Keens Steakhouse
72 West 36th Street | Midtown | built 1915
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1885
Albert Keen opens an independent chophouse in the Herald Square theater district
Keens Chophouse opened in 1885 under Albert Keen, who was by then well known in what was then the Herald Square theater district. Before that, the restaurant says, Keens had been part of the Lambs Club, which Keen managed. Actors in full stage makeup hurried in through the rear door between acts at the neighboring Garrick Theatre to fortify themselves.
Source: keens.com
- 1905
The Pipe Room becomes the gathering spot for producers, playwrights and newspapermen
By the restaurant's 20th anniversary in 1905, the Pipe Room was a place where producers, playwrights, publishers and newspapermen gathered. The long clay churchwarden pipes came from the Netherlands, with as many as 50,000 purchased every three years; a pipe warden registered and stored each one and pipe boys brought them back to patrons. The Pipe Club roster eventually passed 90,000 names, from Teddy Roosevelt and Babe Ruth to Albert Einstein.
Source: keens.com
- 1905
Actress Lillie Langtry sues Keens for turning her away from its men-only rooms, and wins
Keens admitted only men until 1905, when it refused to seat the actress Lillie Langtry. She took the restaurant to court and won. The restaurant says she then swept in wearing a feathered boa and ordered one of its mutton chops.
Source: keens.com
- 1928
Restaurateur Herman Zuch buys Keens, which his family later closes
In 1928 Keens was bought by restaurateur and real estate developer Herman Zuch. After he died in 1971 his family operated it for a time, and his son David shut it in 1977 when no buyer could be found. The restaurant then stood shut for several years until a pair of new owners took it on.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1981
A radiation oncologist and an artist reopen Keens after a three-year, $1.4 million restoration
Keens closed in 1977 and was later bought by radiation oncologist George Schwarz and his wife, the artist Kiki Kogelnik. The couple already owned several other New York restaurants, among them Elephant and Castle, One Fifth and NoHo Star. Kogelnik supervised the design work, and the restoration took three years and cost $1.4 million before the doors reopened in 1981.
“With Kogelnik overseeing the design they ended up spending $1.4 million and three years restoring it before it reopened in 1981.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2013
The James Beard Foundation names Keens an America's Classic
In 2013 the James Beard Foundation gave Keens one of its America's Classics awards, which the restaurant lists on its history page. That page also quotes James Beard himself in 1950 on the 'muttony flavor' of its chops, and critic Jonathan Gold in 2001 calling its chop magnificent.
Source: keens.com
- 2024
Texas restaurateur Tilman Fertitta buys Keens for $30 million
Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta bought Keens in November 2024 for $30 million. The sale came 139 years after Albert Keen opened it, and it is regarded as the second-oldest steakhouse in New York, after the Old Homestead of 1868. The restaurant is known for its collection of more than 50,000 clay smoking pipes.
“In November 2024, it was sold to Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta for $30 million.”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Keens SteakhouseWikipedia
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