The Restaurant That Served Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain Is Opening Its Second Location After Nearly Two Centuries

Delmonico’s, the New York City steakhouse that has operated near Wall Street since 1837, is preparing to open a second location in Midtown Manhattan, its first expansion in nearly two centuries. The restaurant, which counts Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain among its historic guests, will open at 1330 Avenue of the Americas, surrounded by some of the city’s most prominent corporate offices.

It Opened During a Financial Crisis and Never Looked Back

Delmonico’s first opened around the corner from Wall Street in 1837, the same year a financial panic gripped the nation, wiping out banks and bursting a real-estate bubble. The restaurant survived, and over the decades that followed, it built a guest list that included some of the most recognizable names in American history. Lincoln and Twain were among those who passed through its doors.

The Dining Room Still Looks the Part

At the original Beaver Street location, which owner Dennis Turcinovic renovated and reopened in 2023 after a years-long closure, the dining room functions as a living archive. Old menus, letters from city officials, and decades of photographs cover nearly every surface of the main dining room. The Wall Street Journal visited on a recent weekday afternoon and found businesspeople in suits at white-tablecloth tables, beneath cherry-wood wainscoting and heavy blue curtains.

Its Guest List Spans Politics, Literature, and Hollywood

The famous guests did not stop with Lincoln and Twain. Its dining rooms have hosted Charles Dickens, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley over the years. Complex also reported that Nikola Tesla dined there daily, and more recently, actor Nick Braun has been spotted at the restaurant.

Today’s Regulars Come With Expense Accounts

The celebrity guests of past centuries have largely given way to a different kind of regular. Turcinovic told the Wall Street Journal that the restaurant draws heavily from the corporate world, with business executives making up the bulk of its regulars, most dining on company budgets. A 36-ounce porterhouse steak for two is priced at $210, a figure that reflects both the restaurant’s upscale positioning and the rising cost of beef industry-wide.

The Midtown Location Is Built Around Business Dining

The new Midtown location at 1330 Avenue of the Americas sits in the middle of one of the city’s busiest corporate corridors. The address drops Delmonico’s into one of the heaviest concentrations of Fortune 500 companies in the city, and the space will include more private rooms than the original, designed specifically for business dinners and holiday parties. Real-estate firm Newmark represented both the landlord and Delmonico’s during lease negotiations, according to the Wall Street Journal.

A New Chef Is Already Updating the Menu

Executive chef Adam Plitt, who spent 12 years at French seafood restaurant Le Bernardin, joined Delmonico’s Hospitality Group to lead the culinary direction for the Midtown expansion. Plitt told the Wall Street Journal that the new location will take a more modern approach while preserving the brand’s identity, and he has already introduced more fish options to the menu.

Steak Sales Are Growing Despite Rising Prices

The expansion arrives as steakhouse sales are climbing nationwide. Sales at U.S. steak-chain restaurants grew more than 5% last year, outpacing almost every other full-service restaurant category in the country, according to market research firm Technomic. The lone exception was Asian dining. According to the Wall Street Journal, Sara Senatore, senior restaurant analyst with Bank of America, said consumer demand for red meat remains high.

New York’s Appetite for Steak Shows No Signs of Slowing

New York City continues to draw high-spending diners, and the appetite for steak has not softened. Keith Durst, owner of hospitality advisory firm Friend of Chef, told the Wall Street Journal that diners ordering steak are also more likely to order alcohol alongside their meal, which strengthens profit margins. Durst recently advised steakhouse Golden Steer on its first New York location, an expansion from its Las Vegas base.

After Nearly Two Centuries, Delmonico’s Is Expanding Beyond Its Original Home

Few restaurants have survived financial panics, ownership changes, and shifting tastes across nearly two centuries. Delmonico’s has cycled through locations and ownership changes, but it has spent most of its history in Lower Manhattan. With the Midtown opening on the horizon, the restaurant that once fed Lincoln and Twain is now betting that nearly two centuries of history carries weight in a new part of the city.