39 Stories Above It All.
Stouffer’s Top of the Six’s
1958–1996
Continental / American
Ownership:
Select Restaurants (1992–1996)
Stouffer Corporation (1958–1992)
Executive Chef:
Cliff Goodman (1994) (1)
John P. Montgomery (2)
Location:
Tishman Building, 666 Fifth Avenue (between 52nd and 53rd Streets), 39th Floor*
[Due to renumbering, the building is now 660 Fifth Avenue.]
Literature:
Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street (2007):
“It was where the elite met to eat, a place where Masters of the Universe could get blitzed on martinis and exchange war stories.”
Mary Gordon, Circling My Mother: A Memoir (2007):
“We looked out over the city with no question that, although we were only middle-aged women and a child, we had the right to the best the city could offer.” (3)
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990)
Film:
Wolf of Wall Street (2013): According to Belfort’s book, his “lunch” with veteran Wall Street broker Mark Hanna takes place at Top of the Six’s. However many believe the same scene in the film to be set at Windows on the World – a menu the waiter is holding towards the beginning of the scene is almost identical to a Windows on the World menu from the period. At any rate, a recreation of one of the restaurants, or perhaps a combination of the two, provides the backdrop for this memorable scene.
Publications:
Bonanos, Christopher. “So Long, 666 Fifth Avenue.” Curbed, August 12, 2021 (illustrated, menu cover).
Akkam, Alia. “Stouffer’s Secret Restaurant Past.” Taste, October 22, 2018 (illustrated). [Features a 1959 Top of the Six’s menu.]
Von Rittern, Hans. “Mondays on Memory Lane: Dining at Stouffer’s ‘Top of the Six’s.'” New York City – In the Wit of an Eye. Blog, October 21, 2013 (illustrated).
Stout, David. “No More of Tables for Two at the Top of the Sixes.” New York Times, September 18, 1996: B3.
Grimes, William. “Drinking in the View.” New York Times, September 9, 1990: A15 (illustrated).
Rader, Barbara. “Viet Chow Call, a la Manhattan.” Newsday, December 17, 1968: 3A. [Describes how Top of the Six’s sent 15 multi-course Christmas dinners to Vietnam following a hopeful letter from a Marine who had enjoyed his meal at the restaurant the Christmas prior.]
“The meal will consist of appetizers of quiche lorraine…red and black caviar and shrimp cocktail; rock cornish hens stuffed with wild rice for the main course, with escalloped yams and apples, green peas, and French bread. For dessert, the Marines will have Swiss chocolate cake, mincemeat pie with brandy sauce and marzipan…and sugar cookies.”
Paddleford, Clementine. “Dining in New York: View and the Food Keep Top of the Sixes Busy.” New York Herald Tribune, October 24, 1959: 11.
“New Rooftop Restaurant Was Tenant Inspiration.” New York Herald Tribune. March 29, 1959: 3C.
Notable Guests:
Jordan Belfort (Stockbroker & Writer)
Mary Gordon (Writer)
Merv Griffin (Television Host)
Nunnally Johnson (Screenwriter & Film Director) (4)
Bob Lape (Broadcaster): Commenting on a meal at Top of the Six’s with several broadcasting executives, television host Merv Griffin, and actor Arthur Treacher: “We were already boggled by dining on the 39th floor of anything, let alone the company we kept… It was fun and funny, and I’d never experienced the meticulous level of service paid to our table.” (5)
David Merrick (Theatrical Producer) (6)
Arthur Treacher (Actor)
Dave Winfield (Baseball Player) (7)
Notes:
Located on the 39th floor,* Top of the Six’s was the second highest public restaurant in New York City at the time of opening, after the Rainbow Room on the 65th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. (8)
Stouffer’s created each of their “Top of” restaurants with a particular theme in mind. The intended theme of Top of the Six’s was a “chateau in the French countryside.” (9)
Other “Top of” restaurants opened by Stouffer’s included:
Top of the Rock | Chicago | Prudential Building, 44th floor | 1956–1976
Top of the Mart | Atlanta | Merchandise Mart, 22nd floor | 1961–?
[Merchandise Mart is now AmericasMart, Building 1.]
Top of the Flame | Detroit | Michigan Consolidated Gas Building, 26th floor | 1962–1980s
[The Michigan Consolidated Gas Building is now One Woodward.]
Top of the Marine | Milwaukee | Marine Bank , 22nd floor | 1962–2001
[When Marine Bank became Bank One Plaza, the restaurant was renamed Top of the Plaza. The building has since become Chase Tower.]
Top of the Town | Cleveland | Erieview Tower, 38th floor | 1964–1995
Top of the Hub | Boston | Prudential Center, 52nd floor | 1965–2020
Top of the Center | Columbus | City National Bank Building, 24th floor | 1966–1981
[The City National Bank Building is now Chase Tower.]
Top of the Rockies | Denver | Security Life Building, 30th floor | c. 1967–?
[The Security Life Building is now 1600 Glenarm Place.]
Top of the Riverfront | St. Louis | Riverfront Inn, 28th floor (revolving) | 1969–2014
[The Stouffer’s Riverfront Inn was most recently the Millennium Hotel, now defunct.]
Top of the Triangle | Pittsburgh | U.S. Steel Building, 62nd floor | 1970–2001
As of 1966, Stouffer’s also planned to open a “Top of” restaurant in the newly renovated Allied Chemical Building (now One Times Square). This top floor restaurant doesn’t seem to have materialized; instead Stouffer’s opened an English-themed restaurant on the 15th and 16th floors of the 25-story building called Act I. (10)
Actor Louis Mustillo was working as a bartender at Top of the Six’s in the 1980s when a customer, Australian investment banker Walter Doyle, suggested he write his own show, and funded the endeavor with a $2,000 check. (11)
From 1997 to 2020, the restaurant space was occupied by the Grand Havana Room, a private members’ only cigar bar.
Menu:
Late Supper, November 1968 (Culinary Institute of America)
Supper, October 1964 (Culinary Institute of America)
Dinner, 1964 (New York Public Library)
Drinks menu, 1960s (Vintage Menu Art; offers prints for sale)
Luncheon (Culinary Institute of America)
Advertisement:
From New York Magazine, October 25, 1982: 139.
*While contemporary newspapers position the restaurant on the 39th floor, several more recent sources refer to a 41st floor. The building itself is also alternately cited as a 39- or 41-story building, depending on the source. As the restaurant’s advertisement slogan was “39 Stories Above It All” (see above), the 39th floor is referenced here. (The New York Herald Tribune article from 1959 cited above also confirms the restaurant’s presence on the 39th floor in discussing the construction process.)
(1) Scholem, Richard Jay. “A La Carte: A Rush for a Popular Thin-Crusted Pizza.” New York Times, April 24, 1994: 25.
(2) Scholem, Richard Jay. “A La Carte: A Bare-Bones but Complete Bargain in a Lobster Dinner.” New York Times, October 9, 1994: A29.
(3) Quoted in Steinke, Darcey. “Family Blessings.” New York Times, August 26, 2007.
(4) Wilson, Earl. “It Happened Last Night.” Newsday, October 26, 1967: 7A.
(5) Akkam, 2018.
(6) Wilson, Earl. “It Happened Last Night.” Newsday, October 19, 1967: 7A.
(7) Martinez, Michael. “Baseball: Dark Cloud Obscures Winfield.” New York Times, May 1, 1988: A1.
(8) Von Rittern, 2013.
(9) “Stouffer’s Restaurant Development.” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 7, 1 (May 1966): 55.
(10) ibid.
(11) Nemy, Enid. “Broadway: An Angel Drops In.” New York Times, July 3, 1987: C2.
Cover photo: “Stouffer’s Top of the Six’s.” Postcard. CardCow.com. Accessed November 25, 2024.
The New York City Restaurant Archive 