I ate at Sparks Steakhouse recently. Great food. Any truth to the story that Castellano was hit in front of the restaurant by Gotti and Gravano? I've seen at least one web site that says he was hit in front of a hot dog stand and the story was changed to Sparks to make the story more glamorous.

Gus, I can't imagine where that "hot dog stand" story originated. There's no shortage of photos showing Paul Castellano and Tommy Bilotti dead in the street right in front of Sparks, with the Sparks sign clearly visible.
Gotti and Gravano were waiting in a car nearby when the murders were committed, but they didn't pull any triggers. Gotti originated the idea of whacking the duo, and Gravano supported him. Actual planning was done by Frankie DiCicco, who had been a capo under Castellano but agreed to sign on with Gotti and became his consigliere after the hits. He was later blown up by a car bomb intended for Gotti.
BTW: most restaurant critics agree with your view of the food.

there are lots of pics of Paul castellano dead in front of Sparks Steakhouse. never heard of that hotdog stand. its also shown in "Boss of Bosses" movie by HBO, this is the story of Paul Castellano.

GoodFella

I was never a big fan of Gotti, but the whacking of Castellano was well-designed. And by the way, I'm not condoning murder. But I have read that it was Gotti's idea to have the shooters all dress the same, thus making identification more difficult. The shooters all wore long fur coats and hats. 4 of the 5 outfits were identical, while the 5th was said to be a slightly differnt color.

To answer the original question, all information I have seen stated that the murder of Big Paul & his bodyguard Tommy happened right in front of Sparks Steakhouse. The 1st 911 call was made from a worker at Sparks. Big Paul was arriving for a scheduled dinner at Sparks the evening he was killed.

The food, however, is over-rated and way over-priced, IMO. I think the pricing, in part, is because it became somewhat of a tourist attraction because of the hit.

I loved the Raspberry Stroganoff dessert. To me steak is steak. And the PRICES! There's an outline of me on the floor inside where I fainted when I got the bill. What can you do to a potato to make it cost $8? Pl's right, overpriced, overrated. We went for the tourist-factor.