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Junior's is a restaurant chain with the original location at 386
Flatbush Avenue Extension Flatbush Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn. It runs from the Manhattan Bridge south-southeastward to Jamaica Bay, where it joins the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to the ...
at the corner of
DeKalb Avenue At Fort Greene Park DeKalb Avenue is a thoroughfare in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, with the majority of its length in Brooklyn. It runs from Woodward Avenue (Linden Hill Cemetery) in Ridgewood, Queens to Downtown Brookl ...
in
Downtown Brooklyn Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and ...
,
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. Other locations include
Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
area and the lobby of the Fox Tower in the
Foxwoods Resort Foxwoods Resort Casino is a hotel and casino complex owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation on their reservation located in Ledyard, Connecticut. Including six casinos, the resort covers an area of . The casinos have more t ...
in
Ledyard, Connecticut Ledyard is a Town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, located along the Thames River. The town is named after Colonel William Ledyard, a Revolutionary War officer who was killed at the Battle of Groton Heights. The population was ...
. The restaurant was founded by Harry Rosen in 1950, although his family had run a diner in that location, albeit not under the Junior's name, since 1929. The place is known for iconic New York-style cheesecake. According to the restaurant, it was named Junior's after Rosen's two sons, Walter and Marvin.


History

According to ''GO Brooklyn'', "At the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb avenues in Downtown Brooklyn, there has been a diner run by the Rosen family since 1929. In 1950, the name was changed to Junior's, and it has been serving its famous cheesecake and other goodies ever since." Rosen worked with master baker Eigel Peterson to create the cheesecake known today as "The World's Most Fabulous Cheesecake", based on a recipe that was in the Rosen family for three generations, a recipe that calls for sponge cake instead of graham cracker crust. In addition to cheesecake, Junior's features deli sandwiches (particularly
corned beef Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are adde ...
and pastrami), ten ounce steakburgers, cheese blintzes, and unique
onion ring An onion ring, also called a French fried onion ring, is a form of appetizer or side dish in British and American cuisine. They generally consist of a cross-sectional "ring" of onion dipped in batter Batter or batters may refer to: Common ...
s. Fans of the restaurant are not limited to Brooklynites. A
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...
i prince was known to have taken several Junior's cheesecakes back with him. A shrine to the Brooklyn of old, Junior's has become a must-visit for politicians from borough presidents to President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
, who bought two cheesecakes and a couple of black-and-white cookies during an October 2013 visit with
Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who served as the 109th mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he held the office of New Yor ...
, who was soon to be elected mayor. In 2020, the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' revealed after reviewing the Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings of Senator
Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...
, that the Senate Minority Leader had spent US$8,600 on Junior's cheesecakes in a decade of purchases. Schumer admitted that he had spent a bundle over the years on Junior's cheesecakes calling them his " guilty pleasure". Holding a platter of the famous dessert at a news conference, he quipped: "Guilty as charged. I love Junior's cheesecake so much. It's the best cheesecake in the world. It is made in Brooklyn. I've been going to Junior's since I've been a little boy. And it's my guilty pleasure." In 1981, when the restaurant caught on fire, a crowd of people watching the firefighters started chanting "Save the Cheesecake!" The interior of the restaurant was modernized after the fire.


Building and future plans

The building, at the corner of DeKalb Avenue and Flatbush Avenue Extension, is of red-and-white-striped menus, flashbulb-adorned signs, rust-colored booths and a wooden bar. In February 2014 the third generation owner Alan Rosen put the building on the market for development as an apartment tower with the hope of striking a deal with a developer to allow Junior's to return as a ground floor tenant. Rosen received offers up to $45M, but that offer wouldn't accommodate Junior's on the ground floor. In September 2014 Rosen took the building off the market after deciding the existing building is Junior's identity. In April 2015, Junior's announced it would move its baking operations from Queens to Burlington, New Jersey. In 2016, the location inside
Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern termi ...
in
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
was closed.


In popular culture

*Junior's cheesecakes have been sold nationwide through various outlets, including the television shopping network, QVC. *The diner was featured in the
Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...
's children's book of Brooklyn landmarks, ''Brooklyn Pops Up''. *In a 2003 '' Making the Band'' episode, " Da Band" was assigned to walk to Brooklyn and get a slice of cheesecake from Junior's for Sean " P. Diddy" Combs. They also filmed their single "Tonight" from their 2003 album ''
Too Hot for TV ''Too Hot for TV'' is the only studio album by hip hop group Bad Boy's Da Band. The album was release through Universal Records and P. Diddy's Bad Boy Entertainment. It was certified Gold by the RIAA The Recording Industry Association of Am ...
'' in front of the restaurant. *In 2010, Junior's defeated fellow New York City cheesecake shop Eileen's Special on an episode of ''Food Feuds'' as chef
Michael Symon Michael D. Symon (born September 19, 1969) is an American chef, restaurateur, television personality, and author. He is of Greek, Sicilian, and Eastern European descent. He is seen regularly on Food Network on shows such as '' Iron Chef America ...
's choice for best cheesecake in New York City. *Junior's featured as an impromptu gathering location in the 2014 movie '' The Angriest Man in Brooklyn'' starring
Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comed ...
and
Mila Kunis Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis (born August 14, 1983) is an American actress. Born in Chernivtsi and raised in Los Angeles, she began playing Jackie Burkhart on the Fox television series '' That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) at the age of 14. Sinc ...
. *In Tom Robbins novel
Still Life with Woodpecker ''Still Life With Woodpecker'' (1980) is the third novel by Tom Robbins, concerning the love affair between an environmentalist princess and an outlaw. The novel encompasses a broad range of topics, from aliens and redheads to consumerism, the bui ...
, Junior's cheesecake is referred to in "How to make love stay".


See also

* List of restaurants in New York City


References


External links


Official site

Timeline of Junior's history
{{Authority control Downtown Brooklyn Restaurants established in 1950 Restaurants in Brooklyn