Secret Members-Only P.J. Clarke's Sidecar Dining Room Reopens

MIDTOWN, NY — The space above a beloved Third Avenue saloon has held many roles: apartments for the proprietors family, an antique shop, a bookie joint, storage and then a secret upstairs dining room and bar.

But now after closing during the pandemic, the formerly hush-hush space is now open to all.

P.J. Clarke's second-floor dining room and bar, the Sidecar, has re-opened for reservations after closing during the pandemic — and years of being an exclusive members-only space.

After the saloon was sold to new owners Philip Scotti and the late Arnold Penner in 2002, they renovated the second floor space and opened it, christened the Sidecar.

In 2013, 550 faithful P.J. Clarke's regulars discovered mysterious membership in their mailboxes and the Sidecar's era as an exclusive, private club was born.

The idea was to make a private, quiet speakeasy space upstairs, the owners told the New York Post at the time, so that regulars would be guaranteed a seat.

Now the 90-seat space is open to all as a reservations-only quiet respite in Midtown where guests can enjoy Nat King Cole's "Cadillac" bacon cheeseburger and a signature Sidecar cocktail.

The second floor of the historic saloon's location since 1884 at East 55th Street and Third Avenue was formerly home to the Clarke family and still contains the original fireplace, around which generations of Clarkes would have sat.

Afterwards, the space was an antiques shop, a bookie joint and storage for the bar, which results in the P.J. Clarke's team finding treasures from time to time, including Tennessee Williams' house account card, a letter from Joan Crawford and a note written in expressive cursive blue ink on yellowed paper which read: "Dear Diamond Joe, Instead of feeling embarrassed this mornin, my condition is one of euphoria."

A member of P.J. Clarke's wrote that "the rest of this intriguing letter, like many things Sidecar, is a secret."

Sidecar is open from noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday to Friday.