[4] Reisenweber's Cafe was known for introducing and/or popularizing jazz,[5] cabaret,[2] and Hawaiian dance[3] in New York City, the modern cover charge,[6] and for its high-profile Volstead Act lawsuit and shutdown decree during Prohibition.

[2] The restaurant was further substantially expanded in 1910[4] and 1916,[3] eventually becoming a seven-floor complex of two buildings, with four stories used for dining and entertainment,[8] including a first-floor restaurant, a second-floor cabaret (the "400 Club"), a third-floor dance floor (the "Paradise Supper Club"), a "Hawaiian Room" on the fourth floor, and a rooftop garden for patrons.

Her "Bohemian Nights" performances helped popularize the modern cabaret style, and were so successful that the 400 Club was renamed the "Sophie Tucker Room" in 1919.

[20] The passage of the Volstead Act and start of national prohibition caused a decline in business, and manager Louis Fischer liquidated Reisenweber's Cafe in 1920 to pay off a $100,000 debt.

[10] In December 1921, Fischer sold his controlling interest in Reisenweber's to a syndicate run by John Wagener, Walter Kaffenberg, and B. H. Uberall, who announced that they would change the name of the business in the course of their reorganization.

[23] In March 1922, federal authorities sued to close Reisenweber's on the accusation that liquor was served on its premises, marking the first time that the injunction clause of the Volstead Act had been invoked in the Southern District of New York.

[1] On September 28, 1922, federal judge Martin T. Manton decreed the closing of Reisenweber's Cafe for a year, a decision that was upheld on appeal the following January.

The popular 1914 song "By the Beautiful Sea" was written on its terrace, during a party held by Russell and Diamond Jim Brady, who had a private dining room at the casino.

[30] Herz introduced the modern floor show to Brooklyn audiences, and the entertainers who performed at the Shelbourne included Sophie Tucker, George Jessel, Lila Lee, Ben Bernie, and Harry Richman.

[10][30] The Casino closed during prohibition and was replaced by a bathhouse, Publix Baths, and, in the early 1950s, a bingo parlor and event hall, Club 28.