Hell’s Kitchen is about to lose one of its most stubbornly old-school dining rooms. Chez Napoléon — the tiny, rules-and-rituals French restaurant on W50th Street just west of 9th Avenue that has fed generations of theatergoers, locals and Francophiles — will close on Saturday, January 31, according to the owners.
Elayne and William persevered through a series of setbacks, starting during the COVID pandemic. Photo: Phil O’Brien
“Chez Napoléon has been our life’s work,” said the restaurant’s mother-and-son team, Elyane Bruno and William Welles, who have run the place for decades. “We are deeply grateful to the guests who have supported us throughout the years and the struggles of owning a NYC restaurant. It has been an honor to serve this community; however, too many economic, staffing, personal and structural factors have finally forced us to shutter our small business for good.”
Founded in 1960, Chez Napoléon has never tried to keep up with Midtown’s churn. It’s been the opposite: a compact, candlelit time capsule — white tablecloths, vintage décor and an unhurried kind of hospitality that feels imported from another century. Regulars come for the classics and the ceremony: the stocks and sauces, the white-noise hum of pre-theater dinners, and yes, the house rules that are part of the point.
In a neighborhood that’s watched beloved institutions disappear with dizzying speed, Chez Napoléon has long felt like the place that might outlast everything — partly because it had already survived so much. The restaurant made it through the COVID shutdown, then endured a nightmare, building-related gas shutdown that kept it dark for nearly a year before it finally reopened in late 2022. In the years since, Elyane and William kept pushing forward through scaffolding outside, staffing challenges and the daily math of staying afloat as a small, family-run spot in Midtown West.
Readers may remember William — also known to many as “Sir William Welles,” the restaurant’s goth bartender and resident ringmaster — describing Chez Napoléon as an antidote to QR-code dining and trend-chasing “vibes.” “We’re not your quick snack before the theater,” he told W42ST in a 2025 profile. “You step in from Midtown and you’re in early 20th-century Paris.”
Their announcement today leans into what made the restaurant such a rare creature: a hyper-traditional French menu, originally crafted by the late Chef Marguerite Bruno, and a roster of dishes that never cared what was fashionable. Think boeuf bourguignon, canard à l’orange, escargots and frog’s legs — plus the restaurant’s famously dramatic soufflés, which have long required planning (and patience) because they take time and don’t apologize for it.
Now, after more than six decades, the owners say it’s time. “The difficult decision to close marks the end of a remarkable chapter in New York City’s culinary history and dining savoir-faire,” they said, adding that the final service will give diners “one last opportunity to experience the restaurant’s signature warmth and timeless charm.”
Chez Napoléon has been on W50th Street since 1960. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Chez Napoléon also thanked its staff — and the wider neighborhood and theater community — for supporting the restaurant across generations. Reservations for the final weeks are strongly encouraged, the owners said.
And for anyone who has ever ducked inside on a freezing night, ordered something stubbornly French, and watched that little room do its magic: the message is simple — go soon, and go hungry.
Chez Napoléon is located at 365 W50th Street (bw 8/9th Ave). Check out their website at cheznapoleon.com
Dining and Cooking