{"product_id":"the-lobster-oyster-and-chop-house-new-york-1959","title":"The Lobster (Oyster and Chop House), New York 1959","description":"\u003cp\u003eSoon after The Lobster (Oyster and Chop House) opened in New York City in 1919 the era of Prohibition began, and many restaurants went under because of the ban on the sale of alcohol.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot only did The Lobster flourish during this period, but two other seafood restaurants eventually opened on either side of it to service the mobs of people who could not get tables in this popular ‘lobster palace.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOwners Max Fuchs and Simon Linz both had long and distinguished histories in the hospitality industry before going into business together. Linz had been a steward at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and Fuchs, who was born in the future Czechoslovakia and arrived in the US in his teens, had been captain of waiters at Luchow’s and head waiter at the Alhambra restaurant in Harlem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePostcards from the restaurant’s early days show low-ceiling’d and cavernous rooms crammed with tables. There was the elegant main dining room, and the basement dining room called The Cave. Decorations included huge, mounted lobsters and original drawings by illustrators and cartoonists Fay King and Harry Hershfield.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFresh seafood was the order of any day, of course, and the atmosphere was said to be polished but frenetic with bawdy but humorous waiters dashing back and forth to take live lobsters to the kitchen (each customer could choose their lobster.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e An oyster bar was at the front of the establishment, and we love this quote about one of its guests, New Yorker journalist and epicurean A J Liebling, who was a regular.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘When we walked into the restaurant—as unpretentious as our offices—Joe [Liebling] was greeted by the manager as if he were a dignitary, and we were shown to a big table in the back of the main dining room. No sooner had we settled down than the manager said, ‘I’m very sorry, Mr. Liebling, but I just can’t come up with five dozen oysters today. Will four dozen do?'’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis restaurant, located in the middle of Manhattan’s theatre district, was also a pioneer in take-out food.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe two founders handed over The Lobster – which never sold frozen seafood – to their sons Myron ‘Mike’ Linz and Stanley Fuchs. After more than five decades, the restaurant went out of business in the mid-70s, due to a combination of factors including union negotiations, the decline of the area around Times Square and changing tastes in food.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe can date this menu to 1959, when the founders’ sons were in charge. On the back of the original menu is a postcard-sized space where customers could write a friend’s name and address, and The Lobster stamped and mailed menus. It was an early form of viral marketing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThanks to https:\/\/ihappentolikenewyork.com and https:\/\/thenewyorkcityrestaurantarchive.wordpress.com\/ for some of this information.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using Epson archival inks. Custom printed with border for matting and framing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003eEach order includes a print of the interior menu.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb style=\"line-height: 1.2;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAll printed in USA.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage Menu Art","offers":[{"title":"8.5x11\" Archival Print (Unframed) $25.00","offer_id":57491948044454,"sku":"zvj1790052841504","price":16.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"11x14 Archival Print (Unframed) $30.00","offer_id":57491948077222,"sku":"wpo1790052841505","price":19.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"13x19 Archival Print (Unframed) $40.00","offer_id":57491948109990,"sku":"jto1790052841506","price":27.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"16x20 Archival Print (Unframed) $55.00","offer_id":57491948142758,"sku":"cut1790052841507","price":36.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"20x24 Archival Print (Unframed) $85.00","offer_id":57491948175526,"sku":"imb1790052841508","price":51.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"24x36 Archival Print (Unframed) $135.00","offer_id":57491948208294,"sku":"sdh1790052841509","price":83.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0745\/9133\/8662\/files\/the-lobster-oyster-and-chop-house-new-york-1959_1.webp?v=1790052868","url":"https:\/\/coffeetamper.shop\/products\/the-lobster-oyster-and-chop-house-new-york-1959","provider":"My Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}