• Source: 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. The restaurant houses more than 50,000 clay smoking pipes, making it one of the largest collections in the world. The establishment is also famous for their renowned mutton chops.




History


The restaurant was founded in 1885 by Albert Keen in Herald Square, what was then the Theater District. It is also the only surviving establishment of the former district.
Only men were allowed entry up until 1905, when after being declined entry, the actress Lillie Langtry, sued them in court and won. One of the upstairs dining rooms is named in her honor.
In 1935 Keens sold its one millionth mutton chop, which to this day is still its signature dish.
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."
In 1928, Keens was purchased by restaurateur and real estate developer Herman Zuch and his family operated it until following his death in 1971 his son David Zuch closed it in 1977 after failing to find a buyer. It was eventually purchased by radiation oncologist George Schwarz (1931-2016) and his wife, the artist Kiki Kogelnik. At the time, the couple already owned a number of other restaurants in the city, including Elephant and Castle, One Fifth and NoHo Star. With Kogelnik overseeing the design they ended up spending $1.4 million and three years restoring it before it reopened in 1981.
The wood-paneled walls of the main dining room, the bar and various dining rooms are home to approximately 500 artifacts collected over the history of the restaurant.
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, with many of the pipes hanging from the ceiling of the main dining room. Today some of the more well-known patrons’ pipes are on display including:

Theodore Roosevelt
Babe Ruth
Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Dr. Ruth) - honorary
Stephen King - honorary
Liza Minnelli - honorary
Dr. Renee Richards - honorary
John Barrymore
David Belasco
“Buffalo Bill” Cody
George M. Cohan
Albert Einstein
General Douglas MacArthur
Grace Moore
J.P. Morgan
Will Rogers
Billy Rose
Adlai Stevenson
Stanford White
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.
Keens is the second-oldest steakhouse in New York City after the Old Homestead Steakhouse. Keens changed ownership and closed for renovation in 1979. It was resold in November 2024 to the businessman Tilman Fertitta for $30 million.




See also


List of James Beard America's Classics
List of the oldest restaurants in the United States
List of restaurants in New York City
List of steakhouses




References






External links



Official website
Anthony Bourdain’s Guide to Disappearing New York

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Keens Steakhouse
• Keen
• List of steakhouses
• Landry's
• Old Homestead Steakhouse
• List of restaurants in New York City
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• Rezdôra
• Babbo (restaurant)
• B&H Dairy