Steuben's Wanted Beer

I while back, I wrote something about Steuben's, a mini-chain of Germanic bar and restaurants. One location used to be a staple around Times Square. A reader saw it and sent me these images of a Steuben's souvenir "car plaque." You were evidently supposed to "hang this in your car."

The reader rightly assumed the object came from before Prohibition. Like, right before Prohibition. "Write your Congressman that you want beer," charges Steuben Taverns, which were "made famous by its Beer Dinner." It also cheers for "Beer for Prosperity." Steuben's lost the battle, obviously. But someone managed to stay open until Repeal and long afterwards.

I love it when readers send me stuff!

UPDATE: A reader writes "This is from the New York Beer Parade, May 14, 1932." So it not from before Prohibition, but from the tail end of Prohibition. 

Another Lost Restaurant Search

Readers seem to be sending me on wild restaurant chases lately—and I am happy to go on them. Last week, a descendant of Joseph Guffanti asked me if I knew when Guffanti's Italian restaurant finally gave up the ghost. I did my best, and discovered a lot, but couldn't find out the exact year when the eatery died. This week, someone has asked me if I knew anything about a place called Steuben's in the 40s, a Teutonic drinking joint where he used to go in the 1960s.

It was actually called Steuben Tavern, and was located at W. 47th Street and Broadway, right in the thick of Times Square. And indeed, it was a German type place. It appears to have been the longest-lasting branch of what was once a chain of Steubens. In 1934, there was quite a lot of hullabaloo when a Steuben Tavern opened on the south side of 42nd between Broadway and Seventh. It was a wide broad, stone building, set on the site of the old Metropole Hotel. It was designed to look like an English tavern and had murals by Winold Reiss (see above), the well-known artist who also did murals for several of the Longchamps restaurants.

The 42nd Street tavern closed only five years later, in 1939, leaving branches on W. 47th and Lexington. The 47th Street location was tiny, with wood paneling and checked tablecloths, and served pot roast and schnitzel. It was going strong through the 1960s. Again, I don't know when it closed.

The front page of the menu is below.

Gertel's of Brooklyn?

From the Knock-me-over-with-a-feather department: The fine folks at Clinton Hill Blog gave me heads up that the classic Gertel's Bakery sign, which hung on Hester Street for 93 years until the business closed last June, has been spotted in Brooklyn, north of Myrtle Street, possibly on Steuben. (The specifics were uncertain.)

Above is the picture. That's the Gertel's sign all right. Which leads to the inevitable question: WTF? I was searching my brain for a reason for this neon relocation, when a commenter reminded me of a past post of my own. On my final visit to the baker, I asked what would become of the iconic sign. The answer came that the owner was going to keep the sign at his home.

But, judging from the roller shutter, this doesn't look like anybody's home. But then I remembered another bit of important information. The owner planned to move his wholesale operation to a factory on—yes—Steuben St. in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. So this must be the sign's new home. Hooray! Good job, sign. Glad you made it home safe.