After being closed a year for renovations, which preserved most of the original detail, this 120-year-old saloon/restaurant reopened in early 2003 under new ownership (one of the owners is actor Tim Hutton). Clarke's has been a New York institution; a late-night hangout for politicians, actors, and athletes. This is where Ray Milland went on a bender in the classic 1948 movie, The Lost Weekend. Maybe if Milland stopped drinking and had one of P.J. Clarke's legendary hamburgers, he wouldn't have ended up in Bellevue. Clarke's hamburger, like the old wood walls, the broken telephone booth, and the hidden dining nook for two, had also been blessedly preserved. Nothing more than a slab of chopped meat cooked to order, on a bun for the curious price of $8.10, the hamburger is a simple masterpiece. Try it with P.J's home fries or onion rings. Salads also are a good accompaniment to the beef, particularly the tomato, red onion, and blue cheese salad. If meat is not your thing, a new very good raw bar was added. Beer, the drink of choice here, comes in mugs but pints are available, just ask. Amidst the steel and glass skyscrapers of Third Avenue, old P.J. Clarke's is a welcome relief.

A new addition to P.J. Clarke's is a separate, more intimate restaurant upstairs called Sidecar. With its own kitchen, Sidecar features more food options than Clarke's including items such as peanut-crusted loin of tuna, filet mignon au poivre, and Magret duck breast with colonial cherry sauce. But don't worry, you can still get the famous hamburger here as well.