| Keens Steakhouse | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Front entrance (2025) | |
 Interactive map of Keens Steakhouse | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1885 (approx) |
| Location | 72 West 36th Street (between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue), in theGarment District inManhattan, New York City, New York, 10018, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°45′03″N73°59′12″W / 40.750854°N 73.986537°W /40.750854; -73.986537 |
Keens Steakhouse (formerlyKeen’s English Chop House) is a steakhouse restaurant located at 72 West 36th Street (betweenFifth Avenue andSixth Avenue) in theGarment District inManhattan, New York City.[1] The restaurant houses more than 50,000 claysmoking pipes, making it one of the largest collections in the world.[2]
The restaurant was founded in 1885 by Albert Keen inHerald Square, what was then the Herald SquareTheater District.[3] During his tenure, it served as an early eating spot forThe Lambs.[4] It is also the only surviving establishment of this former district.[5]
Keens is the second-oldest steakhouse in New York City after theOld Homestead Steakhouse which was founded in 1868.
Only men were allowed entry up until 1905, when after being declined entry, the actressLillie Langtry, sued them in court and won.[6] One of the upstairs dining rooms is named in her honor.
In 1928, Keens was purchased by restauranteur and real estate developer Herman Zuch.[4] In 1935, Keens sold its one millionth mutton chop, which to this day is still its signature dish.
After Herman Zuch's death in 1971, his family operated it for a time. His son David Zuch closed it in 1977 after failing to find a buyer.[6] It was eventually purchased by radiation oncologist George Schwarz (1931–2016) and his wife, the artist Kiki Kogelnik. At the time, the couple already owned a number of other restaurants in the city, including Elephant and Castle, One Fifth and NoHo Star. With Kogelnik overseeing the design they ended up spending $1.4 million and three years restoring it before it reopened in 1981.[6]
In November 2024, it was sold to Texas billionaireTilman Fertitta for $30 million.[7][8][9]
In 1954, Keen's was described as a "historic and unusual inn type restaurant, featuring English mutton chops steak and roast specialties; seats 350 in several dining rooms, with old English decor. Home of the Pipe Club; bar; no entertainment. Open lunch and dinner daily, except Sunday. Moderately expensive."[10]
The wood-paneled walls of the main dining room, the bar and various dining rooms are home to approximately 500 artifacts collected over the history of the restaurant.[6]
Patrons were given the opportunity to store fragile clay pipes at the restaurant so as to not risk breakage during transportation. The membership roster of the Pipe Club contained over 90,000 names, with many of the pipes hanging from the ceiling of the main dining room. Today some of the more well-known patrons’ pipes are on display including:
In 2013,Zagats gave it a food rating of 26, and rated it the #2 restaurant in theGarment District, and the 7th-best steakhouse in New York City.[1]
Look to the ceilings of various dining rooms, which are spread over two floors of three connected townhouses, and behold row upon row of clay pipes. There are more than 50,000 of them, the property of Keens customers who, in tobacco-friendlier times, stowed and used them in the restaurant.
Starting in 1885, when Albert Keen opened his restaurant and saloon, now known as Keens Steakhouse, the destination has provided post-dinner pipes to the likes ofBabe Ruth,Theodore Roosevelt andBuffalo Bill Cody. Keen, who managed the acting and literary society called theLamb's Club, on West 36th Street, in what was then the theater district, opened up his self-named restaurant next door.
40°45′03″N73°59′12″W / 40.75080°N 73.98656°W /40.75080; -73.98656