For decades, Tuesday nights at Lattanzi, a modest Italian restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, have hosted one of television’s most enduring rituals: Saturday Night Live’s pre-show dinners. Every week, show creator Lorne Michaels gathers the upcoming host, select cast members, and producers for an intimate meal before the whirlwind of live television takes over.
Lattanzi, nestled on Restaurant Row near Broadway theaters, doesn’t flaunt its celebrity clientele. Its brick walls, burgundy carpeting, and classic Roman menu—featuring veal scaloppine and chicken piccata—offer a quiet retreat rather than a Hollywood hotspot. There’s no bouncer, no wall of fame, just a cozy back room where some of comedy’s biggest names have shared a meal.
As SNL celebrates its 50th anniversary, Michaels’ well-known habits remain unchanged: his desk-side basket of popcorn, his infamous “Lorne walks,” and, of course, his sacred Tuesday dinners.
More Than Just a Meal
According to Susan Morrison, author of the forthcoming biography Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live, the Tuesday dinners serve a crucial purpose beyond fine dining.
“In a week where everything is moving at 100 miles per hour, it’s a moment of civilized calm,” Morrison said. More than that, the dinners give Michaels a chance to gauge the week’s host—how they interact in a room, their energy, their comedic instincts.
Though the tradition is well-known among SNL fans, the guest list remains a mystery. Former head writer Anna Drezen recalls how writers used the dinners to pick up personal anecdotes for the host’s monologue. In 2021, actress Anya Taylor-Joy shared a childhood story about carrying an egg in a pouch “in case a bird happened”—a detail that found its way into her opening remarks.
Even longtime cast members like Bill Hader were puzzled by the exact reasoning behind the Tuesday timing. “You’re stuffed on pasta, you’re sleepy, and then you have to go back and write all night,” Hader once said. “Ask Lorne and he’ll say, ‘They’ve always been on Tuesday.’”
The Restaurant That Never Changes
Lattanzi has been serving Roman specialties since 1984, run by the Lattanzi family and managed by Eddie Kostner, a Brooklyn-born showman with a signature mustache and a knack for storytelling. He’s welcomed legends like Mel Brooks, Al Pacino, and Paul Simon—but remains fiercely loyal to Michaels and his tradition, refusing to reveal details of the Tuesday gatherings.
While the rest of the world evolves, Kostner takes pride in Lattanzi’s consistency. “The world has changed,” he said, gesturing around the dining room. “This place has not changed.”
For SNL cast and crew, an invite to Lattanzi signals a level of acceptance in the show’s competitive hierarchy. “You want to get picked, you want to get invited,” Morrison noted. The dinner’s atmosphere—warm, unpretentious, steeped in tradition—mirrors the show itself: a timeless New York institution that keeps moving forward, one week at a time.