Barbetta

The story

Barbetta was the first restaurant in America to receive landmark status from the Locali Storici d'Italia — an Italian honor for a kitchen on West 46th Street. Sebastiano Maioglio founded it in 1906, making it the oldest restaurant in the Theater District. His daughter Laura took over in 1962 and ran it for more than six decades, introducing white truffles on a regular seasonal basis and opening one of Manhattan's earliest outdoor garden dining spaces. Laura Maioglio died in January 2026 at 93. The restaurant closed five weeks later.