Gage and Tollner is an American cuisine restaurant on 372–374 Fulton Street in the Downtown Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City. Named for its initial proprietors, Charles Gage and Eugene Tollner, the restaurant occupies the lowest two stories of a converted four-story brownstone residence. The restaurant building, dating from the mid-1870s, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and its facade and interior are New York City designated landmarks. , St. John Frizell, Sohui Kim, and Ben Schneider operate the restaurant, with Kim as the head chef.
The restaurant opened in 1879, when Charles Gage opened a restaurant at 302 Fulton Street, and was named Gage & Tollner's in 1882. Gage & Tollner's moved to 372–374 Fulton Street around 1889 and soon became a popular restaurant for judges, politicians, and businessmen. A.H. Cunningham and Alexander Ingalls took over the restaurant's operation in 1911, and the Dewey family operated the restaurant for nearly seven decades starting in 1919. A partnership led by Peter Aschkenasy bought Gage and Tollner in 1988. Joseph Chirico operated the restaurant from 1995 until 2004, when the restaurant closed. The Gage and Tollner space was then occupied by various other stores during the 2000s and 2010s. Following a crowdfunding campaign in 2018, the restaurant reopened in April 2021.
Although the restaurant building's exterior was designed in an Italianate style, the interior retains its original Victorian design, with a main dining room, a waiting room, and a second-floor cocktail lounge. The main dining room measures across and contains woodwork, arched mirrors, two bars, and a group of chandeliers with gas-powered and electric lights. The restaurant initially specialized in seafood, meat chops, and steaks, and it served a large variety of oyster dishes during the 20th century, pivoting to Southern fare in the 1980s. Gage & Tollner was also known for its waitstaff, who wore insignia on their uniforms to denote the length of their employment, and its clientele, which included Diamond Jim Brady, Truman Capote, Fanny Brice, Jimmy Durante, and Mae West. Over the years, the restaurant has been the subject of much commentary, both for its architecture and for its cuisine and service.
History
Early years
The structure at 372–374 Fulton Street was built in the mid-1870s, likely in 1875, as a private residence. The Craft family had acquired the site from the Smith family in 1873 and owned the structure, known as the Craft Building, for fifty years. The residence housed a tailor's shop in the 1870s.
Charles Gage opened an "eating house" at 302 Fulton Street in November 1879. The original restaurant served ale and lager, as well as dishes like lobster Newberg which cost $0.75 (). Eugene Tollner joined him in 1880, and the restaurant became known as Gage & Tollner's in 1882. Tollner was the son of Charles Tollner, who founded the Hammacher Schlemmer hardware store. The restaurant moved to 372–374 Fulton Street on February 18, 1889. Tollner recalled that the new location was further away from the then-independent city of Brooklyn's commercial center, which at the time was to the northwest, between Brooklyn City Hall (later Borough Hall) and Fulton Ferry. Gage and Tollner installed a storm door in 1890, and electric lights were installed during that decade to supplement the original gas lights. By then, young men frequently took their fiancées out to dinner at Gage & Tollner before proposing to them.
Gage & Tollner's became popular in its early years, in part because of its location along Fulton Street, one of the primary avenues running through Brooklyn. Tollner recalled that numerous department-store executives, judges, and politicians favored the restaurant. In its early years, Gage & Tollner's was known for its oysters and clam bellies. By 1900, according to the New York Herald Tribune, "ladies were not permitted to smoke, and arrived at the restaurant at 372-4 Fulton St. in horse-drawn carriages escorted by gentlemen in silk hats". At the time, a lobster dinner cost $1.25 (), and a drink cost $0.25 (). Gage & Tollner's also traditionally closed down between June 1 and September 1 of each year, as there were no oysters to serve during the summer. As such, the restaurant's annual reopening was often a major event. Gage and Tollner started allowing men to smoke at their restaurant in 1902, but women were still banned from smoking.