A restaurant’s best customer for 77 years

William Herz knows what he likes, said Manny Fernandez in The New York Times. Twice a week since 1933, Herz has been a regular customer at Sardi’s, the famous eatery in New York’s Theater District. “I’ve grown accustomed to its space,” says Herz, 93, who first ate at Sardi’s as an awed teenager on his first visit to Broadway. “I go to other restaurants, but I don’t feel at home at other restaurants.” Herz was a frequent patron of the restaurant as a young drama student and aspiring actor and producer, but it was an act of generosity on the part of the restaurant’s founder, Vincent Sardi, back in 1940 that made him a customer for life. At the time, Herz was producing a Broadway show; it closed after only one week. “He said to me, ‘I know your show is closing. I just want you to keep coming to Sardi’s, and don’t worry about the bill,’” says Herz. “I burst into tears. I thought it was damn nice of him.”

Over the years, Herz has dated the restaurant’s coat-check girl and forged personal friendships with some of its waiters. He celebrated his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary and his father’s 95th birthday there. And though he enjoys several perks at Sardi’s—he’s got his own table and his own coffee cup, with an easy-to-hold handle—he isn’t above kvetching about the restaurant’s lackadaisical service. “One of the hardest things to do in the world,” Herz observes, “is to get a check at Sardi’s.”

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