Wasn't it enough that the media mandarins at the New York Times had to decide what news was fit to print over the proletarian din of the ESPN Zone, the Official All Star Café, the Disney Store? Now the new WWF restaurant has delivered a veritable smackdown to what remains of its precious peace and quiet, and it's -- cue Raceway Park-style echo effects -- right downstairs. "Every day, there are literally throngs of these people, some of whom are, like, 4 years old, screaming and yelling right outside our building," sniffs one frustrated critic. "These are not the type of people who read the Times." They are, however, the type of people who line up for autographs from New York Times best-seller-list authors like WWF star the Rock. "So you get some serious lines," says Bob Gries, president of the WWF's New York "entertainment complex" -- "Let's not call it a 'theme restaurant,' because that's not the type of people coming here." But the type of people who do enjoy both seared yellowfin tuna and souvenir cups shaped like the Undertaker are going to make for noisy neighbors -- the "complex" hopes to soon hold concerts, comedy shows, and even a wrestler-hosted talk show. Times staff members who have actually dropped in next door report mixed results. One news editor judges the eatery "better than the Times cafeteria," while Styles-section writer Rick Marin complains that the wait was unbearable. "We were ready to pile-drive a waiter," he says. "If we could find one."

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• Archive: “Gotham: Life in the New City”
• Articles by Vanessa Grigoriadis
• Table of Contents: Feb 14, 2000 issue of New York | Subscribe!