After more than 70 years as a fixture on Nassau Street, the orange-and-black draped doors of The Annex restaurant are now closed.
The subterranean restaurant and bar, its walls lined with dark wood paneling and paintings of Tigers, had served students, faculty and the community since the early 1930s.
"It was different. It was reasonable," Thomas Hartmann '45, who ate at the restaurant frequently in its early years, said. "Most of us were graduate students or [undergraduate] students and were looking for a place like that."
"For a lot of people in town, that was their favorite spot," he added. "It's sort of a sad note, to tell you the truth."
The Carnevale family, which has owned and operated The Annex since 1948, is currently renovating the space on 128 Nassau St. It will be reopened next week as Sotto Ristorante and Lounge, an upscale Italian eatery that will feature late-night hours, a lounge and an 18-seat bar.
"This is going to be something Princeton people have never seen before," Rich Carnevale said.
Quintessentially Princeton
Hartmann said that in the '40s, the restaurant's basement location conjured images of Prohibition-era speakeasies. "You thought you were almost going into a place where you had to knock on the door to get in," he said.
It was the quality of food, however, that made The Annex stand out. "They were masters of bluefish cooking," Hartmann said.
Throughout the decades, it was common to see some of Princeton's best and brightest minds dining in the basement restaurant during lunch hours. "You used to see, almost any time you went ... some famous person, ranging from the president of the University to John McPhee ['53]," Hartmann said.
McPhee, a University professor and Pulitzer Prize winner, said, "The thing that was appealing about The Annex was its complete informality."
Himself a regular customer, McPhee noted the congeniality of the restaurant's "cellar atmosphere."
"These people who are regulars there ... are almost like the memorabilia on the walls."
Though The Annex remained popular with faculty and Princeton residents, the restaurant has not always been as appealing to students.
As an undergraduate, Eric Johnson '69 used to stop on the heating grates outside of Nassau Hall to warm up during late night trips to grab snacks at Nassau Street restaurants.
"I think it was remarkable then, and I don't know if it's true today, how often at 11 o'clock at night we wouldn't leave the warmth of our dorms to go to Firestone, but that [we] would go up to Nassau Street," he said.
He added, however, that The Annex "never really became a student haunt" during his time at the University and that it had a reputation for being a more upscale Nassau Street restaurant.
"In the '60s it was, 'That place is kind of really nice,' " Johnson said.
He and other students often opted for other Nassau Street restaurants that had what he called "a little more popularity with students," including a "greasy spoon" restaurant on Witherspoon Street.
As The Annex grew along with the town, it continued to have a niche following, though it did not always attract many students. Amy Baldwin '84 ate there only once, on a blind date, after moving to town after graduation.
After meeting with her date at the Dinky station, the two went to dinner at The Annex.
"He asked the waiter, 'What do you recommend?'" she said, to which the waiter responded that the entire menu featured good dishes.
After the two had ordered, Baldwin's date lambasted the restaurant's service. "He said, 'This is not a very high class restaurant.' "
"I found out later that this guy actually brokered deals for restaurants, his whole thing was restaurants."
The end of an era
After The Annex quietly closed its doors on Feb. 19, current students seemed to agree that though the restaurant represented a piece of Princetoniana, its popularity was mostly limited to alumni and Princeton residents.
"It's really sort of a traditionally Princeton restaurant, even if current students didn't go there all that much," said Caroline Loevner '08, an Outdoor Action leader who took the freshmen in her group to eat at the restaurant last fall for their first dinner on campus. "I don't feel like students really frequent it that much though."
Alex Ripp '08, who grew up in Princeton, said she was never a frequent Annex customer. "I have friends who would always go there with their families. But I'm pretty indifferent to its disappearance."
Hartmann, however, said he regretted the closure. "[The Annex] was always a place people felt comfortable in," he said. "It was distinctively Princeton."
— Includes reporting by Princetonian Staff Writer Euphemia Mu.
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