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Forbes Lifestyle Travel The Fun Continues During Holiday Season At Broadway’s Stardust Diner Gerald Eskenazi Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Following Click to save this article. You'll be asked to sign into your Forbes account. Nov 5, 2023, 09:02am EST | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Yes, it's New Year's Eve at Ellen's Stardust Diner Lessing's Hospitality There is a New York tradition that combines family, Broadway, and food. And it is, simply, Ellen’s Stardust Diner. You don’t get many chances in life to be surrounded by performers on that famous street—especially when you’ve having a great meal with family and friends. The “diner” is in the heart of the theater district, Broadway and West 51 st Street. It is a homage to the Broadway of our imagination. But it is also real, especially during holiday season. Imagine going in for a meal, or even a snack, and having performers singing a Broadway classic. They do this 365 days a year, and it’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. While you’re listening, look around. The walls are festooned by photos of Miss Subways of another era. Stardust’s founder, Ellen Sturm, was a Miss Subways back in 1959. She was Ellen Hart then, a teen-ager. Thousands saw this daily Ellen Sturm Back then, preceding American Idol, every two months there was a Miss Subways, whose photo appeared in every train car and spoke of her aspirations and dreams. Straphangers, though, couldn’t even dream of what Ellen would create. For example, this Thanksgiving you will be able to have a classic turkey dinner in addition to the regular menu. MORE FOR YOU The World’s Best Whiskey—According To the 2023 Drinks International Top 50 List Conan O Brien Kills Starfield s Most Innocent NPC In New Clueless Gamer Clip Crypto Now Braced For A Massive 300 Billion Price Earthquake Following Bitcoin Ethereum And XRP Surge And if you’re still around by New Year’s Eve, you will be part of a festive night that features performers on three floors, music, a three-course dinner and Champagne at midnight to toast 2024. (Click here for tickets.) Ms. Sturm has kept alive the feeling of that era in her diner. It is, simply, a hoot—from the singing waiters and waitresses to the crowd, to the food, to the overall feeling that you’re here having fun. So while you’re having a “New York Schmear”—you know, bagel with cream cheese, lox and all the trimmings—you hear extremely talented young Broadway hopefuls singing your favorite songs. The walls are festooned with photos of former Miss Subways, of course, and other scenes out of New York’s fabled past. The place is always packed, and takes no reservations, except for that New Year’s Eve feast. But yet, you have the feeling that you are not just a number, thanks to the smiling wait-staff. Ellen estimates that she serves from 2,000 to 3,000 people a day. So obviously people are getting in by droves without having to call ahead. The place has been a Times Square go-to since it opened more than 30 years ago. It is also a mecca for the young and talented, the performers who are singing waiters and waitresses, known as Stardusters. Ellen herself saves her singing for other venues. She has sung the National Anthem before Knicks’ basketball and Rangers’ hockey games at Madison Square Garden. She has run the New York City Marathon (yes, all 26 miles 385 yards), and she has run up the stairs to the top of the Empire State Building. Waiting to get in Getty Images She is proud of her young singers, who have gone just a few blocks away to appear in “Jersey Boys,” “The Lion King,” and “Wicked,” just to name a few iconic shows. You have to be talented to work at the Stardust. Every person is given an audition, so you’ve got to be a person worth listening to as well as someone who can juggle two three dishes while serving. There is no cover charge for the music and the prices, surprisingly, are what you’d expect to pay at any diner in the city—for example, chocolate chip pancakes are $17, and a breakfast burrito is $19. And, oh, yes, that bagel with all the trimmings you ever dreamed about—$21. Of course, the New Year’s Eve feast is at a fixed price. And while you’re waiting for your food, or music, take a walk upstairs to see all those 1950s black-and-white pictures of New York City. Just like it was in your dreams. Gerald Eskenazi Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions
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