Dubrow's Cafeteria

Dubrow's Cafeteria was a family-owned chain of cafeteria-style restaurants associated principally with New York City and, later, Miami Beach. Benjamin Dubrow, an immigrant from Minsk in what is now Belarus, opened the first Dubrow's on Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1929. The business developed during an era when self-service cafeterias offered relatively inexpensive meals in busy urban districts and attracted office workers, laborers, shoppers, local residents, and political campaigners. The chain's most important New York presence was in Manhattan's Garment District. Dubrow's became a gathering place for people connected with the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and for workers in the surrounding apparel industry. Its cafeteria format, central location, and informal atmosphere made it useful not only as a restaurant but also as a social and political meeting point. Politicians, including John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Robert F. Kennedy, used Dubrow's locations as campaign stops or public-facing venues. New York gubernatorial candidates Hugh Carey and W. Averell Harriman were also associated with campaign appearances there. The business remained closely tied to the extended Dubrow family. Benjamin's son George and several sons-in-law and other relatives helped establish and operate additional cafeterias, bakeries, restaurants, and a take-out shop. Related family members also developed Toby's, a southern-style cafeteria chain in Florida. After George Dubrow died in an automobile accident in Florida, his eldest son Irwin assumed management responsibilities, later joined by his brother Leonard. Paul Tobin succeeded his father in the family business, while Joseph and Robert Adler worked part-time with their father. Irving Kaplan remained involved with Dubrow's until the final location closed. At its height, Dubrow's operated two Brooklyn cafeterias and a Miami Beach location in addition to its Manhattan restaurant. The Brooklyn sites were on Kings Highway at East 16th Street and on Eastern Parkway near Utica Avenue. The Miami Beach cafeteria stood on Lincoln Road. The Kings Highway restaurant closed in 1978, while the last remaining Dubrow's, in Manhattan's Garment District, closed in 1985. The brand therefore survives primarily as a cultural memory rather than as an operating restaurant company. Dubrow's has continued to appear in photography, literature, film, theater, and painting. A Garry Winogrand photograph records Richard Nixon's 1960 presidential campaign at the cafeteria. The Manhattan restaurant was also used for the American Playhouse production of The Cafeteria, adapted from an Isaac Bashevis Singer short story and broadcast on PBS. Other references include works by Reynold Junker, Wallace Markfield, Jason Shinder, Joshua Furst, Ivan Koota, Dennis Ziemienski, and Bruce Coville. Portions of the 1979 film Boardwalk were filmed inside the recently closed Kings Highway location. In 2023, Cornell University Press's Three Hills division published Marcia Bricker Halperin's photographic book about Dubrow's, helping document the chain's place in New York's social and visual history.

Benjamin Dubrow, whose birth name was Mowsoha Bencian Dubrowensky, immigrated from Minsk in the region that is now Belarus and founded Dubrow's Cafeteria on Manhattan's Lower East Side in 1929. He and his wife, Rose Solowey, raised five children: George, Minnie, Lila, Sylvia, and Ruth. The business emerged in a period when cafeteria restaurants were important features of dense American cities, providing self-service meals to workers and residents without the formality or expense of conventional dining rooms. The enterprise expanded through the involvement of the extended family. George Dubrow and his brothers-in-law Max Tobin, Benjamin Adler, and Irving Kaplan, along with later descendants, established and operated additional cafeterias and bakeries, three restaurants, and a take-out shop. The related family businesses also included Toby's, a southern-style cafeteria chain in Florida. This network made Dubrow's less a single-site restaurant than a family-operated hospitality group, although the Dubrow's name remained associated with the best-known cafeterias. Dubrow's became particularly prominent in Manhattan's Garment District during the early and middle decades of the twentieth century. The restaurant served as a hub for activity connected to the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and developed a reputation as a place where workers, local figures, and visitors could meet informally. Its public setting also made it attractive to political campaigns. John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Robert F. Kennedy were among the politicians reported to have made campaign appearances at Dubrow's, while New York gubernatorial candidates Hugh Carey and W. Averell Harriman also used the cafeterias as campaign stops. The Brooklyn locations similarly functioned as neighborhood institutions. Baseball player Sandy Koufax is associated with announcing his decision to sign with the Brooklyn Dodgers in front of the Kings Highway cafeteria. Management passed among members of the extended family. When George Dubrow died in an automobile accident in Florida, his oldest son Irwin took over his responsibilities. Leonard Dubrow later joined Irwin. Paul Tobin assumed the role previously held by his father, and Joseph and Robert Adler worked part-time alongside their father. Irving Kaplan remained with Dubrow's until the final location closed. These transitions preserved the business's family character across several decades. The chain ultimately contracted. The Kings Highway location in Brooklyn closed in 1978. The final restaurant, in the Manhattan Garment District, closed in 1985. No current operating successor under the Dubrow's Cafeteria name is identified in the reference material, so the brand is classified as defunct. After closure, Dubrow's remained visible in cultural representations of New York and Brooklyn. Garry Winogrand photographed Richard Nixon's 1960 presidential campaign at the cafeteria. The Manhattan site was used for The Cafeteria, an American Playhouse production based on an Isaac Bashevis Singer story and later broadcast on PBS. Dubrow's was also referenced or depicted in novels, poems, paintings, film, and memoir-like writing, including work by Reynold Junker, Wallace Markfield, Jason Shinder, Joshua Furst, Ivan Koota, Dennis Ziemienski, and Bruce Coville. The 1979 film Boardwalk used parts of the Kings Highway cafeteria as a filming location shortly after its closure. In 2023, Marcia Bricker Halperin's photographic book on Dubrow's, published by Three Hills, gathered images and essays that further recorded the chain's architectural, social, and cultural legacy.

• 2023

  Photographic book documents the chain

  [1]Dubrow's Cafeteriaen.wikipedia.org

  Three Hills publishes Marcia Bricker Halperin's collection of Dubrow's photographs and related essays.

• 1985

  Final location closes

  [1]Dubrow's Cafeteriaen.wikipedia.org

  The last Dubrow's Cafeteria, in Manhattan's Garment District, shuts down.

• 1978

  Kings Highway location closes

  [1]Dubrow's Cafeteriaen.wikipedia.org

  The Brooklyn cafeteria at Kings Highway and East 16th Street closes.

• 1929

  First Dubrow's opens in Manhattan

  [1]Dubrow's Cafeteriaen.wikipedia.org

  Benjamin Dubrow establishes the first Dubrow's Cafeteria on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

An affordable, informal, family-operated cafeteria serving urban workers, neighborhood residents, shoppers, and political visitors.

• Restaurant meals · 1929

  Cafeteria-style prepared meals

  Dubrow's core offering was self-service cafeteria food presented for selection by customers. The available reference material identifies the format and restaurant role but does not provide a reliable menu or detailed dish list.

• Bakery

  Bakery items

  Members of the extended Dubrow family operated bakeries alongside cafeterias and restaurants. Specific branded bakery products are not identified in the available sources.

• Take-out restaurant service

  Take-out food

  The wider family business included a take-out shop connected with the cafeteria and restaurant operations. The available references do not specify its menu, location, or operating dates.

• 1960Richard Nixon campaign appearance

  New York City

  A Garry Winogrand photograph records Richard Nixon's presidential campaign at Dubrow's in New York during the Kennedy–Nixon campaign.

  Source
• Political campaign stops at Dubrow's

  New York City · Brooklyn

  Dubrow's locations were used as informal campaign venues by John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Robert F. Kennedy, Hugh Carey, and W. Averell Harriman. Exact dates for the individual appearances are not specified in the reference material.

  Source

• 1985

  End of restaurant operationsStrategy

  Background

  The Manhattan Garment District cafeteria was the last remaining Dubrow's location.

  Action taken

  The final cafeteria closed.

  Aftermath

  Dubrow's became a defunct restaurant brand remembered through photography, literature, film, and historical writing.

  Source

• 1978

  Closure of the Kings Highway cafeteriaStrategy

  Background

  The Brooklyn Kings Highway restaurant was one of the chain's identified neighborhood locations.

  Action taken

  Dubrow's closed the Kings Highway location at East 16th Street.

  Aftermath

  The chain continued operating elsewhere, including its Manhattan Garment District location, until the final closure in 1985.

  Source

1. 1Dubrow's Cafeteriaen.wikipedia.org