@Coffeeaddict
How did I choose that restaurant? Many prior dining experiences there.
My father maintained an office at 500 7th Ave, My grandfather’s showroom and offices were at 1220 Broadway. From the time I was 8 I would take the train from New Haven to Penn Station at least once a month and have lunch or dinner out with them. I got to try most of the Manhattan kosher restaurants that operated below the park between the early 1960s and dating days. All my grandparents lived in NYC and I was exposed to dining the outer boros as well.
I know that few of my frum friends and classmates ate in restaurants as often as we did, but most of them were from families that had been in the US only a generation or two and were likely to have a stay at home mother or grandmother cooking for the family. My mother was a school administrator in the public schools. My grandmothers both helped run their husband’s business and went to the office 4 days a week. In fact, I can only remember eating meals cooked by either grandmother a total of 4 times in my life (and they lived into their 90s). If we went into NYC for a family birthday or anniversary the celebration was held in a restaurant.