What it was like to dine at Windows on the World, the restaurant atop the World Trade Center, before it was lost on 9/11
Before the 9/11 attacks, Windows on the World was an upscale restaurant where people ate while overlooking expansive views of Manhattan.
Sal Traina/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images Windows on the World was a restaurant on the top floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower.
The upscale restaurant featured expansive views of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.
The restaurant was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, and many of its employees died.
Before the 9/11 terrorist attacks , Windows on the World was a Lower Manhattan hot spot, known for its sweeping city views and high-end clientele.
The fine-dining restaurant was located on the 106th and 107th floors of the World Trade Center's North Tower.
On September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower at 8:46 a.m., trapping many people above the impact zone, including those inside the restaurant, which had opened for breakfast service that morning.
The North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m., killing all 79 Windows on the World employees who were working at the time, along with 91 guests and people attending a conference at the restaurant.
They were among the 2,977 victims who died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, that day.
See what it was like to dine at Windows on the World.
Windows on the World opened to the public on April 19, 1976.
John Roca/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images When the concept for Windows on the World was conceived, Lower Manhattan was not exactly a desirable part of the city.
"Windows was a shining ambassador for New York, an escape from a city that was, in decades past, drug-addled, dirty, and crime-ridden below," Eater wrote in 2015.
Restaurateur Joe Baum took it upon himself to create a "spectacular" restaurant to serve the thousands of employees who worked inside the World Trade Center, as well as tourists and New Yorkers looking for an excellent meal in an awe-inspiring setting.
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