Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem
Sylvia's Restaurant of Harlem is a soul food restaurant located at 328 Lenox Avenue, between 126th and 127th Streets, in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1962 by Sylvia Woods. It has since expanded to a much larger space at its present location, and an adjacent building. The restaurant also sells a line of prepared foods, beauty and skin care items, cookbooks, and a children's book written by Woods. Woods purchased the original luncheonette by borrowing money from her mother, who had to mortgage her farm to provide it.
The restaurant attracts a clientele that ranges from Harlem locals to visiting celebrities. Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Caroline Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Magic Johnson, Barack Obama, Adam Kablan, Bernie Sanders and Bruno Mars are among those who have dined there. Sylvia's was also featured on a Manhattan-themed episode of the Travel Channel's Man v. Food in early 2009. On September 19, 2007, commentator Bill O'Reilly received criticism regarding comments he made about having lunch at Sylvia's with Al Sharpton on his syndicated radio show, commenting on how the stereotypes of African Americans were not true based on his observations at the restaurant.
In response to the COVID19 pandemic, Sylvia’s Restaurant participated in relief efforts by donating dozens of meals to Harlem Hospital. The restaurant announced plans to open a food product pop-up pantry to serve the community.
