The Story Behind Sardi's Iconic Celebrity Portrait Walls

Whether you call New York City home, have visited in the past, or are planning an upcoming trip to the Big Apple to check out NYC's best restaurants, you've probably heard about Sardi's, the famous dining establishment that is home to a plethora of celebrity portraits. Though many are aware of this fabled locale, few know the backstory behind these iconic paintings — and it's a story that's almost as fascinating as the people whose faces line Sardi's' walls. 

Opened in 1921 and operating in its current location in Manhattan's Times Square since 1927, Sardi's was founded by Italian immigrants Eugenia and Vincent Sardi. The tradition of crafting and hanging caricatures of notable patrons and theater-crowd stars in restaurants and cafes had been well-established both in Europe and the United States by the late '20s – the time when Sardi's began doing just that. It was a tactic used not only to celebrate restaurants' wealthy clientele, but also to attract average-Joe diners.

The portraits created the impression that a given restaurant was a regular haunt of actors, titans of industry, and more. According to longtime Sardi's maître d' Ivan Lesica in an interview with Wondercade, Sardi's first caricaturist was Alex Gard, a Russian immigrant and friend of the owners who was living in poverty. Vincent and Eugenia made a proposal: To create portraits of the restaurant's patrons in exchange for two square meals a day, plus — crucially — an open bar. Gard accepted, and thus, Sardi's caricature legacy began.

Sardi's is now indisputably a household name. But how did it go from one restaurant of many that hung portraits of patrons to the premiere destination for that very attribute? One reason, other than the quality of its Italian fare, is that from early on Sardi's catered to the hungry (and often under-paid) actors of the area. Surrounded by some of Broadway's biggest theaters, Sardi's has offered a discounted "actor's menu" for many years. 

In doing so, Sardi's became inextricably intertwined with Broadway, making its draw for A-List types all the clearer, and perpetuating a cycle of notable patrons of whom to make portraits. Many of these star guests currently line the walls of Sardi's. Though the restaurant's collection of caricatures, which are crafted by its four artists, now numbers in the thousands, there are 700 to 800 up on its walls at any given time. Some caricatures never leave the floor, such as the ever-popular Kermit the Frog portrait and a sketch of Lucille Ball. 

Celebrity diners have long frequented the restaurant — in fact, Vincent Price's favorite asparagus dish came from Sardi's and it's one of the U.S. restaurants that Elizabeth Taylor loved. Broadway stalwarts such as Neil Patrick Harris and Sutton Foster also make appearances, and Hollywood legends like Lauren Bacall, Paul Newman, and Sidney Poitier all grace the Italian restaurant's walls. So, the next time you're in The City That Never Sleeps and are craving some famous faces with your Italian, Sardi's is your Broadway best-bet.