Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant

Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant, known popularly as Jack Dempsey's, was a restaurant located on Broadway between 49th and 50th streets in Manhattan, New York.^[1][2][3]

Owned by world Heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Dempsey,^[3] it was considered by many as an American institution. The restaurant originally opened for business as Jack Dempsey's Restaurant on Eighth Avenue and 50th Street, directly across from the third Madison Square Garden, in 1935. Most nights would find Dempsey's famous proprietor on hand to greet guests, sign autographs, pose for pictures, and hold court with people from all walks of life.

Located next door to Jack Amiel's "Turf Restaurant" on Times Square, Amiel became famous as the owner of the "underdog" horse Count Turf who won the 1951 Kentucky Derby. A few years after his Derby win, Jack Amiel became a co-owner of Jack Dempsey's Restaurant, which closed in 1974.

In Pop Culture

• The restaurant appears in A Bronx Tale, during the opening scenes.
• It also appears in Mario Puzo's The Godfather. When Michael Corleone (played by Al Pacino) is picked up by Sollozzo (played by Al Lettieri) and Capt. McCluskey (Played by Sterling Hayden), he's standing in front of Jack Dempsey's Broadway Restaurant.
• The restaurant is one of the settings of Hubert Selby, Jr.'s short story "Hi Champ," which appears in Song of the Silent Snow (1986).
• The restaurant can be seen in the rear projected Batmobile footage in Batman (TV series).
• In Requiem for a Heavyweight, Jack Dempsey's is where Maish (Jackie Gleason) takes Mountain (Anthony Quinn) to get him inebriated before his job interview. Jack Dempsey does a cameo as himself in this scene.

References