Sardi's is a continental restaurant located at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, in the Theater District of Manhattan, New York City.

To attract customers, Sardi Sr. hired Russian refugee Alex Gard to draw caricatures in exchange for free food.

Over the years, the restaurant became known as a pre- and post-theater hangout, as well as a location for opening night parties, and was where the idea of the Tony Award was devised.

Melchiorre Pio Vincenzo "Vincent" Sardi Sr. (born in San Marzano Oliveto, Italy, on December 23, 1885; died November 19, 1969[2]) and his wife Eugenia ("Jenny") Pallera (born in Castell'Alfero, Italy, on July 14, 1889; died November 17, 1978[3]) opened their first eatery, The Little Restaurant, in the basement of 246 West 44th Street in 1921.

Recalling the movie star caricatures that decorated the walls of Joe Zelli's, a Parisian restaurant and jazz club, Sardi decided to recreate that effect in his establishment.

He hired a Russian refugee named Alex Gard (1898–1948; born Alexis Kremkoff in Kazan, Russia) to draw Broadway celebrities.

[5] Frequent mentions of the restaurant in newspaper columns by Walter Winchell and Ward Morehouse added to Sardi's growing popularity.

Winchell and Morehouse belonged to a group of newspapermen, press agents, and drama critics who met for lunch regularly at Sardi's and referred to themselves as the Cheese Club.

Heywood Broun, Mark Hellinger, press agent Irving Hoffman, actor George Jessel, and Ring Lardner were also Cheese Club members.

Vincent Sardi, a theater lover, kept the restaurant open much later than others in the area to accommodate Broadway performers' schedules.

[8] However, in June 1985, Vincent Sardi Jr. indicated that the deal had not been approved and that he still owned the restaurant; according to industry experts, he was asking for at least $7 million from a potential buyer.

Sardi's is also the venue for the presentation of the Outer Critics Circle Awards, as well as many other Broadway events, press conferences, and celebrations.

In a 2000 interview, composer Stephen Sondheim cited Sardi's while lamenting the changing climate of New York theater.

He was replaced by Richard Baratz, a banknote and certificate engraver by profession, who was originally from Brooklyn and had been hired through a contest for a new caricaturist.

[25] According to actor Robert Cuccioli's spokesperson Judy Katz, in an interview with Playbill: "On the day James Cagney died, his caricature was stolen from the Sardi's wall.