“More Than a Restaurant—A Broadway Institution.”
Churchill’s Restaurant
1909-1921
French/Lobster Palace/Cabaret
Ownership:
Jim Churchill
Location:
Broadway and 49th Street
Literature:
Laini Giles, The Forgotten Flapper: A Novel of Olive Thomas (2016):
“‘We six ladies of the Ziegfield Follies do hereby make this solemn vow,’ I said, ‘that on June 12, 1936, twenty years from now, we’ll all meet for dinner at Churchill’s Restaurant at Broadway and 49th Street. We’ll compare notes about our last twenty years, and we’ll tell each other tale of our colorful and oh-so-exciting adventures, our handsome husbands, our brilliant children, and our elegant homes.'” (118)
Publications:
“Churchill’s All-Night Restaurant in Times Square.” Ephemeral New York. Blog, February 16, 2015 (illustrated).
“Old New York in Postcards #10 – Restaurants.” Stuff Nobody Cares About. Blog, January 9, 2015 (illustrated).
Von Rittern, Hans. “Postcard Story from New York: ‘A Grande Dinner for Two in 1914 – 100 Years Ago Today.” New York City – In the Wit of an Eye. Blog, July 29, 2014 (illustrated).
Brubaker, Mike. “The Music at ‘Churchill’s’ Broadway and 49th Street.” Blog, August 15, 2010 (illustrated).
Grimes, William. Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York. New York: North Point Press, 2009: 138-139 (illustrated), 144, 163-164, 166, 197.
Gabrielan, Randall. Times Square and 42nd Street in Vintage Postcards. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2000: 58 (illustrated), 59.
Scapp, Ron, and Brian Seitz, ed. Eating Culture. New York: SUNY Press, 1998: 245-246 (illustrated).
Morris, Lloyd. Incredible New York: High Life and Low Life from 1850 to 1950. New York: Random House, 1951: 317-318, 336.
Hill, Edwin C. “Ghosts of a Gayer Broadway.” The North American Review 229,5 (May 1930): 544, 552.
James, Rian. Dining in New York. New York: John Day Company, 1930: 163.
“At Hotels and Restaurants.” New York Tribune, December 28, 1919: III-7.
“In the Hotels and Restaurants.” New York Herald, December 21, 1919: IV-8.
Notable Guests:
David Belasco (Theatrical Producer & Impresario)
Sam Bernard (Vaudeville Comedian)
Diamond Jim Brady (Businessman)
George M. Cohan (Entertainer, Playwright, & Composer)
Louise Dresser (Actress)
Marie Dressler (Actress & Comedian)
A. L. Erlanger (Theatrical Producer)
Douglas Fairbanks (Actor & Filmmaker)
Lew Fields (Actor & Comedian)
Sam H. Harris (Theatrical Producer)
Anna Held (Broadway Performer)
William Travers Jerome (Former Manhattan District Attorney)
Lillian Lorraine (Actress)
Charles F. “Silent Charlie” Murphy (Politician)
Lillian Russell (Actress & Singer)
Notes:
From 1903 Jim Churchill ran a saloon at 1420 Broadway, between 39th and 40th Streets, and in 1906 he moved to a larger space at Broadway and 46th Street that could seat 350 guests. When he sold the building in 1909 to build the 1,200 seat Churchill’s Restaurant at 49th Street, it was purchased by George Rector of Rector’s and converted into the short-lived Café Madrid. (1)
Rudolph Valentino performed as a paid dancer on the opening night of Churchill’s 49th Street location. (2)
Music was provided by Tin Pan Alley composer Maurice Levi’s orchestra and soprano Elizabeth Spencer. (3) Performances for Churchill’s 1919 Christmas dinner ‘Colorful Cabaret’ included The Norris Sisters, Grace Emerson, Henry and Lizzelle, Coccia and Amato, Alice Linwood, and The Rackos. (4)
The restaurant closed in 1921, following the advent of Prohibition, and Churchill leased the ground floor to Toy Yoeng Syndicate of America, which opened a chop suey restaurant in the space.
Menu:
Table d’hote Dinner, Thursday, February 8, 1917 (New York Public Library)
Dinner of the Army Club, February 5, 1914 (New York Public Library)
(1) Stuff Nobody Cares About, 2015.
(2) Hill, 1930.
(3) Brubaker, 2010.
(4) New York Herald, 1919.
Cover photo: “‘Churchill’s’ Broadway and Forty-Ninth Street, New York.” Postcard. In Mike Brubaker, “The Music at ‘Churchill’s’ Broadway and 49th Street.” Blog, August 15, 2010. Accessed February 18, 2020.
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