West Bank Cafe in Hell’s Kitchen gets strong community support to stay open

NEW YORK (PIX11) – Did you know that 80% of all New York City restaurants fail within the first five years of operation?

Well, there’s a restaurant on Theater Row in Hell’s Kitchen that clearly keeps defying the odds.

The owner of the 46-year-old West Bank Cafe announced last month that it would be closing on Aug. 24.

But now it looks like that is not going to happen.

“Thanks for all the support and love,” Steve Olsen, the West Bank Cafe owner, told PIX11 News. “It’s unparalleled to anything I thought I could imagine. Thank you.”

Olsen said he couldn’t believe the outpouring of love and support from longtime customers and the theater community to keep West Bank Cafe open.

The longtime mainstay of the theater district only partially recouped losses from the pandemic.

But now, with close to $100,000 raised on a GoFundMe page and an upcoming gala, there’s renewed hope that West Bank Cafe and its downstairs performance space can stay open for decades to come.

“I think the future looks bright,” Tom D’Angora, the Broadway producer who successfully created a telethon to save the West Bank Cafe during the pandemic, told PIX11 News. “The community has really rallied around to help. We already met one-tenth of our goal after a soft rollout.”

The West Bank Cafe opened in 1978, the first restaurant with a lounge space downstairs to open on West 42nd Street.

The Laurie Beechman Theater has hosted many famous performers, such as comedians Joan Rivers and Lewis Black, as well as those just starting.

“I grew up here,” Kathryn Rosseter, an actress, told PIX11 News. “When I was not working out there, I could come here and try out new material.”

In the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, some customers, like members of the Mannarino family, have been coming for almost half a century.

“My father had his 70th, 80th, and 90th birthdays here,” Tony Mannarino, a longtime customer, told PIX11 News. “Any way we can help Steve, we will.”

A gala is planned for Sept. 23. If you’d like to help West Bank Cafe, go here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.