Friday, February 6, 2009

At Neil's Coffee Shop (where Abe Vigoda eats!)

If I lived near Lexington and 70th Street, and thank God I don't (kidding!), I'd likely spend a lot more time at Neil's Coffee Shop, a throwback to the days when diners were, uh, diners. Nothing phoney about this place, from the formica tables to the professional waiters.




And, before continuing...why, yes -- that's Abe Vigoda.



One of the waiters told me was just in the other day. By the way, Abe turns 88 this Feb. 24.



Other stars of stage and screen have been here, too, as you can see from the gallery of publicity stills...There's Harry Belafonte...Steve Martin...Jack Hanna, the zookeeper whose sole purpose in life seems to be as a guest on Letterman.



And the food? Delicious!




And here are a few more shots of the rest of the place...






Finally! A great NYC diner that's not moving to Alabama or Wyoming.

Worth noting:
In 2002, Neil's suffered damage when the tailor shop next door was destroyed by a firebomb...
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3 comments:

  1. esquared™February 6, 2009 at 9:30 AM

    My ex-gf (she was a student at Hunter College) and I were eating there one time back in the late '90's, and the manager approached her if she wanted to be a waitress. She accepted the offer; she started within the next couple of days, worked there for a couple of weeks, until she met a Wall Streeter. She moved in him in the UPE and then she dumped me and the job thereafter.

    Anyway, amny featured Neil's back in October of last year. (I was to lazy to post it).

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2009 at 9:43 AM

    Damn...so I guess you haven't been back?

    ReplyDelete
  3. esquared™February 6, 2009 at 10:10 AM

    (*^ too lazy)

    I've been back, but I've been sitting and eating at the counter. I just can't seem to sit on the tables/booths(especially the one in the back by the brick wall, that's where we were eating), I keep looking up thinking she's the next person who's walking in.

    Great coffee shop, it's ironic that it's in the UPE, and one can hardly find this type of coffee shop/diner, nowadays, in the EV/LES.

    ReplyDelete

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