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NYC Existed For 200 Years Without Restaurants
By
Ben Muessig
Published Nov 1, 2009
Modified Nov 1, 2009
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By
Ben Muessig
Published Nov 1, 2009
Modified Nov 1, 2009
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You wouldn’t know it today walking down West 46th Street in Manhattan or Smith Street in Brooklyn, but until 1827, New York City did not have a single restaurant. That's the year when a pair of Swiss brothers named Delmonico opened their eponymous William Street confectionery and café, ending 200 years of restaurant-less history and setting "the tone for fine dining in New York almost overnight," according to a new book detailing the city's evolution as a restaurant capital. Before then, anyone forced to eat out had two choices at their local boardinghouse or chophouse: “a slab of beef or mutton with potatoes and gravy."
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