Bye Bye Barbetta: Inside legendary NYC restaurant’s final night after 120 years of service
NY Post
After exactly 120 years, the curtain has fallen on the Theater District institution Barbetta, with the iconic Italian restaurant having served its final course Friday night.
“It left such an impact on people,” said Suzanna Gardijan, who has been working at Barbetta for 38 years as its Private Events Manager.
“Everybody’s coming back tonight just to say goodbye, and a lot of people are crying, telling us how much Barbetta has meant to them,” Gardijan said from her perch at coat check.
Throngs of well-wishers filled its stately Astor family-built townhouse on 46th Street, full of Italian antiques and furniture, all craving one last plate of the eatery’s signature dishes from Pacific Swordfish to its red wine and beef concoction Bue Al Barolo.
One of the revelers bidding adieu was Bill Bradley, the NBA Hall of Famer and three-term Jersey senator.
“There’s a genuine sadness to it because there won’t be another Barbetta,” Bradley told The Post with tears in his eyes following his last meal at the restaurant.
