The room where Woody Allen once played jazz clarinet will soon kangaroo-hop to the Rockhampton Rib-Eye and the Bloomin’ Onion.
Those aren’t dances, but dishes. Outback Steakhouse, the Australian-themed chain beefery, will make its Manhattan debut this spring at 919 Third Ave., on the former site of Michael’s Pub.
Outback just signed a 10-year lease with extension options for the 8,000-square foot space on the East 55th Side of Reckson Associates’ black metal-and-glass office tower. The 10-year term is valued at about $6 million.
The Tampa, Fla.-based chain, which operates 700 restaurants nationwide, already has three thriving outlets in Queens and one in Brooklyn.
But New York franchisees Forrest and Kimberly Smith have been itching to break into the Manhattan market for a long time, and were talking with several venues. One near-deal fell through at the Trump Place development on the Upper West Side last summer.
The 919 Third Ave. space has been dark since Michael’s Pub closed in April 1996. The hard-won Outback deal took 9 months to negotiate, and was only nailed down last week.
Insignia/ESG Retail Group’s Eric Gelber, who represented Outback, said that because the location “enjoys tremendous foot traffic, the new Outback will be “one of the few in the entire chain that’s open for lunch.”
Reckson was repped by ESG Retail’s David Green, Brad Mendelson, Gary Trock and Jordan Roth.
Publicly-traded Outback’s reputation is based on serving prime beef for prices about half those at high-end New York steakhouses.