Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant NYC is one of the more popular sports-themed restaurants in the country. The Mick, of course, is long gone, but it says something about his place in New York sports history that a restaurant named for a player who last suited up in 1968 can thrive in mid-town Manhattan. The restaurant often houses news conferences relating to sports and sports memorabilia, live radio shows and private parties. Patrons have a view of Central Park. It’s a tremendously valuable property. In fact, an ESPN article mentioned Mantle’s as the top prize of athlete inspired or owned restaurants. The story says that the tavern basically “doubles as a New York Sports Hall of Fame.”
While that seems true, the addition of an incredibly rich gallery of sports memorabilia a few years back has only added to that allure. Mantle’s Restaurant includes the Gotta Have It gallery. The combination of a recognized memorabilia dealer/auction house and a baseball great is not lost on fans who pay tribute to their heroes of yesteryear when they first visit this fantasy of sports images and portraits.
In a unique setting, the gallery offers visitors an opportunity to purchase memorabilia and sports items right off the walls. The official website for The Gotta Have It gallery, which can be found here, also mentions that a memorabilia expert is always on hand to answer questions about the items. Much to the delight of baseball fans, the store opened its doors within the restaurant on October 1, 2005. It has maintained a steady flow of fans hoping to glance at some of the most iconic images in the New York sports scenes from various eras. Even if you’re not buying, it’s still great fun to look at.
The gallery provides one of the most unique baseball settings outside of a Major League stadium. The gallery isn’t just limited to baseball memorabilia, however. Football, basketball and other sports are represented in display cases and on the walls of the facility creating quite the spectacle for sports fans. Even people who aren’t fans of athletics would understand and appreciate the significance of such a tribute to the New York sports culture and related icons.
The impressive gallery also serves as a way to showcase items for current and future Gotta Have It auctions. From Babe Ruth to Mickey Mantle to Alex Rodriguez, the memorabilia represents different eras so fans and collectors of every age will inevitably find a hero on the wall or in a case. It provides the “ooh” and “aah” factor that is not often found in other athlete owned or inspired restaurants. Fabled teams produced fabled characters and that produced iconic images that now serve as eye candy to collectors and investors.
The pictures, autographs and images present quite the story for sports fans wanting to reminisce or learn more about the history of some of the greatest athletes in this sports history rich city. Being able to purchase some of the related memorabilia is just an added bonus for those who are planning a visit to the Gotta Have It within Mantle’s. The Hall of Famer remains one of the driving forces in the baseball memorabilia market on eBay with nearly 20,000 items available virtually every day.
Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant NYC is located at 42 Central Park South. The hours listed on the website are 11am to 11:30 pm Monday through Sunday and the restaurant is open 365 days a year.
