Prior to now forty years, SoHo has largely reworked, from grungy, reasonably priced artists’ haven to couture mall geared towards vacationers. However some issues have stayed roughly the identical: Raoul’s, for instance, the French bistro opened by Alsatian brothers, Serge and Man Raoul, in 1975. I went for dinner the opposite night time and located its previous pay telephone, nonetheless simply exterior the remainder rooms, in addition to an array of greater than serviceable timeless classics—frisée with lardons, steak tartare and au poivre, profiteroles with chocolate poured tableside. A uniformed however relaxed middle-aged bartender made me a superb soiled Martini.

The B.L.T., on thick slices of buttered brioche, comes topped with house-made potato chips.

Earlier this 12 months, Serge’s son, Karim Raoul, who took over Raoul’s in 2014, expanded the household enterprise with a second place, straight throughout the road, referred to as Revelie Luncheonette. (It’s named for Karim’s daughters, Rêve and Amelie, and it’s open for dinner along with lunch.) If I didn’t know higher, I’d consider that it, too, had been round since 1975. One latest afternoon, an early episode of “The Value Is Proper” was taking part in on a TV above an enormous counter, which is lined with vinyl-capped chrome stools. Classic posters hold above snug cubicles, beneath a tin ceiling. A younger man making an attempt to get the eye of his server—and sitting, because it occurred, subsequent to the restaurant’s working dumbwaiter—referred to as out, “Hey, boss!”

Aside from sriracha (combined with honey and served with rooster tenders), an Not possible Burger, and a baby-kale Caesar salad, nothing that comes out of the kitchen adheres to latest traits, or signifies ego or pretension on the a part of the cooks, David Honeysett and Moussa Thiam. It’s straightforward to think about the menu’s French café requirements—a beautiful onion tart, accompanied by a flippantly dressed mesclun salad; a superlative croque-madame; a stack of jambon-beurre, the basic ham-and-butter sandwich, displayed beneath a glass cloche—having been served for many years throughout the road, if Raoul’s had been open for lunch. You is likely to be disenchanted to study that the burger right here isn’t the identical because the one at Raoul’s—supplied in famously restricted portions, topped with au-poivre mayonnaise, triple-cream Saint-André cheese, watercress, purple onion, and cornichon. Nevertheless it’s onerous to argue with Revelie’s easy patty on a gentle white bun, with shredded lettuce, tomato, American cheese, and mayo, or with the oozy patty soften, caramelized onions spilling out from between two crisped, buttered slices of rye sourdough. (There’s additionally a satisfying veggie soften, with goat cheese, mushrooms, roasted peppers, and spinach.)