By: Serach Nissim
After being shuttered for 648 days, Sardi’s restaurant in the heart of New York City’s theater district, is reopening. The continental restaurant located at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, is opening just in time for show cancelations amid fear of the super-contagious COVID-19 variant, Omicron.
The famed Broadway restaurant and bar, with caricatures of celebrity patrons covering the walls, is back in business, even though the timing is less than optimal. As reported by the NY Times, when Max Klimavicius, who runs the joint, chose the date Dec. 21 for a soft reopening, things were different. At the time, the Broadway schedule was boasting 33 shows slated to perform. Since then, however, so many of the actors and crew members have been testing positive for coronavirus that only 18 shows actually took place that night— and one of the shows only made it because the playwright replaced a sick performer on stage.
The restaurant— reopened with limited hours, a limited menu and reduced capacity, has become a tourist magnet over the years. Still, its business is closely connected to the theatre and very much dependent on Broadway show crowds. In 2018-2019, which was the last full season before the pandemic struck, roughly 14.8 million people saw a show on Broadway. As per The NY Times, a total of $1.8 million was spent that season on show tickets, not to mention the money patrons spent on nearby restaurants like Sardi’s, and on nearby shops and hotels.
Sardi’s, established in 1947, has become a Times Square icon for many. “Sardi’s is a symbol of Broadway and the Broadway scene, and it’s been closed for far too long,” said Tom Harris, the president of the Times Square Alliance, which represents the theater-dependent neighborhood, which occupies just 0.1 percent of the city’s land mass, but accounts for 15 percent of the city’s economic productivity.
Despite the timing, many were bullish on the reopening. “Sardi’s is going to do very well, now that the theater is back,” said Robert E. Wankel, the chairman and chief executive of the Shubert Organization, which has 17 Broadway theaters, and which is the restaurant’s landlord. Other industry bars, including Joe Allen and Bar Centrale, reopened some time ago. “I know Times Square needs to come back, and I know Sardi’s needs to come back,” said designer Michael Kors.
“The place has to live,” said Mr. Klimavicius, regarding the restaurant. “It’s part of the fabric.”
