Sometime in the early 1960's, the then famous girl group from Harlem called the Ronettes ended up on a date with the up-and-coming British band called the Beatles at one of uptown's local restaurants. Lead singer Ronnie Spector grew up in the former Carmansville section of Hamilton Heights (Amsterdam in the West 150's) and wanted the British boy band to have a taste of local homestyle cooking. We mentioned previously that the establishment that served up some old fashion Harlem barbecue to the Beatles was Sherman's on Amsterdam but research has shown that there's not much out there on the original location except that it was in 150's or 160's. The actual address of the building turns out to be 1835 Amsterdam Avenue which is the corner of West 151st Street. One can find the building still standing today but the lower retail space is currently a bodega. The center photo shows the very charming old neon signage that used to be up out front which has been replaced by a perfunctory awning in recent years. From what we can gather from our Sherman's research, it seems like this main shop shut down by the late 1980's or early 1990's and only one of the take-out branches still remains in Central Harlem. Check out what the Sherman's on ACP/7th Avnenue look like today from our previous post on the eatery with some interesting memories from readers:
LINK. Archival photo via
Urban Photo on Flickr
How many Sherman's restaurants were there? I did a painting of one that I think was in Washington Heights. I can't remember the exact address and it is no longer to be found. My painting can be found at:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.raizart.com/gallery/newyorkcity/barbq.htm
Raymond the Sherman's you speak of in WaHi was at the corner of West 165th St. & Amsterdam Ave. I think there were a total of 4 Sherman's Restaurants. The 4th one was on 8th Avenue in the West 140's and was the first to close.
ReplyDeleteMr. Sherman's daughter runs the business now and I think she is about to let it go. Her son just graduated from College and she told me that its a drag now with all the Public Health regs and such.
My parents had their rehearsal dinner in Shermans in '64.
In 1961, if you were a "kid", you could get lunch. At Shermans (165th Amsterdam ave for $00.50. That's right, fifty cents! Lunch consisted of spagetti, french bread, a piece of chicken, and a soda! Those were the good old days!
ReplyDeleteomg thats right i remember now i lived in the second bldg next to Sherman's with my grand father Martin Pridgen. i ate there at least 2=3 times a week
ReplyDeletei loved there food it was great and cheap
ReplyDeleteOh what great memories from the time I was about eleven years old, my parents would stop by 151st street Sherman's & my sister & myself had to share a plate. Later,I was married in this community & this great eating experience continued w/ my own family.
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