Get There While You Still Can

by Josh_Ozersky - 0 Reviews - 4 Lists

Updated: March 30, 2009

The Stork Club. Lutece. Lundy's. What do all these storied restaurants have in common (besides being closed)? They're all places we lamentably never went. Given how tough times have become, we've preemptively pulled together a list of a few truly great New York restaurants that might not make it to the other side without your visit. Don't put it off; give them the flowers now.

Before Night Falls

  1. 1 4 Star Rating: Recommended Brennan & Carr Restaurant Inc
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    3432 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11229 (map)

    It's probably not worth your while to take a car service to Sheepshead Bay in order to eat a roast beef sandwich dipped in Campbell's beef broth. And yet ... this noble restaurant, unchanged in 60 years, exists outside the radar of nostalgic foodies. It's a pure throwback experience and the sandwich perfect for what it is.

  2. 2 3.5 Star Rating: Average Sammy's Restaurant
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    157 Chrystie St, New York, NY 10002 (map)

    Sammy's has been the last of the great Jewish restaurants for so long it's hard to remember that there were once others; but as the Lower East Side gets pricier and pricier, it's only a matter of time before it, too, becomes a bank or condo. In the meantime, there's schmaltz and skirt steak and kishke to be had.

  3. 3 4.5 Star Rating: Recommended La Grenouille
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    3 E 52nd St, New York, NY 10022 (map)

    Every year, you hear diners reminisce about the classics of French cookery, unapologetically constructed of butter and cream and sybaritic impulses. And every year another citadel of that cooking dies. La Grenouille is the last and best of its kind. So get there now.

  4. 4 3.5 Star Rating: Average wd-50
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    50 Clinton St, New York, NY 10002 (map)

    While I don't believe that Wylie Dufresne's hugely influential restaurant is about to close, I do think it's perpetually in danger of closing, which is all the more reason to support it. Many tech-savvy chefs merely parrot the latest line out of Spain, but Dufresne is a global innovator in his own right.

  5. 5 4.5 Star Rating: Recommended Hop Kee Restaurant
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    21 Mott St, New York, NY 10013 (map)

    Now that everyone knows about Sichuan, Hunan, Monglolian, Taiwanese, etc., few want to eat egg rolls, Peking pork chops, or egg foo young in Chinatown anymore. But this Cantonese-American classic still delivers the goods, and when it and neighbor Wo Hop go, they'll be gone for good.

  6. 6 4.5 Star Rating: Recommended Eisenberg Sandwich Shop
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    174 5TH Ave Ste 1, New York, NY 10010 (map)

    A tuna sandwich on rye toast, a lime rickey, and a seat on a counter that hasn't changed since Truman was president--at prices from the Carter administration. What's not to love about that?

  7. 7 3 Star Rating: Average Manganaros
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    488 9th Ave, New York, NY 10018 (map)

    This ancient Italian market is probably best known for its massive subs, but we love it for the red-sauce specialties it still produces in the back: immense portions of lasagna, spaghetti and meatballs with luminescent red sauce, and delicious veal cutlets.