The Once-Thriving, Famed Restaurant Humphrey Bogart And Other Stars Loved That You Can't Visit Anymore

Of all the gin joints in all the world, no one is walking into the 21 Club anymore. The New York City restaurant and bar where Humphrey Bogart once held court closed in December 2020. A casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 21 Club enjoyed a remarkable 90-year run before it shuttered for good. During its mid-20th-century heyday, the iconic Manhattan venue was one of film legend Humphrey Bogart's favorite haunts. In fact, Forbes reported that the Hollywood leading man was known to have a favorite table — number 30 in the main dining room, according to Eater NY — and it remained the most-requested table long after the silver screen legend's untimely death at age 57 in 1957.

While Bogie may have been one of the 21 Club's most frequent visitors — legend has it that whenever he was in New York City, he arrived at the venue daily at 11:45 a.m. to claim his table — he was just one of many notable 20th-century personalities who appreciated the venue's old-world charm. The roster of silver screen legends who frequented the 21 Club included Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Frank Sinatra, who was also a fan of Patsy's Italian Restaurant in Midtown West, one of the city's most mouth-watering New York-style pizza joints.

Of course, Bogart's unofficial residency at the 21 Club was only one chapter in the epic venue's legendary 90-year run. The restaurant was established in 1929 by Jack Kriendler and Charlie Berns, a couple of young cousins looking to cash in on the rise of Prohibition-era speakeasies. It wasn't the cousins' first venture into booze smuggling. In 1922, the young entrepreneurs opened the Red Head, a small speakeasy located in New York City's East Village — which also happens to be home to America's oldest Irish pub, a quirky gem full of history and rustic charm.

The underground venue was so successful that the enterprising duo expanded to a larger space in the Washington Square area of Greenwich Village, a lively and artsy foodie paradise with great access to public transit. In 1926, they were evicted to make way for the construction of a subway line. Undaunted, the cousins opened a new place. This time, they landed on 49th Street in Midtown, where they became known for hosting rowdy parties, including the epic New Year's Eve gala in 1929, where they announced their final move to 21 W. 52nd Street. Here, Kriendler and Berns' speakeasy operation became known as the 21 Club.

The name stuck as Prohibition came to an end, and the once-rowdy hangout became a legitimate — some may say elegantly clubby — bar and restaurant. Berns and Kriendler remained at its helm until 1985, when they sold the business to investors Marshall Cogan and Stephen Swid for $21 million (about $63 million in 2026 dollars). The 21 Club remained a prime venue for celebrity spotting well into the 21st century, counting Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, and George Clooney among its patrons, until its closure in 2020.