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 | What were Sinatra's favorite haunts in Philadelphia? |
Frank Sinatra married Ava Gardner at the Germantown (neighborhood of Philadelphia) home of the brother of Manie Sachs.
During the later years, when appearing at the Philadelphia Spectrum, or in Atlantic City, Sinatra would also visit Old Original Bookbinder's, still located at 2nd and Walnut streets. Bookbinder's is a noted "tourist" stop in Philadelphia. It is an expensive restaurant, although the portions are huge.
Another one of those places that aren't there anymore was the Sinatrama Room at the Latimer Club. This bar was located at 17th and Latimer Streets, in downtown (center city) Philadelphia. Today, this is still a bar, but the Sinatra memorabilia has been replaced by a western theme. Bill Rodstein ran the Latimer, producing several limited edition LPs and 45's including a show from Atlantic City's 500 Club from the early 1960's and Sinatra news featuring an interview with Rodstein and Sinatra. One side of the 45 includes an award from the Fire Fighters's of Philadelphia to Frank Sinatra. Sinatra frequently played the Spectrum, located in the sports complex area of South Philadelphia. Like many large indoor arenas, many Sinatra fans could see and hear Sinatra in concert. Notable concerts include a comeback tour in the spring of 1974, The Main Event Tour of October 1974, two shows in September of 1988 during The Ultimate Event tour, and the Diamond Jubilee stop in November of 1991, his last Philadelphia performance.
Sinatra appeared in Atlantic City frequently throughout his career. His earliest appearances were at the famed Steel Pier, stating with Harry James in 1939. While the old pier has long been closed (and sometimes used to land helicopters), recently, Trump Taj Mahal Casino has reopened the pier with some amusement rides and concession stands. Shades of the old days. Unfortunately, the Marine Ballroom, multiple stages and theatres, and diving bell, and famed horse jumper have long disappeared.
Many years later, Sinatra played at Skinny d'Mato's, 500 Club. This club was noted for the billboards that announced Sinatra's arrival with the laconic expression "He's Here" and the equally laconic message after Sinatra's appearance "He's Gone". The 500 Club, along with most of the small supper and night clubs have disappeared, to be subsumed by the big casinos. However, there is a tiny street, that has been renamed 500 Club Lane, to preserve the site of the 500 Club, where the last show of the night started at 5:00AM! This is located just off the end of the Atlantic City Expressway, near Caesar's Palace.
Sinatra returned to performing in Atlantic City with the introduction of casino gambling. His first "home", was at Resorts International. This hotel, the former Haddon Hall hotel, still has Sinatra's hand prints embedded in cement along the wall of the hotel along the boardwalk. It is located at North Carolina Avenue and the Boardwalk. After a few years, and some marvelous concerts, it was hear that I first heard the songs that were to be part of Trilogy, including It Had To Be You and New York, New York; Sinatra moved to Steve Wynn's Golden Nugget, located at the extreme southern end of the Boardwalk. The room was much smaller, when compared to the main Resorts showroom, so tickets were near impossible unless you were a guest of the casino. During the mid 1980's, the hotel became Bally's Grand. And by the late 1980's, a new, but short lived tradition was started: outdoor concerts. It was during the summer of 1989, the fortieth anniversary of Sinatra's first commercial recording with Harry James, that I witnessed a terrific performance by Sinatra. During the Labor Day weekend, I was able to catch a couple of more shows. Unfortunately, 1989 was the last of Sinatra's performances at Bally's. In 1990, Sinatra returned to The Sands! It was at the Sands, in November of 1994, that Sinatra played his last "open" concert in the United States. Sinatra was appeared in several concerts in Japan during December of 1994, and of course, there is the final concert, in February of 1995, as part of the Frank Sinatra Golf Tournament. But November, first at the Foxwoods Casino, in Connecticut, and then at the Sands, in Atlantic City, were the final, generally available concerts that we were able to witness in the United States.
Sinatra frequently played at The Latin Casino, located in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. This was not a gambling casino, but a supper club, that featured many stars of the entertainment world. The Latin Casino was located just a few minutes from downtown Philadelphia, on Route 70, across the road from Garden State Park Racetrack. The Latin Casino was demolished in the early 1980's to make room for Subaru of America's headquarters. While performing at the Latin, Sinatra would often stay at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, reserving an entire floor. The hotel is now the Cherry Hill Hilton Hotel. Whenever Sinatra would stay at the hotel you could frequently see Sinatra leave by the back door for the short limo ride to the Latin.
 | What were some of the places frequented by Sinatra in New York? |
One of Sinatra's favorite Italian restaurants was Patsy's, located on 56th Street, near Broadway. Other famous watering holes included Toots Shoor's (especially during the 1940's) and Jilly's (especially in the 1960's). If you look closely, the bar where Ben Marco is supposed to meet with Raymond Shaw in the movie version of The Manchurian Candidate is Jilly's.
Sinatra was born across the Hudson River from Manhattan in the little town of Hoboken, New Jersey. There is a plaque at 415 Monroe Street, the birthplace of Sinatra. While the home has long been demolished, there is a star plaque and arch identifying the site. Located a few blocks from the ferry stop and PATH terminal.
Will Friedwald wrote an article for Time Out New York magazine. In this article, Friedwald listed some of the musical related sites that were frequented by Sinatra. This information will be added to this entry when I find the article in the vast and cavenerous library.
 | How about other cities? |
Chicago, LA and Las Vegas certainly have places where Sinatra used to "hang" - please send your information to us so we can add it!
