P. J. Clarke's is a saloon and gastropub, established in 1884 and is one of the oldest continuously operating restaurants in NYC. It occupies a building located at 915 Third Avenue on the northeast corner of East 55th Street in Manhattan. It has a second location at 44 West 63rd Street on the southeast corner of Columbus Avenue. as well as a location at 250 Vesey St in Battery Park. Outside of NYC, there are locations in Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The restaurant is primarily known for its hamburgers such as the Cadillac.

History

The bar was once owned by a Patrick J. Clarke, an Irish immigrant who was hired in the early 1900s by a Mr. Duneen who ran the saloon. After about ten years working for him Clarke bought the bar and changed the name. The building is a holdout and is surrounded by 919 Third Avenue, a 47-story skyscraper. Clarke's former owners, the Lavezzo brothers, signed a deal in which the building housing the saloon was sold for $1.5 million and a 99-year lease was signed with Tishman Realty and Construction. However, due to financial reverses the Lavezzos were forced to sell their interest to a consortium, which includes George Steinbrenner, Timothy Hutton, and others. Prior to his arrest in 2008, Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, whose offices were located near to the bar, was also an investor. The building was originally a four-story structure. It lost the top two floors when the skyscraper went up in the late 1960s. On the second floor there is now a separate upstairs bar/restaurant called Sidecar, which offers a more formal dining experience. There are two locations in Brazil. Its first location outside the U.S. opened on November 7, 2008, in São Paulo, Brazil, as a partnership with local entrepreneur Maria Rita Pikielny Marracini.

Notable visitors

The bar has catered to a number of notables over the years:

Reviews

In 2013, Zagat gave it a food rating of 18. Was given an 84 by New York Magazine.

In popular culture

In literature

In film

In television