Manhattan has lost another classic coffee shop. Reader Scott Levine sends in the following shot of a shuttered La Parisienne, on 7th Avenue by 58th.
photo by Scott Levine
The hastily written sign in the window says only: "We're moving on! Thanks for letting us serve you for over 50 years."
In business since 1950, La Parisienne was a favorite spot to grab a meal after a show at Carnegie Hall or a walk through Central Park, a place for the standard old-school diner fare of burgers, eggs, pancakes, et al. (It was not a favorite, however, of Mexican wrestlers.) It boasted a beautiful vintage neon sign, in blue and red, along with the ever-vanishing STEAKS CHOPS SEAFOOD.
Now the neon sign is off and calls to the diner go unanswered. Bon voyage La Parisienne.
Better days, via Google Maps
12 comments:
Had many a cheesecake and coffee here when I was driving for s living. Soon people in this city won't even know what the term diner coffee means. Hope someone saves the sign
Oh, no. This is genuinely heartbreaking. A Greek coffee shop still run and mostly staffed by Greeks (nearly impossible to find that vibe anymore.) I loved going there. My (now) wife and I had lunch there on our first date, and would always go there if we were in the neighborhood. This really hurts....
oh nooo!!! This is sad news indeed. The diner was one of the few places around here where you could sit down and have a warm meal without it being overpriced or fancy. There are far too few diners and casual dining places left :-(
I pass La Parisienne every day on my way home from the office, and I told my wife the other day, "You know, we really need to try that spot. It's been there forever and has to be amazing -- at least in some way or another."
Dammit, NYC... /hits self in head
again: where do people eat? there has to be an alternative to mcdonalds or an artsinal $40 lunch.
Quick, somebody with buckets of money, and you know who you are, buy this wonderful dive and save the jobs of the sometimes lovely and sometimes grouchy waiters. I can't live without talking to the locals when I visit from Jersey. Where else can I go and get a fried egg and spy on movie stars over the edge of my refilled coffee cup? Who needs another edgy restaurant?
I ate lunch here at least twice a week for at least a year until I found a much better diner: The Flame, at 9th & 58th. La Parisienne had the comfort of a diner, but pretty mediocre service & food.
We just discovered La Parisienne was closed this Tuesday before a concert at Carnegie. We have been eating there for years whenever we came down from Albany. We will especially miss the Greek waiter who looked just like my French-Canadian brother from Minnesota.
Where did the waiters all go? To other restaurants? Retired? back to their homelands? We miss this diner!!!!
Hi everybody, my name is Axel and I live in Munich. I've been to this lovely and genuine diner many times when I visited New York City with my family in 2013 and 2014. My parents enjoyed your food, my sister and also my niece & nephew liked their scrambled eggs for breakfast. We loved the atmosphere and had many friendly and interesting conversations with the waitors and the chef. Very sadly I just stumbled upon this website, getting the info that this lovely place is shut down right now. I planned going there again with my parents in the future but sadly my father is in hospital right now and New York City (like every other city in this cruel world of "progress" and money makers) is losing its traditional spots.. Makes me realize again: Nothing is forever. I've unfortunatly been there only during its last two years but it must have been great 50 years with you guys. If anyone of the staff is reading this I just want to say thanks for the excellent food at a reasonable price and the friendly service. God bless you! Many greetings, Axel from Munich
PS: Oh and by the way.. this is an excellent blog! I hope there is plenty of more people like Jeremiah out there who open their eyes and try to do something..
this was a stupid over priced diner catering to sucker tourists. i live across the street , went there once in 1999 and never returned. good riddance!
It's a shame to see this place has gone, I enjoyed some great meals here. It had classic diner burgers, and the old man who ran the cash register seemed liked he had been there forever. There were very un-French paintings of coastal Greece and the tables had regulars' names on plaques if I remember correctly.
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