Lindy's was two different

deli Deli may refer to: * Delicatessen, a shop selling specially prepared food, or food prepared by such a shop * Sultanate of Deli, a former sultanate in North Sumatra, Indonesia Places * Deli, Boyer-Ahmad, a village in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Pro ...

and

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearance ...

chains in Manhattan, New York City. The first chain, founded by Leo "Lindy" Lindemann, operated from 1921 to 1969.("Opening date was Aug. 20, 1921.") In 1979, the Riese Organization determined that the Lindy's trademark had been abandoned, and opened new restaurants, the last of which closed in February 2018.

Locations

The original chain had locations at 1626 Broadway (at NE corner of 49th Street; now occupied by a Junior's Restaurant, as of October 2020) and 1655 Broadway (at NW corner of 51st Street; now occupied by a McDonald's Restaurant, as of October 2020). The Riese's Lindy's were located at 825 7th Avenue (at

53rd Street 53rd Street is a midtown cross street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, that runs adjacent to buildings such as the Citigroup building. It is 1.83 miles (2.94 km) long. The street runs westbound from Sutton Place across ...

) and 401 7th Avenue (at 32nd Street). The location at Seventh Avenue at W. 53rd Street was the last to close.

History

Lindy's was opened by Leo "Lindy" Lindemann (died 1957, Parkinson's disease) and his wife Clara on August 20, 1921, and was located at 1626 Broadway, between 49th and 50th Streets. A second location was opened at 1655 Broadway in 1929.("The original Lindy's here was opened in 1921 by Leo and Clara Lindemann and three partners at 1626 Broadway, between 49th and 50th Streets.... Lindy's annex at 1655 Broadway was opened in 1929. The original place was closed in 1957.") On April 5, 1956,

Abraham Telvi Past member(s) Joseph Abate Joseph "Joe" Abate (July 8, 1902 – 1994) was a capo in the family's New Jersey faction. In the 1920s, Abate served as an enforcer for Al Capone in Chicago before settling in New Jersey.Raab, p.1-3 In June 1976, Aba ...

, a mobster and hit man, attacked journalist

Victor Riesel Victor Riesel (; March 26, 1913 – January 4, 1995) was an American newspaper journalist and columnist who specialized in news related to labor unions. At the height of his career, his column on labor union issues was syndicated to 356 newspape ...

with acid, blinding him as he left the restaurant. The original Lindy's location closed in 1957. Since June 2017, a Junior's Restaurant now occupies the venerated location. In 1969, the 1655 Broadway location was acquired by Longchamps restaurants, who closed the restaurant in September 1969 to convert it into a steak house (it became a Steak & Brew and later a

Beefsteak Charlie's Beefsteak Charlie's was a well-known Manhattan restaurant in the early 20th century, and later a restaurant chain based in the New York metropolitan area, which grew to over 60 locations in the early 1980s. History Original restaurant Charles W. ...

).("Lindy's ... has been acquired by the Longchamps restaurant chain. Larry Ellman, president ... (said) it would be remodeled as a steak house with special delicatessen features.")(Reporting that restaurant would close that night; "The fabled turf of Damon Runyon's stable of Broadway guys and dolls as well as lox and yocks has been sold to Longchamps to become a steak house.") Lindy's was especially well known for its

cheesecake Cheesecake is a sweet dessert consisting of one or more layers. The main, and thickest, layer consists of a mixture of a soft, fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. If there is a bottom layer, it m ...

, which was at times credited as perhaps the most famous in the United States.("Soon Lindy's cheesecake, according to Spira, grew famous nationwide...")("But most of all it was renowned for its cheesecakes, which were as integral a part of Gotham culture as Yankee Stadium, Coney Island, Grant's Tomb and the Staten Island Ferry....; Quoting Abe Burrows, co-author of Guys and Dolls: "Damon Runyon was very fond of Lindy's cheesecake. In his stories he changed Lindy to Mindy, but he never tried to change the great cheesecake. ...We saw to it that our gambler hero, Sky Masterson, the highest roller of them all, was 'quite partial to Mindy's cheesecake'.")("Probably the most famous cheesecake in America is served at Lindy's restaurant in New York city.") The cheesecake was immortalized in

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on " The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also b ...

, where Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson sang its praises. The "Lindy's" name and concept was resurrected in 1979 by New York City restaurant operator the Riese Organization, who determined that the name had fallen into the public domain, and later obtained the trademark.("Lindy's, of course, still exists, but not in its original form. The name is owned by the Riese organization, which foreshadowed the current theme craze with its own nostalgic revival.")

Clientele

Harpo Marx Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Grou ...

frequently ate at Lindy's in the 1920s, writing "I had a home again, and during the day a choice of two homes-away-from-home, Lindy's or Reuben's. I was back with my own people, who spoke my language, with my accent - cardplayers, horseplayers, bookies, song-pluggers, agents, actors out of work and actors playing the Palace,

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed a ...

with his mob of fans, and

Arnold Rothstein Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athleti ...

with his mob of runners and flunkies. The cheesecake was ambrosia. The talk was old, familiar music. A lot of yucks. A lot of action. Home Sweet Home."

Jewish Mafia Jewish-American organized crime initially emerged within American Jews, the American Jewish community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It has been referred to variously in media and popular culture as the Jewish Mob, Jewish Mafia, ...

icon

claimed Lindy's as his favorite "office" and would stand on the corner, surrounded by bodyguards, and conduct business outside. On the day that Rothstein was killed in 1928, his last place before the murder was Lindy's and he received a phone call at Lindy´s.

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...

frequented Lindy's almost on a nightly basis.

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

was eating there with

Dick Cavett Richard Alva Cavett (; born November 19, 1936) is an American television personality and former talk show host. He appeared regularly on nationally broadcast television in the United States for five decades, from the 1960s through the 2000s. In ...

and Woody Allen in the 1960s when they informed him that his work was appreciated by college students of the time.

In popular culture

Historian

Albert Goldman Albert Harry Goldman (April 15, 1927 – March 28, 1994) was an American academic and author. Goldman wrote about the culture and personalities of the American music industry both in books and as a contributor to magazines. He is best known f ...

named the

Lindy effect The Lindy effect (also known as Lindy's Law) is a theorized phenomenon by which the future life expectancy of some non-perishable things, like a technology or an idea, is proportional to their current age. Thus, the Lindy effect proposes the longe ...

for the restaurant.

Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To ...

was a big fan and wrote the restaurant into his books as "Mindy's." The musical ''

'', based on Runyon's writings, immortalizes Lindy's in one of its songs. The commonly told "Waiter, there's a fly in my soup" joke is theorised to have originated at Lindy's during its original incarnation. Lindy's is referenced in The Critic episode "Dukerella." Lindy's is referenced in

Billy Wilder Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holly ...

Ace in the Hole (1951 film) ''Ace in the Hole'', also known as ''The Big Carnival'', is a 1951 American film noir directed by Billy Wilder. The film stars Kirk Douglas as a cynical, disgraced reporter who stops at nothing to try to regain a job on a major newspaper. The fi ...

. Lindy’s is referenced in the opening paragraph of the 1952

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

novel by

Leigh Brackett Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for ''The Big Sleep'' (1946), '' Rio Bravo'' (1959), and '' The Long Goo ...

'' The Galactic Breed'' published in Ace Double D-99, 1955 ( List of Ace double titles). In season 4 episode 10 of “I Love Lucy,” entitled “Ricky’s Contract,” Lucy tells Fred and Ethel that Ricky took his entire band to Lindy’s to celebrate learning that he had been offered a movie contract. Donald Fagen's song, "Good Stuff" (2012), from the album '' Sunken Condos'', is a prohibition-era gangland fantasy that uses Lindy's as a location. Lindy's is pictured in the closing scene of Friday the 13th, VIII, Jason Takes Manhattan

References

External links