Originally Posted by
TWA Fan 1
Bookbinder's is closed...Chptr 11. But I never knew it to be highly-rated, just a "famous" institution and notorious tourist trap.
It had previously been closed from 2001 to 2005.
21 Club is not a restaurant, it's quasi social club for power lunches. Another, slightly different example of this strange type of restaurant is Elaine's, one of the most exclusive and cliquish of NYC "scene" restaurants, where the food receives a generous 13 in the Zagat (it's barely a step above Chef Boyardee).
Places like this (I would include Cipriani's in this list) stay open because they cater to the social mores of a certain class of New Yorkers, and the aspirations of their wannabes.
Some places you just have to love a little bit because of their history. Elaine's qualifies as does 21. Tadich in San Francisco is another wonderfully overrated restaurant which is still rather lovable, and I cannot tell you why.