hop is still open--a recall many marijuana fueled marathon meals there!

[Sneakeater]

I was recently at a dinner party with a young man at the beginning of his twenties who is in his first year of living in New York. He told me he had discovered a great place in Chinatown. He couldn't remember the name. I asked him what it was like, and as he went on describing it, it sounded like it had to be Wo Hop. I mentioned that name, and he remembered that was it. I told him that people in their teens and twenties have been discovering Wo Hop for a very long time.

[rich]

and there was a place with the phrase "Duck Joint" in the name.

←

The Duck Joint (its full name) was one of my favorite restaurants in the 70's. It was located on First Ave between 73-74 Streets. It was owned or partially owned by Sonja Heinie - the Olympic skater.

Great duck and goose with the best red cabbage I ever ate. But the best part was sitting at the bar with a pilsner and eating the complimentary goose/duck liver pate with crisp toast points. I never made a reservation because I enjoyed the pate so much, it didn't matter how long it took to be seated.

It probably has been closed for more than 20 years now - they actually ran into trouble with Con Edison over a huge bill and shut down.

Edited March 13, 2006 by rich (log)

[k43]

Trinacria, a Sicilian grocery on 3rd Ave. in the high 20s that made the best Italian heros ever, including green olives with pits.

Harbin Inn, one of the original Szechuan places at 100th St. and Broadway. If you knew what to ask for, and had been there often enough that they knew you were serious, you could get the real stuff.

Vinnie's Focciacaria, recently closed, at 1st Ave. below St. Marks Place -- insalata di mare that blew away the fancy places, and everything perfect.

Vincent's Clam Bar in Little Italy. Only for the scungili with super-hot sauce.

Szechuan Taste on Chatham Square and East Broadway, for their amazing chicken with orange flavor and prawns with hot spicy paste.

Z, on 15th St. before it got discovered and ruined.

Manganaro's Hero Boy in the 70s before it took a nosedive.

Shah Bagh, the first 6th Street Indian, where I learned to love truly hot stuff.

Szechuan, Broadway at 95th, particularly for their gigantic fish with (truly hot) Szechuan sauce full of shrip and scallops.

Uncle Tai's Hunan Yuan, for the first month after it opened and Uncle Tai was there, particularly for his amazing duck with young ginger.

Sign of the Dove, where my wife and I went to on Thanksgiving every year until it was swallowed by a parking lot and then a brutalist concrete tower.

Peking Duck House on Broadway at 67th, which was better than the other branches.

Say Eng Look, on the Bowrey and also on East Broadway. The 8 Jewel in Hot Sauce was my favorite of all.

Hubert's, down two steps in the 20s east of Broadway. My first and still best rack of lamb.

Hong Wah on the Bowery, the identical twin of Hong Fat, but less crowded. I can still taste the Cantonese crabs and the chow fun with preserved beef. The floor collapsed and the entire restaurant fell into the basement.

David's French Bread, formerly sold at the David's Cookies and Ice Cream stores. Nothing like it, even at Zabar's.

And the awful Mexican chain with a branch on Broadway just below Tower Records, which served the beyond gigantic Ridiculous Margarita (about a quart). Ah, youth.

[rich]

And the awful Mexican chain with a branch on Broadway just below Tower Records, which served the beyond gigantic Ridiculous Margarita (about a quart).  Ah, youth.

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El Coyote??? If it was, they had one good dish - Carnitas con Tortillas. I've tried, but have never been able to duplicate their version. It was the only good item on their menu - but it was very, very good.

[JohnL]

Wow--forgot about Uncle Tai.

the original Hunam (or Hunan) on second avenue in the forties was great!

there was also a great vegetarian Indian restaurant on forty eighth street

forget the name.

also the original Darbar

loved David's bread (and the cookies)

one of my all time favorite and most hedonistic restaurants was David's Chez Louis

FYI--he has a place in Mt Kisco called Luna.

and Thomas Keller's place Rakel

Lola's

Cafe Seiyoken

the greek place on 49th street and eighth

Arizona 206--same owners as Sign of the Dove

(Brendan Walsh is now at the Elms in Ridgefield CT)

Santa Fe

Jerry's on 23rd street (10th ave I think)

[Beanie]

I loved, and miss:

The Ideal...Yorkville 70's

Princess Pamela's Soul Food Kitchen... Lower Eastside 70's

Lutece...Eastside ... seems like forever

Oh Ho So...  SoHo 70's

Chef Ma...Chinatown 70's

Hung Fat...Chinatown 70's

Le Champlain...Theatre district 60's

Rincon d'Argentina...Theatre district 70's

Munich Inn... Village 60's

The Front Porch...Village 70's

Hisae's...  Village 70's

Luna...Little Italy 60's

Kiev..Lower East side 80's

Chanterelle... Easide 80's etc.

Mitali...Lower East side 70's

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HISAE'S!!! I've been trying to remember the name of that restaurant since first reading this thread. There were 3 locations; the first was near Cooper Union; then the Village and the West 50s. Every table got an amuse bouche consisting of a huge bunch of bright green broccoli sauteed in oil and garlic. It was the first time I ate broccoli that wasn't gray, overboiled mush. The restaurant was considered very California-ey. Lots of fresh veggies, pasta, fish. Loved that place. Thanks for remembering it.

[raji]

Another vote for Horn & Hardart!

And of course, the Miracle Cafe

[Pan]

Mark Twain is quoted as having once said that reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. Similarly, not all of the restaurants listed below are defunct.

I loved, and miss:

The Ideal...Yorkville 70's

Princess Pamela's Soul Food Kitchen... Lower Eastside 70's

Lutece...Eastside ... seems like forever

Oh Ho So...  SoHo 70's

Chef Ma...Chinatown 70's

Hung Fat...Chinatown 70's

Le Champlain...Theatre district 60's

Rincon d'Argentina...Theatre district 70's

Munich Inn... Village 60's

The Front Porch...Village 70's

Hisae's...  Village 70's

Luna...Little Italy 60's

Kiev..Lower East side 80's

Chanterelle... Easide 80's etc.

Mitali...Lower East side 70's

←

Kiev has had a checkered history recently, and is now a bar.

Chanterelle is still operating, but was it formerly on the East Side before moving to its longstanding TriBeCa location?

Mitali East is still on 6th St. I am not sure whether Mitali West is still operating, but it was last time I noticed.

[menton1]

Memories of Grilled Hot Dog Stands

(So you didn't Have to get a "dirty water dog")

Lexington Ave & 53rd (60s-70s) Grab a dog on the way into the subway...

6th Ave and 42nd Street Good chili there, too.

8th Ave & 50th St. Great stuff!

Not to mention all the Nedick's in the Subways... just loved that mustard-relish mixed together!! And orange drinks!

Any others I left out? Today, in all of Manhattan, we only have Papaya King on 86th or Katz's on Houston. Nothing in-between but the umbrellas...

[merstar]

The original Victor's Cafe on Columbus betw 70th and 71st ST. - The BEST Cuban food! (Never wanted to try the one on W.52nd)

Al Buon Gusto - W.72nd betw. Columbus and B'way

Tuesday's West - Columbus betw. 71st and 72nd

Ratner's (East Village)

Ginger Man - around W. 64th or 65th

Dairy Restaurant - W.72nd betw B'way and West End

Blazing Salads (W. Village)

Hot Woks and Master Wok (same location on upper W. Side)

Cantina (Columbus around W.71st)

[ahr]

And the awful Mexican chain with a branch on Broadway just below Tower Records, which served the beyond gigantic Ridiculous Margarita (about a quart).  Ah, youth.

←

El Coyote??? If it was, they had one good dish - Carnitas con Tortillas. I've tried, but have never been able to duplicate their version. It was the only good item on their menu - but it was very, very good.

←

It was Caramba! (punctuation included, as I recall). Ah, lost brain cells.