New Yorkers who prefer their meals with a side of filming location should head straight to The Mansion. The historic eatery, situated on a bustling corner at 1634 York Ave. in the Upper East Side’s Yorkville neighborhood, is currently enjoying a stint portraying The Pickle Diner on the sophomore season of the Hulu hit “Only Murders in the Building.”
Named in honor of Gracie Mansion, which stands just steps away, the establishment was originally opened in 1945 by John Philips, a Cyprus native who immigrated to America in 1922. After initially toiling away as a barber, he found his way into the restaurant business, eventually working up from a dishwasher to a cook to a chef. Following a tour of duty in World War II, John returned to New York on June 9, 1945 and opened The Mansion two days later. It has been going strong ever since, quickly becoming a neighborhood staple and frequent stomping ground for both Yorkville denizens and visitors alike. Just a few of the regulars who have been known to drop in over the years include broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite, onetime Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, “60 Minutes” creator Don Hewitt, New York Mets president Sandy Alderson, former mayor Bill de Blasio and cookbook author Jessica Seinfeld.
The eatery, which is known interchangeably as The Mansion Restaurant and The Mansion Diner, is still owned and operated by the Philips family today, nearly eight decades after its inception! John’s son, Philip Philips, inherited the reins in the 1970s and his son, John G. Philips, who formerly managed such tony hotels as The Plaza and the Soho Grand, took over in 2006. Though it closed later that same year to undergo a massive $1.2 million renovation, during which the original brick walls were exposed, the décor reimagined, the menu updated and the kitchen equipment upgraded, The Mansion is still known for serving up tasty meals with a smile at affordable prices. (The place has also become quite renowned for its epic holiday decorations, with John adorning the exterior in extravagant trimmings each St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Halloween and Christmas.)
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Image Credit: The Mansion Restaurant Most dishes are culled from old family recipes, with specialties including spinach pie, French toast stuffed with cannoli cream and homemade chicken soup “all the way,” with chicken, carrots and your choice of noodles, rice or matzo balls.
All meats are prepared fresh onsite. Of the poultry served, which is acquired from Murray’s Farm in the Catskill Mountains, John told the Tap Into website, “We roast them at the beginning of every shift so that the chicken you are eating for dinner was cooked that afternoon, nothing lays over to the next day. When it comes to roast meats, roast beefs, turkeys—anything like that—we are cooking them daily, and we’re making sure they are fresh.”
So it is no surprise that Grub Street rated the restaurant one of Manhattan’s “absolute best diners” in 2017, noting its fabulous sourcing, stating, “A bagel sandwich uses smoked salmon from Acme, the lauded Greenpoint fish vendor; there’s cold-brew coffee; bottles of Moët Champagne are in the wine racks. Don’t worry: It’s not so upscale that you can’t still watch the Mets game, and you’ll see cops shooting the breeze, politicians schmoozing, families taking kids out after ballet lessons, etc.”
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Image Credit: The Mansion Restaurant Indeed, that friendly atmosphere coupled with the stellar fare has made The Mansion a “home away from home” for many area residents. As Gillian Tett of the Financial Times detailed in a recent article, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the eatery installed a speaker outside and “played the iconic song ‘New York, New York’ at full blast each night. Cheering residents in the surrounding block leaned out of their doors and windows to sing along.”
With some patrons popping in as many as three and four times a day, The Mansion is a true neighborhood landmark, much as it is depicted on “Only Murders in the Building.”
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Image Credit: Google The locale first pops up in the third episode of season two, titled “The Last Day of Bunny Folger,” as our fearless podcasting trio, Charles-Haden Savage (Steve Martin), Oliver Putman (Martin Short) and Mabel Mora (Selena Gomez), try to recount the hours leading up to to the murder of their neighbor Bunny Folger (Jayne Houdyshell). The investigation brings them to The Pickle Diner (Est. 1963), Bunny’s favorite local eatery, purported to be situated in close proximity to The Arconia on New York’s Upper West Side.
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Image Credit: The Mansion Restaurant The Mansion has since gone on to appear in numerous scenes, becoming one of season two’s central locations, where the three regularly gather to discuss Bunny’s murder. As Oliver explains to Charles in episode five, “The Tell,” “I can’t think of a single safer location to work in that also has dips!” (Spoiler – The Mansion doesn’t actually serve dip, though there are plenty of other appetizers on the menu.)
Both the interior and exterior of the eatery appear on the show. For the shoot, production designer Patrick Howe swapped out the restaurant’s regular signage for versions reading “The Pickle Diner” and outfitted the shelving with a slew of pickle jars. The pendant lighting was also changed and the runners removed from the main dining area.
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Image Credit: The Mansion Restaurant A large photograph of the New York skyline was added to the rear wall, as well, but other than those minor details, little of the place was altered for its small-screen appearance, with the restaurant’s exposed brickwork, blue leather booths and white subway tile showcased in all of their glory.
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television “Only Murders in the Building” is not The Mansion’s only claim to fame. In the season five episode of “Gossip Girl” titled “The Fasting and the Furious,” Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) takes a call from his literary agent outside of the restaurant.
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Image Credit: Bravo Jill Weber (Jill Kargman) and Vanessa Wrigley (K.K. Glick) also grab a meal there and discuss the horrors of museum sleepovers in the season three episode of “Odd Mom Out” titled “Homo Erectus.”
A local haven, a quality food staple and a veritable onscreen star, The Mansion is a true New York gem!