Ratner's was opened by Jacob Harmatz and his brother-in-law Alex Ratner (who allegedly flipped a coin to name the business) as a Jewish Kosher dairy restaurant eventually serving up to 1200 people daily at its peak. Open 24 hours until 1975, it was a hub for late-night dining and celebrity clientele, attracting: Entertainers like Al Jolson, Groucho Marx, Walter Matthau, Elia Kazan, and Gangsters like Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky. A back room in the Delancey location became “Lansky’s Lounge,” named after Lansky, who claimed he visited so often he deserved his own room.
