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Famous Cafe Edison Set to Close in Several Weeks

By Sybile Penhirin | November 6, 2014 7:22pm
 Cafe Edison is set to close at the end of December 2014, according to media sources.
Cafe Edison is set to close at the end of December 2014, according to media sources.
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DNAinfo/Sybile Penhirin

TIMES SQUARE— Longtime eatery Cafe Edison, known for being one of Broadway artists’ favorite hangout spots, will soon shut its doors, its landlord said Thursday.

“For over thirty years, Hotel Edison and its ownership has enjoyed a wonderful, productive relationship with the Edison Cafe. We can confirm that the Café is closing as the hotel prepares to upgrade and restore the space,” the Hotel Edison general manager said.  

Hotel officials did not say when the restaurant would close and staff working there on Thursday said they were not allowed to talk about it, but The New York Times reported the restaurant would close in December.

Café Edison, at 228 W. 47th Street, has been serving Eastern European-inspired meals to Broadway crews, tourists and locals for the past 34 years. Its menu includes Hot Roast Sirloin of Beef, Matzo Brie and Hot Romanian Pastrami delicacies, with food prices ranging from $2.50 to $17.

Café Edison’s round room is said to be a glimpse of the old New York, with decorative woodworks on the walls and pillars, and chandeliers hanging from high ceilings.

The place is well-known among Broadway theater crews — and famous performers and scriptwriters often come for a coffee or a meal, patrons said.

“I once saw people doing magic as they sat at their table," said longtime customer Tom Easton who has been coming to the restaurant for the past 30 years. "There are always unusual things happening because there are so many artists coming," Easton said, “It’s just a remarkable place.”

Clients entering the restaurant on Thursday afternoon said they were sad to hear it was closing. 

“It’s a New York institution,” said Seth Morgan, a 33-year-old stagehand who worked close to the restaurant for many years.

“I mean nobody looks like this anymore. The place is beautiful. It’s relatively inexpensive and its quiet. I’m sad, I’m very sad it’s closing,” said Morgan, who has been a regular client for the past 14 years.

“I’m very upset,” said Gregory Seta, a retail manager, who has been coming to the restaurant on a regular basis for the past 20 years.

“Times Square developers are not challenging tourists’ expectations, they’re giving them familiar and comfortable places instead of showing them the real New York,” Seta said, adding he was going to come to Café Edison until it closed.

“It just such a disgrace that it’s closing,” he said before entering the restaurant to order its famous Matzo ball soup.