Joe Allen

Joe Allen bills itself as the original New York theatreland brasserie, a name that traces back to the first Joe Allen opened in Manhattan's theatre district in 1965 and to the London restaurant that followed in 1977. Today it sits on Burleigh Street, right behind the Piazza, and it remains a theatre restaurant through and through, feeding actors, crews and audiences before and after the shows on the Strand and around Covent Garden.

The menu is classic New York brasserie cooking built on seasonal ingredients, from shrimp cocktail and Caesar salad to a well-regarded pork chop, burgers and a brownie with ice cream, and a £30 group menu keeps celebratory lunches and birthday dinners within budget for parties who book and pre-order. Alongside the dining room, Joe's Bar takes its cue from the discreet neighbourhood drinking dens of downtown New York, all rich wood, brass and exposed red brick, and runs a selection of cocktails such as negronis and spicy margaritas at £10 all day, every day.

Theatre restaurant in Covent Garden open late

Being a late-night restaurant is the point. The restaurant serves until 11.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday and the bar keeps going for post-show drinks, so it is one of the few places nearby where a cast can eat after curtain down. The Lyceum is three minutes away on foot, the Savoy five and the Adelphi ten, with the Cambridge Theatre and the rest of the West End within a short walk. Private dining and events are catered for too.

What to expect on a visit

Doors open at noon daily, with the kitchen closing earlier than the bar, at 8pm on Mondays and Tuesdays, 9pm on Wednesdays, 10.30pm from Thursday to Saturday and 7pm on Sundays, so check timings if you are planning a late supper rather than a drink. Covent Garden station is a five-minute walk and Charing Cross and Holborn about ten. Book ahead on show nights. It belongs on any list of restaurants in Covent Garden, and the pre-theatre crowd also heads to Blacklock on Bedford Street for chops before a show.