Toffenetti

“The Busiest Restaurant on the World’s Busiest Corner.”

Toffenetti Restaurant
August 7, 1940–1968*
American

A Toffenetti Toast to New York:
It’s your New York; it’s my New York.
       It’s the spirit of Our Land;
There’s a welcome on the door mat,
       You’ll find a helping hand.
No matter what your race or creed–
       In life what e’er your walk,
Come, stay awhile – be one of us,
       It’s your, it’s my New York.

Ownership:

Dario Toffenetti, Jr. (1962–1968)

Dario Toffenetti (1940–1962)

Location:

Broadway and 43rd Street (Southeast Corner)

Publications:

Kendrick, Colton. “The World’s Busiest Restaurant with a Mouth-Watering Experience: The Toffenetti Restaurant.” Digital Humanities Studio (Loyola University New Orleans Department of History), December 16, 2021 (illustrated).

Patel, Eshani. “What’s on the Menu: Toffenetti Restaurant.” Digital Humanities Studio (Loyola University New Orleans Department of History), December 17, 2021

Morabito, Greg. “A Trip to Toffenetti, Times Square’s 1000 Seat Restaurant.” Eater New York, August 28, 2012.

Grimes, William. Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York. New York: North Point Press, 2009: 249-252 (illustrated).

Mariani, John with Alex Von Bidder. The Four Seasons: A History of America’s Premier Restaurant. New York: Smithmark, 1999: 10.

Cooke, Charles, and Russell Maloney. “Trojan Horsing Around.” New Yorker, August 17, 1940: 9.

Notes:

Toffenetti’s was open 24 hours a day and boasted a thousand seats.

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Menus were notable for their exuberant, almost-poetic language, featuring items such as the “Rough Skinned But Tender-Hearted” baked potato, “From the Lava Beds of Idaho. Product of Millions of Years of Evolution.”

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The dining room featured a mural by surrealist Hugh Troy, who was instructed by Toffenetti to “paint the most unusual mural ever painted.” (1)

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By the end of 1968, Toffenetti’s had become the first Manhattan branch of Nathan’s Famous (for a photo of the Times Square Nathan’s, see Eater New York). The building was demolished in the 1990s to make way for the former Condé Nast building, 4 Times Square. (2)

Menu:

Menu, June 6, 1948 (New York Public Library)

* Opened 1914 in Chicago; 1939 at the New York World’s Fair.

(1) Grimes, 2009.
(2) Shepard, Richard F. “Nathan’s Famous Planning a Broadway Premiere: Coney Island Hot-Dog Vender to Take Over Toffenetti’s Restaurant in December.” New York Times, August 10, 1968: 15; Morabito, 2012.

Cover photo: “Toffenetti in the 1950s.” Lileks, in Greg Morabito, “A Trip to Toffenetti, Times Square’s 1000 Seat Restaurant.” Eater New York, August 28, 2012. Accessed May 27, 2017.