48 Scenes From a Century of New York Dining

AP Photo/David Bookstaver/AP

For New York’s anniversary, we are celebrating the history of the city’s restaurants with a series of posts throughout the month. Read all of our “Who Ate Where” stories here.

Months ago, when we were first starting to think about the issue that would become “Who Ate Where,” our photo team dove into the assignment to find anything and everything they could that might help illustrate the stories. We watched in awe as the walls of our art department filled with hundreds of shots showing dozens of restaurants over more than 120 years. Seeing everything laid out was stunning and gave us a look not only at how our finished issue would feel but at the history of New York City as it was lived. Below is a selection of images that span 100 years of dining and demonstrate — in full detail — the ways this city has always lived in its restaurants.

Byron Company/Museum of the City of New York Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images Margaret Bourke-White/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock Photo: Weegee(Arthur Fellig)/International Center of Photography/Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Photo: Still from documentary Golden Gate Girls by S. Louisa Wei Photo: George Karger/Getty Images Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images Photo: © William Klein Estate Photo: Elliott Erwitt / Magnum Photos Burt Glinn/Magnum Photos Photo: Bruce Davidson/ Magnum Photos Photo: John Vachon/John Vachon (1914-1975) for Look Photo: Anonymous/AP Photo: Unknown/Photofest Photo: Photo reproduced by permission of The Lawrence Fried Archive Elliott Landy/Magnum Photos Ken Regan/Camera 5 Photo: Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos Photo: Danny Fields/© Gillian McCain Photo: Chester Higgins Photo: Maxwell’s Plum Photo: Photo by Lynn Karlin/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images Photo: Marcia Briker Halperin Photo: Oscar Abolafia/TPLP/Getty Images Photo: Sid Kaplan Chris Stein Photo: Dave Pickoff/AP Photo: GODLIS Photo: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection Photo: Kishin Shinoyama Photo: Andrew Levin Photo: Slim Aarons/Hulton Archive/Getty Images DMI/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock Photo: Jamel Shabazz Photo: Matthew Klein Jean-Pierre Laffont Photo: Anonymous, Courtesy of Indochine Photo: Ferdinando Scianna/Magnum Photos Photo: Catherine McGann Photo: The Archives of Michael Alig Photo: Tina Paul Photo: Mark Higashino Photo: Courtesy of Sylvia’s Restaurant Photo by James Devaney/WireImage Photo: Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo: Courtesy of Subject

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• Where Marcus Samuelsson Ate
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