Elaine's was a bar and restaurant in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

that existed from 1963 to 2011. It was frequented by many celebrities, especially actors and authors. It was established, owned by and named after Elaine Kaufman, who was indelibly associated with the restaurant; Elaine's shut down several months after Kaufman died. Elaine's was located on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the we ...

, at 1703 2nd Avenue, near East 88th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

History

Established in 1963, Elaine's was famed both for its late chain-smoking namesake and proprietress Elaine Kaufman, who ran the restaurant for over four decades, as well as numerous writers and other prominent New Yorkers, including

Nelson W. Aldrich Jr. Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich Jr. (April 11, 1935 – March 8, 2022) was an American editor and author. He was noted for writing ''Old Money: The Mythology of Wealth in America'' (Alfred A. Knopf, 1988; Allworth Press, 1996), ''Tommy Hitchcock: An Ame ...

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

Noel Behn Noel Ira Behn (Chicago, January 6, 1928 – New York, July 27, 1998) was an American novelist, screenwriter and theatrical producer. His first novel, ''The Kremlin Letter'', drawn from his work in the US Army's Counterintelligence Corps, was pub ...

Candace Bushnell Candace Bushnell (born December 1, 1958) is an American author, journalist, and television producer. She wrote a column for '' The New York Observer'' (1994–96) that was adapted into the bestselling '' Sex and the City'' anthology. The book wa ...

William J. Bratton William Joseph Bratton CBE (born October 6, 1947) is an American law enforcement officer and businessman who served two terms as the New York City Police Commissioner (1994–1996 and 2014–2016). He previously served as the Commissioner of th ...

Paul Desmond Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer, best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet and for composing that group's biggest hit, " Take Five". He ...

Jared Faber Jared Faber (also known as J-Radical) is an American musician, composer, and producer who works primarily in television and film. He composed the theme songs for '' Oobi'', '' As Told by Ginger'', '' Emily's Reasons Why Not'', and ''Suburgatory' ...

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...

, Clay Felker,

Helen Frankenthaler Helen Frankenthaler (December 12, 1928 – December 27, 2011) was an American abstract expressionist painter. She was a major contributor to the history of postwar American painting. Having exhibited her work for over six decades (early 1950s u ...

Joseph Heller Joseph Heller (May 1, 1923 – December 12, 1999) was an American author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. His best-known work is the 1961 novel ''Catch-22'', a satire on war and bureaucracy, whose title has become a synonym for ...

, Peter Maas,

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Maile ...

Robert Motherwell Robert Motherwell (January 24, 1915 – July 16, 1991) was an American abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, and editor of ''The Dada Painters and Poets: an Anthology''. He was one of the youngest of the New York School, which also inc ...

, George Plimpton,

Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author, screenwriter, and journalist. He is known for his crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably '' The Godfather'' (1969), whi ...

Sally Quinn Sally Sterling Quinn (born July 1, 1941) is an American author and journalist, who writes about religion for a blog at ''The Washington Post''. Early life Sally Quinn was born in Savannah, Georgia, to Lt. General William Wilson "Buffalo Bill" ...

, Daniel Simone, Mark Simone,

Gay Talese Gaetano "Gay" Talese (; born February 7, 1932) is an American writer. As a journalist for ''The New York Times'' and ''Esquire'' magazine during the 1960s, Talese helped to define contemporary literary journalism and is considered, along with ...

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

Bobby Zarem Robert Myron Zarem (September 30, 1936 – September 26, 2021), known as Bobby Zarem, was an American publicist. After starting his own publicity agency in 1974, Zarem created lengthy, personalized pitch letters, a business style, and many camp ...

, and Sidney Zion, who had all been regulars over the years. Other visitors to the establishment included

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

, Michael Caine,

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. D ...

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

, Don Rickles,

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American socialite, writer, photographer, and book editor who served as first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A p ...

, New Jersey attorney Arthur Maurello (who later relocated to South Dakota) and his wife Irene,

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numero ...

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Origina ...

and

Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, best known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, musicals, feature films a ...

, who served as bartender in 1964. Thomas Carney had then served as the bartender until 2007. The restaurant was noted for its Oscar night, where celebrities and visiting Hollywood stars congregated to watch the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

ceremony. Kaufman had a reputation for not mincing words, for booting less-favored customers to seat new arrivals and forbidding hamburgers to be served. She was once arrested after a physical altercation with a visiting

Texan Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by b ...

. Elaine also had a fist fight with actress Tara Tyson, and then claimed that the thespian had set her ablaze with a lit cigarette. She also once chased away the notorious paparazzo Ron Galella by hurling two garbage can lids at him and exclaiming, "Beat it, creep... you're bothering my customers".

In culture

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo artist since th ...

immortalized the establishment in his song " Big Shot" (1978), with the lyrics, "They were all impressed with your

Halston Roy Halston Frowick (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990), known mononymously as Halston, was an American fashion designer who rose to international fame in the 1970s. His minimalist, clean designs, often made of cashmere or ultrasuede, were ...

dress and the people that you knew at Elaine's". The opening dinner scene from Woody Allen's ''

'' (1979) was filmed at the restaurant, as was a scene from his later work ''

Celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in spor ...

'' (1998). There is a short sequence in the film '' Morning Glory'' (2010) with Elaine Kaufman playing herself at the bar of Elaine's (where the producer played by

Rachel McAdams Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a theatre degree program at York University in 2001, she worked in Canadian television and film productions, such as the drama film ''Perfect Pie'' (200 ...

is trying to track down the television host played by

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...

, and Elaine relates at what time he left). In the hit comedy ''

Big Business Big business involves large-scale corporate-controlled financial or business activities. As a term, it describes activities that run from "huge transactions" to the more general "doing big things". In corporate jargon, the concept is commonly ...

'' (1988), to divert a mismatched set of twins (played by

Bette Midler Bette Midler (;'' Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American singer, actress, comedian and author. Throughout her career, which spans over five decades, Midler has received numerous accolades, including four Golden ...

and

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...

) from upsetting an important shareholder vote, Midler's alter-ego character offers to take them to Elaine's. In the 2018 American television miniseries '' The Looming Tower'', the main character John O'Neill, played by

Jeff Daniels Jeffrey Warren Daniels (born February 19, 1955) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and playwright, known for his work on stage and screen playing diverse characters switching between comedy and drama. He is the recipient of several accol ...

, is frequently seen at Elaine's. The character of Elaine is played by actress

Barbara Rosenblat Barbara Rosenblat is a British actress. She is best known as a prolific narrator of audiobooks, for which ''AudioFile'' named her a Golden Voice. She has also appeared on screen such as in the Netflix original series '' Orange Is the New Black' ...

in episodes 1 and 6. On May 10, 2014, ''

The Moth Radio Hour The Moth is a non-profit group based in New York City dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Founded in 1997, the organization presents a wide range of theme-based storytelling events across the United States and abroad, often featurin ...

'' featured old pre-recorded monologues about experiences they'd had at Elaine's by George Plimpton (featuring his introducing

Jerry Spinelli Jerry Spinelli (born February 1, 1941) is an American writer of children's novels that feature adolescence and early adulthood. His novels include '' Maniac Magee'', '' Stargirl'', and ''Wringer''. Life Spinelli was born in Norristown, Penns ...

to writers, editors, and director

at Elaine's, two months before Houghton Mifflin published Spinelli's first book) and Plimpton's friend José Torres (who recounted an anecdote he'd shared at Elaine's, about conquering his fear the first time he faced a white man in the boxing ring). In his autobiography ''Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs'', television personality and former MTV video jockey (VJ) Dave Holmes stated that he lived in an apartment above Elaine's when he moved to New York City in 1994. Until its closing, Elaine's was a frequent dinner spot in Stuart Woods's novel series featuring Stone Barrington, wherein during that time the author always began the first paragraph with "Elaine's. Late". The late bar and restaurant is the subject of A.E. Hotchner's 2013 volume "Everybody's Coming to Elaines: Forty Years of Movie Stars, All-Stars, Literary Lions, Financial Scions, Top Cops, Politicians, and Power Brokers at the Legendary Hot Spot".

Smoking ban

In 2003, New York City banned smoking in restaurants. Kaufman claimed to have quit smoking several years earlier but was unhappy about her customers' being forced to forgo tobacco at their seats.

Closing

Elaine Kaufman died from

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and a cough, which may or may not produce ...

(COPD) and pulmonary hypertension on December 3, 2010, aged 81. Kaufman willed the establishment to longtime manager Diane Becker. Becker shut down the restaurant soon thereafter; it closed on May 26, 2011. Becker later explained her reason for closing the restaurant: "The truth is, there is no Elaine’s without Elaine... the business is just not there without Elaine."

Legacy

In late 2013, The Writing Room (now closed), owned by Michael and Susy Glick, proprietors of the nearby boîte, Parlor Steak & Fish (now closed) and BB&R (Blonde, Brunette and a Redhead - also closed), opened its doors in Elaine's old space, featuring the prior restaurant's original famed canopy.

References

External links

MSNBC report

Camille Paglia tells of a visit to Elaine's.
{{Coord, 40.77918, -73.95077, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title Defunct restaurants in New York City Restaurants established in 1963 Restaurants disestablished in 2011 1963 establishments in New York City 2011 disestablishments in New York (state)