This UES Restaurant Has Kept Regulars Coming Back For 40 Years

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A Carnegie Hill restaurant founded by the brothers behind clothing brand J.McLaughlin is celebrating four decades on Madison Avenue this fall.

Island, located at 1305 Madison Ave. near East 92nd Street, opened in 1986 under brothers Jay and Kevin McLaughlin — nine years after they launched their clothing brand.

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"When Kevin and I opened Island, it really was an extension of who we were and what we loved," Jay McLaughlin said. "We cared enormously about the style of the room, but just as much about serving really good, straightforward food consistently and creating a place where people wanted to become regulars."

Forty years later, the bistro has become a gathering place for generations of neighborhood families, its owners said. More than 20 employees have worked at Island for at least 15 years, according to the restaurant.

Staff members often know where regulars prefer to sit, what they drink and what is happening in their lives. Some have watched neighborhood children grow up and return to the restaurant years later with families of their own.

"What we never could have imagined was the loyalty not only from our customers, but from the people who came to work with us," McLaughlin said. "Forty years later, many of those faces are still here."

Jay now owns Island with his son, Chris McLaughlin, who assumed responsibility for its daily operations in 2017.

Since then, the younger McLaughlin has updated the menu, modernized the restaurant's operations and overseen an interior refresh featuring grasscloth walls, striped banquettes and new furnishings. The restaurant also added a coastal-inspired outdoor dining area along Madison Avenue.

"You have to recognize what is charming, distinctive and part of the restaurant's DNA and leave it alone," Chris McLaughlin said. "But you also have to be willing to look honestly at what needs to evolve or be refreshed."

The menu remains focused on "uncomplicated" American cooking, the owners said. Longtime staples include the Island Burger and roasted chicken with Parmesan-crusted cauliflower, alongside salads, local fish and seasonal dishes.

To celebrate its new legacy status, Island will mark its 40th anniversary throughout the fall with archival photographs, classic dishes and cocktails, special programming and stories from employees and customers, its owners said.

"We've changed a lot over the years, but the goal is always
that when you walk through the door it unmistakably feels like Island," Chris McLaughlin said.

Know of a business opening or closing on the Upper East Side? Email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.