P. J. Clarke's

P.J. Clarke's
Restaurant information
Established	1884
City	New York City
State	New York
Country	United States
Website	www.pjclarkes.com

Logo

P. J. Clarke's is a famous saloon, established 1884 and occupying a building located at 915 Third Avenue on the northeast corner of 55th Street in New York City.

History

The bar was once owned by a Patrick J. Clarke, an Irish emigrant 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.^[1] 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 adjacent 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, offering a more formal dining experience.

Famous visitors

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

• Jackie Kennedy Onassis would bring John Jr. and Caroline in during the early 1970s for lunch on Saturdays.

• Frank Sinatra was an extremely generous tipper at P.J. Clarke's, and was considered the "owner" of Table 20. When he cruised New York bars, he would start out at Sardi's, but he would always end up at P.J. Clarke's.

• Ernest Borgnine and Ethel Merman announced their impending nuptials to an astonished crowd. (The marriage lasted less than two months.)

• Richard Harris, when asked about his favorite food, replied:

I adore the hamburgers at P.J. Clarke's. In my drinking days, it was my first stop from the airport. A fellow named Vinny used to be the bartender there, and when I told him I wanted the usual, he lined up six double vodkas. I told an interviewer that once, and he said, "That's a lot of bull, that's one of your exaggerated stories!" I said, "Call a taxi." We walked into P. J. Clarke's, I said, "Vinny, my usual." And he lined up six double vodkas.

• Nat King Cole proclaimed in the late 1950s that his P.J. Clarke's bacon cheeseburger was "the Cadillac of burgers!"

• Buddy Holly proposed to his fiancee, Maria Elena Santiago, at P.J. Clarke's on June 20, 1958. It was their first date. In honor of that, on April 29, 2011 Maria Elena Holly unveiled the never before seen "True Love Ways" photo of their wedding kiss, now displayed at P.J. Clarke’s' above Table 53.^[2]

In popular culture

P.J. Clarke's was used to represent Nat's Bar in the 1945 Ray Milland movie The Lost Weekend, directed by Billy Wilder.^[3] Charles R. Jackson, author of the novel on which that movie was based, was a regular at P. J. Clarke's.

Johnny Mercer penned One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) on a napkin while sitting at the bar at P.J. Clarke's (The bartender at that time was named Tommy Joyce, and Mercer reportedly apologized to Joyce, saying "I couldn't get your name to rhyme".)

It was mentioned in the 1969 novel The Love Machine, by Jacqueline Susann.

In the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly, the P.J. Clarke's team played against the Coyote Ugly bartenders.

Popeye Doyle asks for a P.J. Clarke's hamburger whilst undergoing cold turkey in the 1975 film French Connection II.

In the AMC Television series Mad Men, the employees of the Sterling Cooper advertising agency frequent P.J. Clarke's.

The final scene of Woody Allen's Annie Hall (Alvy and Annie saying goodbye for the final time) was shot from the newer Lincoln Square location (SE corner of W. 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue), facing north from within the inside of the dining establishment that was at that location in the 1970's (O'Neill's).

In Neil Simon's play Barefoot in the Park, during the Act II, Scene 2 fight between Paul and Corie, Paul says, "Do you know . . . Do you know, in P.J. Clarke's last New Year's Eve, I punched an old woman? . . . Don't tell me about drunks."

Dave Matthews Band wrote a song called "Stolen Away On 55th & 3rd" which was reportedly about a girl Matthews met years ago at P.J. Clarke's.

Expansion

There are two more locations of P.J. Clarke's in Manhattan:

• P.J. Clarke's at Lincoln Square (44 W. 63rd Street) on the Upper West Side opened in 2007 across the street from Lincoln Center.
• P.J. Clarke's on the Hudson (250 Vesey Street at Four World Financial Center) opened in 2006 near Ground Zero.

As well, there are two restaurants of the same name, licensed from the original, in Chicago:

• P.J. Clarke's Gold Coast (1204 N. State Parkway, Chicago, IL 60610) opened in 1986.
• P.J. Clarke's Streeterville (302 E. Illinois Street, Chicago, IL 60611) opened in 2002

In early October, 2010 P.J. Clarke's opened just two blocks North of the White House:

• P.J. Clarke's Washington DC (1600 K Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20006)

In early January, 2011 P.J. Clarke's opened in The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace:

• P.J. Clarke's Las Vegas (3500 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, Nevada 89109)

Its first location outside the U.S. opened on November 7, 2008, in São Paulo, Brazil. It's a partnership with local entrepreneur Maria Rita Pikielny Marracini.^[4]

References

1. ^ Dunlap, David W. "New Team, Old Look for Saloon; P. J. Clarke's Changes Owners, Who Plan to Retain Atmosphere", The New York Times, February 15, 2002. Accessed August 4, 2008.
2. ^ True Love Ways Unveiled
3. ^ "GOOD EATING; Oscar Ate Here", The New York Times, March 23, 2003. Accessed August 4, 2008.
4. ^ Schimidt, Fernanda "Tradicional hamburgueria americana, P.J. Clarke's inaugura primeira filial fora de NY em SP", UOL, November 6, 2008. Accessed November 6, 2008.

External links

• P. J. Clarke's Web site
• P. J. Clarke's in Chicago