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Where Would Don Draper Eat?
From the archives: November 22, 2010
It seems like everybody, male or female, wants to be Don Draper, the debonair, amoral antihero of "Mad Men." He's the coolest of the cool, a collected type-A male who has never heard of sharing or self-doubt and who exudes New York City machismo right down to his polished wingtips. But if you want to be like Don Draper, you have to go to the kind of air-conditioned, mid-century institution that men like Don would go to. And there are only a few left.
Report AbuseDine Like a Mad Man in New York
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21 Club, Inc.
Read Reviews21 W 52nd St, New York, NY 10019 (map)
Don might make a deal at The Four Seasons, but 21 is where he’d go to schmooze Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce's potential clients--or for that matter, to pick up a well-dressed floozy. The former speakeasy was and is the official watering hole for high-bourgeois WASPs, and it has resisted the current recession with Draper's characteristic boozy aplomb. If you want to have a martini with the king of the Mad Men, 21 is the place to do it.
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La Fonda Del Sol
Read ReviewsE.44th Street at Vanderbilt Ave., New York, NY 10166 (map)
The original La Fonda Del Sol in the Time-Life Building was created with expense account executives like Don in mind--and they were catered to throughout the 1960s. It only stands to reason that if Don were on the job today, he'd head to Josh DeChellis's sleek restaurant in Grand Central Station and have a superb aged steak in the upstairs room. We could also see Don having a drink downstairs, but the B&T office workers there would hold little interest for him.
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Sardi's Enterprises Ltd
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234 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036 (map)
This theater district institution was visited by Don in one particularly memorable episode, and the Scarsdale Galahads who wear Don's Bally shoes still frequent the place, coming in on Metro North with their own Betty Drapers in tow. The food is forgettable, but the cocktails are big and cold, and the room remains a shining example of pure, double-distilled old New York.
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The Four Seasons
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99 East 52nd Street (between Park & Lexington Avenues), New York, NY 10022 (map)
When Don wants to close a major deal, there's one place he would almost certainly hit: The Four Seasons. It would have been relatively new during the 1960s, and its ultra-cool Philip Johnson architecture expresses everything the executives of that time strove for: sleekness, modernity and power. This was one of the first of New York's kitchens dedicated to seasonal cooking--hence the name--and the food remains extraordinary.
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Michael's Restaurant
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24 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019 (map)
In Don's world, New York was the unquestioned epicenter of the business world, but even then L.A. was on the way up. Today, West Coast transplant Michael’s is every bit as potent a power scene as The Four Seasons or 21, if not more so, and it's easy to imagine the suave Draper stopping by after a long day at the office.