After 61 years, the award winning First Edition Bistro alongside the Long Island Rail Road station on Bell Boulevard in Bayside has closed its doors.
The restaurant was known for its food deals including 50-cent clams and late night, half-priced entrees. Kids ate free and the menu offered a plethora of choices including burgers, wings, pizza, and ribs. The eatery featured a downstairs bar and had an upstairs dining room. Between both floors, there were 70 TVs to watch all your favorite sport games.
“I loved watching the games here, they had great Buffalo wings,” said Jeff Portnow, a patron and fan of the restaurant.
The restaurant was established in 1948 by the Ritacco family; current owner Rick Ritacco took over the family business with his brother in 1982. In 1988, the First Edition Bistro received a first prize award from the Queens Chamber of Commerce for its “excellence in design and civic value.”
“We actually left the answering machine on after we closed and we received a bunch of calls from customers saying how much they would miss the restaurant and all the memories they had there,” said Ritacco.
“The Bayside customers became a family to us and I really enjoyed being a part of the community for so long,” he said. “I’m really going to miss being part of the community.”
This past summer, the restaurant underwent a financial rough patch, which they had hoped to overcome this fall. “With the Yankees in the playoffs, and the beginning of the football season, we expected our business to pick back up,” Ritacco said. Unfortunately, that rebound never occurred and the restaurant locked its doors in early December.
In addition to being the restaurant’s owner, the Ritacco family owns the building too. Although no deals to sell or lease the space have been made, Ritacco does not believe another restaurant will come in.
“It would be a shame if another local favorite of the community becomes just another chain,” said former regular Dan Karbowitz. “I thought the location was great right next to the railroad.”
