A taste of old New York will remain on the Upper East Side's Lexington Avenue, where longtime restaurant Donohue's Steak House received a reprieve. The 67-year-old restaurant was poised to shut down this week after failed negotiations with the landlord; now, however, the Post reports that a last-minute lease has been inked, ensuring that the many regulars will be able to eat their steaks and burgers for at least the next decade.
Owner Maureen Donohue-Peters and her landlord agreed to a $22,000-per-month lease, which is reportedly not a dramatic increase from the previous lease. Donohue-Peters also divulged news of a new Donohue's that she'll open in the former PD Hurley's space on the Upper West Side. Luckily, the building that will house the new restaurant is owned by her family. From the Post:
Donohue’s, opened in 1950, is a time capsule of Eisenhower-era Manhattan with wood-paneled walls, a checkerboard tile floor and red tablecloths. US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and former top cop Bill Bratton and his wife, Rikki Kleiman, have been spotted in black-leather booths. All walks of life mingle easily at a moodily lit bar at the front of the house.
"The restaurant is an extension of my living and dining room," Donohue-Peters told the Times in a profile from 2015. "No one comes in here high on a horse. Whether they're making $12,000 a year or $25 million a year, all my customers are treated the same."
