Reuben's Restaurant

Reuben's Restaurant and Delicatessen was a landmark restaurant and deli in New York City founded by Arnold Reuben.

Reuben's Restaurant
Menu circa 1943
Restaurant information
Established1908
ClosedDecember 2001
Previous owner(s)Arnold Reuben
Harry L. Gilman
Food typeDelicatessen
Street address244 Madison Avenue
CityNew York City
CountyNew York
StateNew York
Postal/ZIP Code10016
CountryUnited States
Coordinates40.7501278°N 73.9814707°W / 40.7501278; -73.9814707

History
Reuben's Restaurant

Arnold Reuben was a Jewish-German immigrant who founded Reuben's Restaurant in 1908 at 802 Park Avenue. In 1916 the restaurant moved to Broadway on 73rd Street before moving again two years later to 622 Madison Avenue. Thirty years after it first opened its doors, Reuben's Restaurant and Delicatessen finally had a formal opening at 6 East 58th Street with the mayor at the time, Fiorello La Guardia, in attendance.[1] Reuben's remained in that location until the restaurant was sold in the mid-1960s, when it moved to 38th Street and Madison Avenue. It operated at 244 Madison Avenue until 2001 when the restaurant was forced to close due to health code infractions.[2]

Reuben's Restaurant and Delicatessen played a small part in the 1919 Black Sox scandal when the Chicago White Sox conspired to "throw" the World Series in the most widely condemned instance of illegal high stakes gambling in sports history. Abe "The Little Champ" Attell's initial attempt to sell the idea to Arnold Rothstein, the most powerful sports gambler at the time, took place in a private room inside Reuben's.[3]

Reuben would name sandwiches after celebrities, including Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra, a gimmick used by many restaurants at the time.[4] In 1938, Reuben was interviewed about his restaurant by the Federal Writers' Project. Arnold Reuben's son, Arnold Reuben Jr., worked in the restaurant with his father until the mid-1960s when Reuben sold the restaurant to Harry L. Gilman.[5] Marian Burros wrote about the restaurant's appearance on January 11, 1986, in the New York Times. He said: "Italian marble, gold-leaf ceiling, lots of walnut paneling and dark red leather seats — to a small-town girl, it was the quintessential New York restaurant."

See also

References
  1. March 28, 1935, New York Times
  2. "Arnold Reuben". CooksInfo.com. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  3. "Arnold Reuben: New York Restaurateur". CooksInfo. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  4. "Reuben's: celebrities and sandwiches". Restaurant-ing through history. 2012-03-11. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  5. "Arnold Reuben Is Dead at 87; Founded Popular Restaurant". The New York Times. January 1, 1971. Retrieved 2018-10-27.

Further reading
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