Pasta la vista!
A beloved Queens Italian restaurant with a presidential name is closing its doors after 84 years.
The Clinton Restaurant — a venue that was a speakeasy during Prohibition — announced via Facebook its last day in Whitestone will be June 25, ending three generations of ownership under the Babich family.
“It’s just time,” current owner Bobby Babich, 58, told The Post.
Constructed in 1901, the space is one of the northeast Queens’ community’s oldest commercial joints and has long been known for its homemade dishes, from chicken parmigiana to pizza, pasta and seafood.
The modest, two-story brick building even stood in as the backdrop for a segment in the 2016 film “Indignation,” which starred Logan Lerman.
The Clinton was transformed in a scene into the fictional Newark eatery L’Escargot.
But for Babich, whose grandparents bought the place in 1939, it’s just home.
“This restaurant has been a focal point for the community, but also a focal point for our family. … We used to cook our Christmas dinner in the kitchen and use the restaurant space to gather,” said Babich, who as a toddler wandered between the tables while his dad Ray oversaw operations. “I have thirteen nieces and nephews and all of them have worked for me at one point in their lives.”
“I used to see Bobby around the restaurant when he was a snotty-nosed kid and now I’m just like, wow,” said longtime customer Cheryl Morley, 72. “We used to come here for date nights before we were married. On Friday nights. And we’ve been married for 51 years now.”
Kevin Campbell, 51, has been a loyal customer of the Clinton since he was a child and now commutes more than 45 minutes each week from Bethpage on Long Island to maintain his status as a “regular.”
“This is the place where I learned my table manners,” Campbell laughed. “I’m very sad to see it go. I mean, this is homemade food you really just can’t get anymore. I don’t think it’s ever changed in all the 45 years I’ve been coming here. It’s always the exact same as I expected it to be when I was five years old.”
The place is named for DeWitt Clinton, who served as governor, NYC mayor and US Senator in the late 1700s and early 1800s and who kept a summer home in the community.
Kevin Heenan, 59, of College Point, was on a mission when he heard The Clinton was shutting down.
“When my wife found out they were closing, she sent me up here to buy as many pizzas as we could store in the freezer,” he laughed. “It’s just shocking. I’ve been coming here for forever.”
Babich acknowledged the closure was a “huge change” for his family and the community, but said with two sons in the military, there was no one left to carry on the business once he retires.
“It’s just too difficult a business, really,” he said. “It’s more of a lifestyle than anything else. And COVID certainly didn’t help. We’re in the mindset for retirement.”
“I really want us to go through this with an air of celebration, honoring our legacy, honoring our community and honoring our loyal clientele who have meant so much to us throughout the years.”