It first opened in the 1970s in the city's Greenwich Village neighborhood, but is now located in Essex Market in the Lower East Side.

It, the stock and good will, but not the building, was purchased by Kenny Shopsin for $25,000 in 1973, using money from his father.

The previous owner had prepared and sold roast beef, a practice Shopsin continued.

[4] Among Kenny Shopsin's quirks were his very specific rules, including that the restaurant will not accept parties of more than four people.

[4] The restaurant and Kenny Shopsin were the subject of articles in The New Yorker by Trillin,[4][5] and of the documentary film I Like Killing Flies, directed by Matt Mahurin.