Farewell for now to Broadway icon Sardis

It’ll be a helluva long wait between courses at legendary Broadway institution Sardi’s this summer.The iconic 99-year-old restaurant on West 44th Street — famed for its 1,200 celeb caricatures — is closing up shop for several months after Wednesday night’s service for much-needed renovations and other behind-the-scenes changes.Its anticipated reopening is in late fall, just in time for its centennial.So if you want to put in an order of cheese and crackers or a turkey club, or get a drink upstairs from my pal, bartender Jeremy Wagner, hie thee to Midtown pronto.The break was set in motion by the recent retirement of longtime owner Max Klimavicius, who in March sold his eatery to the Shubert Organization, Broadway’s biggest landlord.I’m asked a lot whether or not this change-up is a good thing.

Well, that old carpet could certainly use a shampoo.But the sale is the best possible outcome.

All of us in New York know how frighteningly easy it is for our favorite spots to be here one day and gone the next.Regulars of Donohue’s on the Upper East Side felt that sting this week.The Shuberts were already Sardi’s landlords — and frequent customers — and understand its importance to the theater and their business.

They’ll be strong stewards of the establishment that just about every person who’s worked on Broadway over the last century has dined and drank in.    The restaurant has had its ups and downs, just as Times Square has.As early as 1946, a Post writer wrote, “With its glittering stars… Sardi’s holds more fascination for people from the hinterlands than real New Yorkers.” Nonetheless it stayed successful and upscale for many years.

Men were expected to wear a coat and tie.In the 1950s and 60s, more than a few Post columnists made it their second office.Then, Sardi’s steeply declined during the 1980s.

It had a leaky roof and a pest problem and was getting bad reviews.But under Klimavicius, the restaurant has rebounded.You ca...