Keens Steakhouse

Keens Steakhouse (formerly Keen’s English Chop House) is a steakhouse restaurant located at 72 West 36th Street (between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue) in the Garment District in Manhattan, New York City.[1] The restaurant houses more than 50,000 clay smoking pipes, making it one of the largest collections in the world.[2] The establishment is also famous for their renowned mutton chops.

Keens Steakhouse
Front entrance
Restaurant information
Established1885 (approx)
Street address72 West 36th Street (between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue), in the Garment District in Manhattan
CityNew York City
StateNew York
Postal/ZIP Code10018
CountryUnited States
Coordinates40.750854°N 73.986537°W / 40.750854; -73.986537
Patrons in 1910

History

The restaurant was founded in 1885 by Albert Keen in Herald Square, what was then the Theater District.[3] It is also the only surviving establishment of the former district. [4]

A 1954 New York City tourist guide described Keen's as, "An historic and unusual inn type restaurant, featuring English mutton chops steak and roast specialties; seats 350 in several dining rooms, with old English decor. Home of the Pipe Club; bar; no entertainment. Open lunch and dinner daily, except Sunday. Moderately expensive."[5]

Patrons were given the opportunity to store fragile clay pipes at the restaurant so as to not risk breakage during transportation. The membership roster of the Pipe Club contained over 90,000 names. Today some of the more well-known patrons’ pipes are on display including:

In 2013, Zagats gave it a food rating of 26, and rated it the # 2 restaurant in the Garment District, and the 7th-best steakhouse in New York City.[1]

Keens is the second-oldest steakhouse in New York City after the Old Homestead Steakhouse. Keens changed ownership and closed for renovation in 1979.[6] It reopened under the new name.

See also

References
  1. "Keens Steakhouse". Zagat. Archived from the original on June 4, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  2. Bruni, Frank (December 14, 2005). "Where the Lore Is Part of the Lure". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2012. Look to the ceilings of various dining rooms, which are spread over two floors of three connected townhouses, and behold row upon row of clay pipes. There are more than 50,000 of them, the property of Keens customers who, in tobacco-friendlier times, stowed and used them in the restaurant.
  3. Schulz, Bill (March 2, 2012). "A Pipe Dream Comes to Life". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2012. Starting in 1885, when Albert Keen opened his restaurant and saloon, now known as Keens Steakhouse, the destination has provided post-dinner pipes to the likes of Babe Ruth, Theodore Roosevelt and Buffalo Bill Cody. Keen, who managed the acting and literary society called the Lamb's Club, on West 36th Street, in what was then the theater district, opened up his self-named restaurant next door.
  4. "New York City Steakhouse | Keens Steakhouse". www.keens.com. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  5. Leonard, Bill (1954). This is New York: Around town with Bill Leonard popular WCBS Radio star. Boston, MA: Travel Enterprises, Inc. p. 117.
  6. Kral, Georgia; Levy, Nicole (July 6, 2018). "NYC's oldest restaurants will take you back in time". am New York. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
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