Swift’s Steakhouse #4 Vanishes from South Broadway

The history of a restaurant can get a little complicated. This photo, for example, shows a new restaurant with the self-explanatory name Authentic Greek Cuisine. But the address, 8 South Broadway, has been known to locals as Swift’s Steakhouse #4 since 1960, even if the family that owned steakhouses 1 through 3 sold the business decades ago. The restaurant on Broadway was purchased in the mid-2000s by Ismini Giakouminakis, who renamed the joint Ismini’s in 2011 — but never took down the Swift’s signs out front. Swift’s it was and Swift’s it continued to be…until this week, when the new sign went up. Perhaps the specter from a long-gone era has been exorcised from the block, but those with long memories will almost certainly continue to call it Swift’s.