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Blandings - the logo of www.blandings.org.uk, the Companion to the works of P G Wodehouse

Restaurants

Includes night clubs and similar establishments with a dance floor known as dinner-dance clubs or night clubs. Real places are indicated; those not indicated are probably invented. See the Hotels page for hotels with restaurants open to non-residents.

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London

Alcazar
Used by Rodney Spelvin and Jane Bates in The Purification of Rodney Spelvin.
The Angry Cheese
A night club mentioned in passing in Full Moon, Sam the Sudden and The Luck of the Bodkins. In Panton Street.
Bandolero Restaurant
At the southern end of Shaftesbury Avenue, by Piccadilly Circus, London in Uneasy Money.
Barolini's
In Beak Street, Soho, London, featured in Ukridge's Accident Syndicate.
Billy's
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
Bleke's Coffee House
A relic of old London in The Adventures of Sally.
Bredin's Parisian Café and Restaurant
In Soho in Rough-hew them how we will.
Café Britannique
In Soho in The Man who Disliked Cats.
Café de Bologna
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
Café de l'Europe
A real restaurant in the Haymarket, now gone. Mentioned in Laughing Gas and Summer Lightning.
Café de Paris
A real restaurant in Coventry Street, Soho, still open. Mentioned in Big Money.
The Cheshire Cheese
A real historic tavern on the corner of Fleet Street and Shoe Lane mentioned in The Prince and Betty (UK), Piccadilly Jim and others. A tourist attraction.
Ciro's
A dinner-dance club of that name was in Orange Street but is now offices of the National Portrait Gallery. The club had a sprung-floored dance hall. Mentioned in The Inimitable Jeeves and the US version of The Luck of the Bodkins and its sequel Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin.
Crushed Pansy
The restaurant with a soul, it is somewhere in London. Lancelot Bingley dined there with Gladys Wetherby in A Good Cigar is a Smoke and Charlotte Mulliner dined there with Aubrey Trefusis in The Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court. Also mentioned in passing in Service with a Smile.
Gardenia
A real restaurant, mentioned in Galahad at Blandings as having been pulled down. It was standing in 1955.
Gay Fritter
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
Ham and Beef
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn and The Story of Webster, featuring speciality dancers.
Happy Prawn
Previously the 'Giddy Goat' and the 'Oo-la-la', owned by Otto Flannery and raided by the police in Pearls, Girls and Monty Bodkin.
Hot Spot
Now closed due to financial failure, it was owned by Ronnie Fish and Hugo Carmody. Situated off Bond Street, London, it had a dance floor. Mentioned in Heavy Weather and Summer Lightning.
The Hummums
Strictly speaking a tavern, it was in Covent Garden at the corner with Russell Street. Mentioned in Not George Washington.
Ike's
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
Ivy
A real theatre restaurant in West Street off the Charing Cross Road. Used by the Molloys in Ice in the Bedroom.
Maison Suisse
Mentioned by James Cloyster in Not George Washington.. It was pulled down for the Hick's Theatre (which opened in 1907). The Hick's later became the Globe which was re-named the Gielgud in 1994.
Mario's
A restaurant with a dance floor (or dinner-dance club), the band is Leopold's. Evening dress is indispensable on the dance floor but gentlemen in lounge suits can be accommodated in the balcony. Features in Bill the Conqueror, Summer Lightning, Pigs Have Wings and others. (From the books it is near Shaftesbury Ave and Coventry St but not in either. It's been suggested that it could be a disguise for the Café de Paris; the location is compatible.)
Mauve Moose
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
McFarland's (Mac's)
In Soho, frequented by stage folk in The Making of Mac's.
Mike's
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
Milly's
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
Mottled Earwig
A dance club in Archibald and the Masses.
The Mottled Oyster
An illegal nightclub previously known as 'The Feverish Cheese', 'The Frozen Limit' and 'The Startled Shrimp'. Frequently raided by the police hence the name changes. (Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit)
Mustard Spoon
Night club in London, past its prime, featuring Ben Baermann's Collegiate Buddies in Money for Nothing.
Oddenino's
A real restaurant in Piccadilly (which might have moved to Regent Street). Mentioned in A Pelican at Blandings and many others. Sometime's know as Oddy's.
Pepolo's
Used by James Cloyster in Not George Washington.
Piccadilly Cabin
Mentioned in Not George Washington.
Pim's
A real eating place in Poultry (City of London), mentioned in Big Money.
Pirandello's
A lower class establishment catering for office workers near Leadenhall Market, featured in Bill the Conqueror.
Placid Prune
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
Popular Cafe
A Lyons restaurant in Piccadilly from 1904 to 1939, seating 2,000 diners and offering a 4 course lunch with musical accompaniment. (Frozen Assets)
Previtali's
Oxford Street, mentioned in Frozen Assets.
Prince's
A real restaurant in Jermyn Street, mentioned in Buttercup Day and Jill the Reckless.
Ptomani's
Soho, mentioned in the stage version of Leave it to Psmith. (The name is a little to close to 'ptomaine', a form of food poisoning, to be anything other than a pun.)
Puce Ptarmigan
London night club mentioned in The Story of Webster.
Purple Grease-Spot
A bottle party club in Panton Street in Dudley is Back to Normal.
Quaglino's
A real restaurant at 16 Bury Street, St. James's, Est. 1929 and since modernized. Mentioned in Full Moon.
Regent's Grill
Restaurant with orchestra on the corner of Regent Street, near the top of Haymarket, London. Also known as the Regent Grill, the Regent Grillroom or the Regent Grill-Room. Mentioned in A Damsel in Distress, Piccadilly Jim and many others. (This is probably one of PG's invented locations based on one or more real places.)
The Restless Cheese
Mervyn Mulliner danced there in The Knightly Quest of Mervyn.
Ritz
Used by many characters for dining. It is a real place in Piccadilly just next to Green Park; well placed for working off those calories.
Romano's
A real restaurant in the Strand (in Wodehouse's day), frequented by the young men around town. Mentioned in Ahead of Schedule and others.
Rule's
A real restaurant that claims to be the oldest in London, being founded in 1798. It is at 35 Maiden Lane, close to Covent Garden. Mentioned fondly in The Adventures of Sally.
Savoy Grill
A real restaurant attached to the famous Savoy Hotel off the Strand in London. It isn't cheap. In Thank you, Jeeves among others.
Scarlet Centipede
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
Simpson's
Also known as 'Simpson's in the Strand'. 'A restful Temple of Food' in the Strand, London, offering all you can eat for 2' 6d. A real restaurant still going strong (but the prices have probably gone up). Mentioned in Something Fresh and others.
Sovrani's
A real restaurant in Jermyn Street, mentioned in Big Money.
Spike's
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.
Vicious Cheese
London night club mentioned in Came the Dawn.

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Elsewhere

This section repeats restaurants also listed elsewhere to ensure they are covered wherever your interest lies.

Blinky's
Properly known as Anderson's Parisian Café and Restaurant, the East Side Delmonico's, prop. Blinky Anderson. Features is A Job of Work.
Brevoort's Café
A real cafe / restaurant in the basement of the Brevoort Hotel on Fifth Avenue, between East 8th and 9th Streets, it attracted Greenwich Village artists and writers. The hotel was demolished in 1954. Used in The Coming of Bill and mentioned in the preface to The Small Bachelor.
Brown Derby
A real restaurant in Hollywood, visited by Ephraim Trout in Bachelors Anonymous and mentioned in The Luck of the Bodkins and others.
Child's
A real restaurant (part of the Child's chain) on Tennessee Avenue on the Broadwalk in Atlantic City, now closed. Mentioned in Back to the Garage. (For those who remember, similar to the British ABC chain.)
Ciro's
A real restaurant on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. Mentioned in The Old Reliable.
Delmonico's
A real restaurant on 44th Street, New York (not to be confused with East Side Delmonico's, a much lower class establishment).
The Flower Garden
A restaurant with orchestra and dance floor. Sally works there in The Adventures of Sally.
Fontelli's Italian Restaurant
New York. In The Prince and Betty (US version).
Geisenheimer's
New York. Has a dance floor and balcony. A nightly competition for a silver cup is usually won by one of the professional dancers. Features in At Geisenheimer's and The Man with Two Left Feet.
Guiseppe's
Used in Spring Suit. There have probably been many restaurants of this name in New York.
Home from Home
Somewhere on the Thames outside London, it's only been raided five times. Mentioned in Gala Night.
Maxim's
A famous top restaurant in Paris, founded in 1893. Mentioned in Frozen Assets.
Mazarin
Between Madison and Park Avenues, part owned by Russell Clutterbuck in French Leave.
Mouquin's
A real French restaurant in Fulton Street, New York, it expanded to 20 Ann Street by joining two buildings before closing with Prohibition. (Crowned Heads)
Prunier's
A real restaurant in the Avenue Victor Hugo, Paris, for some 70 years, mentioned in Frozen Assets.
Purple Chicken
In Greenwich Village. You can still get 'it' if they know you (during Prohibition.) Featured in The Small Bachelor and briefly in The Old Reliable.
Rector's Restaurant
New York (real) - the first music user licensed by ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) in October 1914. The Prince and Betty (US) and In Alcala.
Reigelheimer's
On 42nd Street, New York, in a basement below a ten storey building, possibly based on Brevoort's Cafe, see above. A restaurant with a dance floor and speciality dance act in Uneasy Money.
Romanoff's
A real restaurant on Rodeo Drive, Hollywood. Mentioned in The Old Reliable.
Stephano's
Used by Eddie and Mary in Three from Dunsterville.

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I haven't been able to track down the details for all the places named. In particular, it's difficult to find out when places opened and closed.