Joe Allen (restaurant)

Joe Allen
Joe Allen
	The restaurant's exterior in 2020
Restaurant information
Street address	326 West 46th Street
City	New York
State	New York
Postal/ZIP Code	10036
Country	United States
Coordinates	40°45′36″N 73°59′21″W / 40.760069°N 73.989150°W
Website	joeallenrestaurant.com

Joe Allen is an American restaurant known as a Broadway meeting place for working actors, theater staff and fans – very much an industry institution. The restaurant is located on West 46th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, and was opened in 1965 by a restaurateur of the same name.^[1]^[2] Joe Allen is known for having its wall lined with posters of Broadway flops such as Laughing Room Only, Moose Murders, and Dance of the Vampires.^[3] The restaurant featured in scenes in the films No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) and Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda (2004).

A branch opened in the Les Halles district of Paris in 1972 ^[4] and UK branch in London's Covent Garden in 1977.^[5]^[6] Since 2018 these acquired different ownerships ^[7] but retained the name and, in the case of the London branch, the theatrical atmosphere at a venue 100 metres from its original location. In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the London Joe Allen (under temporary closure due to the pandemic) launched a series of three online variety shows in order to raise funds both for the restaurant and the combined theatrical charities Acting For Others. Entitled An Evening At Joe's, the hour long shows, viewable on the Joe Allen YouTube channel, featured songs and sketches from West End and Broadway stars including Derek Jacobi, Chita Rivera, Gary Wilmot, Claire Moore, Sally Ann Triplett and Harriet Thorpe.^[8]

The restaurateur Joe Allen, who gave the establishment its name, was born on February 20, 1933, and died on February 7, 2021, at the age of 87. He was memorialised with three colourful tributes in The New York Times as a restaurateur of the old school who could usually be seen looking unassuming on a barstool at one of his outlets or another. Once, when asked to explain his success, he cited his diffidence. “Maybe it’s because I don’t inflict myself on the customers,” he said.^[9]^[10]

References

^ Alleman, Richard (2013). New York: The Movie Lover's Guide. Crown. ISBN 978-0804137782. Opened in 1965 by a former actor named Joe Allen, this unpretentious brick-walled pub/restaurant has been one of Broadway's top hangouts for working actors for four decades. An egalitarian place, Joe Allen is popular with kids in the chorus as well as with superstars like Elizabeth Taylor, who could usually be found dining on Joe Allen's famous chili after the curtain came down on her Broadway debut run in The Little Foxes in 1981.
^ "Joe Allen". New York. 13 December 1982. p. 54. Joe Allen is the hangout not so much of hip Broadway types as theatrical naifs, those to whom an opportunity to work in show biz is a reprieve from everything else.
^ Avrich, Barry (2016). Moguls, Monsters, and Madmen: An Uncensored Life in Show Business. ECW Press. ISBN 978-1770908529. Between filming the Broadway show, Jackie, Jyll and I went to have dinner at the famed Joe Allen Restaurant on 46th Street. Joe Allen is famous for having its wall lined with posters of Broadway flops including Laughing Room Only.
^ Joe Allen Paris website
^ Biggins, Christopher (2015). Biggins - My Story. Kings Road. ISBN 978-1784188733. 'It' being a new Covent Garden restaurant called Joe Allen – a legendary theatrical haunt for Broadway stars in New York that we had all been desperately hoping to see open over here.
^ Rayner, Jay (2 June 2013). "Joe Allen, London: restaurant review". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
^ "Meet the Team". Joe Allen Restaurant.
^ Dent, Grace (13 December 2017). "Grace Dent reviews Joe Allen: Still up to its old tricks". The Standard. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
^ Purnick, Joyce (8 February 2021). "Joe Allen, Theater District Restaurateur, Is Dead at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
^ "Tributes pour in for famous theatre restaurateur Joe Allen, who has died aged 87". WhatsOnStage.com. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2021.