Hell’s Kitchen is losing one of its great originals. After 25 years on the corner of 10th Avenue and W44th Street, 44&X — the flower-filled, Broadway-adjacent, neighborhood-anchoring restaurant opened by Bruce Horowytz and Scott Hart — will close its doors on November 26, 2025.
Scott and Bruce getting ready to say it with flowers to their guests at 44&X in 2020. Photo: Christian Miles
The couple shared the news with a mix of heartbreak and humor, determined to keep the final act celebratory. “We didn’t want this — it’s heartbreaking for us — but we want to leave on a good note and thank everybody for 25 years,” Bruce said.
As we talked, Scott reached for a Broadway metaphor, naturally: “It kind of felt a little bit like Camelot, you know? For 25 years, we had this magic fairy tale of theater-goers and actors and neighbors and the LGBTQ community all meeting in a great place for great food and great drinks. Like all fairy tales — and like Camelot — it was a brief shining moment for us. And sadly, it’s over. But we have wonderful memories.”
Those memories stretch all the way back to the beginning. When Bruce and Scott first opened on 10th Avenue in the mid-90s, the street was barely recognizable — more parking lots than restaurants, a trans club under the Market Diner, and a steady stream of neighborhood characters wandering through construction to ask what on earth they thought they were doing. “There was nothing here,” Bruce said in a 2020 W42ST interview. “Every day someone stuck their head in and said, ‘What are you thinking?’” They persisted — first with 10th Avenue Lounge, then 44&X, and for a while with sister restaurant 44½ — helping spark the dining revival that transformed Hell’s Kitchen.
Bruce Horowytz.(left) and Scott Hart celebrate their Best Place to Eat award in 2021. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Over the years, 44&X became the sort of place where Broadway stars, neighbors, tourists and regulars all landed in the same warm, buzzy dining room. They won the W42ST Best Place to Eat Award in 2021 — readers raved about the short rib, sea bass, cocktails, flowers and the sense that eating there felt like being welcomed into someone’s home.
This week, as they spread the news to staff and friends, more memories have come rolling back. “People have called me to tell me they met their husband or wife here 25 years ago and now have teenage kids,” Scott said. “We’ve seen people meet, get married, raise families. Broadway actors, locals, Manhattan Plaza — everyone. We’re going to miss entertaining the neighborhood.”
Bruce added a favorite anecdote: “Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka went on their first date in my restaurant. He talks about it on television a lot.”
Sharing the news with their team has been the hardest part. “We’ve been crying for two days telling our staff,” Scott said. “Seven people have been with us more than 20 years.” One longtime chef told them his children had gone through law school thanks to his steady job at 44&X — and then, worried about them, asked: “What are you going to do?”
In true New York fashion, Bruce acknowledged the financial backdrop with a wry smile. “There’s no New York story without mentioning the rent,” he joked. “Aside from a few negative moments, it was all good. We loved what we did. We’re only sad we can’t do it any longer.”
We finally asked the question that’s divided diners for decades: how do you actually pronounce the name? Bruce explained that the X was meant as a Roman numeral for 10th Avenue — “So it’s really 44 and 10,” he said — before breaking into a grin. “But honestly, if you’re spending money, I’ll answer to anything — 44 and X, 44 and 10, whatever you call us.”
The pair say they’re committed to keeping the restaurant’s quality high through their final month. “We want to have the month to say goodbye to people,” Scott said. “It’s emotional, that’s for sure.”
44&X has been a landmark Hell’s Kitchen restaurant on the corner of W44th and 10th (yes, that’s how it’s pronounced) for 25 years. Photo: Phil O’Brien
Before we finished talking, I asked the obvious theatrical question: Is this a tragedy… or should we expect an encore? Scott didn’t hesitate: “We’re not saying no to anything.” Bruce laughed, adding, “After 30-something years, we’re a little excited to have a few months with nothing to do.”