A landmark in Central Park is reopen for the summer after closing for a few months to undergo a multi-million dollar renovation.
The Loeb Boathouse opened its doors once again on Saturday, or at least part of it, following the extensive work that was done after it closed toward the end of last year. Crushed by skyrocketing costs for labor and goods, the restaurant closed down in Oct. 2022, with all 163 employees at the restaurant laid off. That's when the city's Park's Department started looking for a new operator.
They found a familiar and homegrown company to take over operating the boathouse: Legends Hospitality, which does the concessions at Yankee Stadium, One World Observatory and other venues throughout the country. They committed more than $3 million to overhaul the 150-year-old property, saying that they wanted to "restore it to its natural grandeur."
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One planned change coming with the 10-year deal: Legends said they will start offering advanced ticketing for boat rentals, and debit and credit will be accepted. Boat rentals are expected to return later in the summer.
For now, the Boathouse Café was the first portion to officially reopen. The restaurant's main dining room and bar are slated to be ready to go in the fall.
According to the license agreement between the city and Legends, the new restaurant is set to offer brunch, lunch and dinner options at the dining room, as well as market options that are more geared toward grab-and-go items. The brunch would include standard staples (spinach and cheese omelet, brioche French toast, quiche, cinnamon bun, etc.) while the lunch menu featured sandwiches, burgers and salads, as well as few entrees.
The dinner menu featured a variety of different options, including lamb loin, duck ragout, USDA prime filet, grilled salmon, a pork chop, chicken, New York strip and a Chilean sea bass. There were also dessert items listed: honey buttermilk panna cotta, Dulcey blonde chocolate tart and black velvet cake.
The market would offer breakfast sandwiches in the morning, as well as pizzas and bowls in the afternoon, along with a kids menu.
The location, New York City's only lakefront venue that has been home to countless dates and weddings, was immortalized in several big Hollywood films, including "When Harry Met Sally" and the 1962 political thriller "The Manchurian Candidate."
Even New York City Mayor Eric Adams has a history with the boathouse.
"In my rookie years, I didn’t have a lot of money, and nothing was more romantic than being able to rent a boat," he said at a press conference in February. "It has been a landmark for generations in New York City."
The mayor the return of the restaurant would bring back 200 union jobs.
