Tavern On The Green Files Chapter 11, A Sad Day for New York Restaurants

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed)
Sep 10th 2009 at 10:01PM

A grim day for New York restaurants. September 9th will be remembered as a day of sadness for two legendary New York restaurants. Indeed, that day Tavern on the Green and Cafe des Artistes both filed for bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York.

The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is just another nail in the coffin for Tavern on the Green. The restaurant was already scheduled to close on December 31st anyway, as a new 20-year license was sold to the operator Central Park Boathouse. The restaurant will continue to operate and accept reservations through December 31st.

Tavern on the Green has long been nothing short of a a New York landmark. Generations have celebrated countless special events there. The restaurant has appeared in many films and TV shows over the years, including "Arthur", "Wall Street" and "New York Stories".

Taken over by Warner LeRoy more than 25 years ago, it was once one of the most successful restaurants in the country with a $40 million dollar operation, a staff of 525 and nearly 500,000 patrons annually. Only one block away from Tavern on the Green, is the shuttered Cafe des Artistes. It filed a voluntary petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.

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