Rue La Rue Cafe
Rue la Rue Cafe was a Golden Girls themed cafe eatery located in the Washington Heights neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan. The restaurant was conceived and operated by Michael LaRue, a close confidante of one of the four "Golden Girls", Rue McClanahan (1934–2010) while McClanahan's son Mark Bisch was a partner. La Rue, who inherited many of the star's personal belongings, in turn decorated the restaurant with them (including her 1987 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series), as well as pictures of McClanahan (one each from the decades of her entertainment career) and other memorabilia related to the hit show. The establishment was coincidentally located inside the Sofia storage building. Touchingly, there was a plaque reminiscent of a star on Hollywood Boulevard "which reads "Thank You for being a Friend" fitted into concrete at the front door outside under which are some of McClanahan’s ashes. The eatery closed in November of 2017 after less than a year of operation.
The boite took its name from the part of both the late actress' and the proprietor's names which are shared. The dining establishment featured a menu which wss heavy on fare referential to the program, with cakes dedicated to the stars including; "Dorothy's salted caramel cheese cake" in tribute to the ornery senior citizen who was portrayed by Bea Arthur on the program, the coconut "Betty White cake" dedicated to the wholesome Golden Girl Rose Nylund, "Rue's Orange Poppyseed Cake"(taken from the entertainer's own recipe), and "Sophia's cure for depression cookies" honoring Estelle Getty's role on the program as the grand dame of the crowd who as the mother of the character Dorothy was one generation older than the other three gals. The Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch. The only living Golden Girl Betty White was scheduled to attend a ribbon [...] ceremony at the cafe, but that did not transpire and in the end she was never presented with a quiche to the city.
The café received permission from the Walt Disney Company to produce and sell their own Golden Girls merchandise.