I am a recovering writer and self-taught artist. A former New Yorker editor and cartoonist, I started drawing restaurants more than a decade ago. I draw by hand in ink on paper, working on-site and from life. I do my drawings in one take, like a jazz record. I don’t make corrections. There is never any AI. What began as a personal side project has grown into All the Restaurants, a global archive of restaurants and the memories they conjure.
I launched this website in New York City on January 1, 2017, inspired by Jason Polan’s Every Person in New York and James Gulliver Hancock’s All the Buildings in New York. At the time, the city was home to over 24,000 restaurants — more than enough to keep anyone busy. My approach is simple: I visit each one and spend 20 minutes drawing its façade, live and unedited. The plan was mathematically ambitious, but I liked that about it. And even though I will never finish drawing every restaurant in the city (openings and closings alone made that impossible), I keep going. I have learned that the process is what matters.
Since then, my drawings have taken me to Paris, London, Napa, Philadelphia, Montreal, Las Vegas, and beyond. This has evolved into a lifelong project. And it's one I plan to continue for as long as I can hold a pen.
Why I Draw
When I draw, I enter a state of flow where time slows down and the outside world fades away. Drawing gives me focus, clarity, and peace. It’s a form of meditation, and I have made it a daily practice. I discovered its benefits early on, when I was taking classes at night at The Art Students League. I noticed that on my way to work on the subway, where I would practice drawing sleeping passengers, I would leave the train so happy that I had to check my impulse to wish all my fellow commuters good morning! During the pandemic, the simple act of picking up my pen helped me process uncertainty and reconnect with a sense of purpose.
As a father, drawing also became a survival tool. It was something I could return to at any moment that I might have needed to settle myself. I also developed the practice of drawing my dish rack every night. In fact, I still draw my dish rack every night (and have done so for more than 3,000 (mostly) consecutive nights). It’s become a ritual, a reset, a way of saying: I’m still here, and this moment matters.
Drawing restaurants is my way of extending that philosophy outward. These places hold our stories — first dates, anniversaries, meals that changed everything. By putting them on paper, I get to preserve not just a building, but the feeling of being there, of sharing a moment with someone.
A Glimpse Into My Process
Each drawing is made live, on the street, using pen and ink. No pencil, no do-overs. I stand near a lamppost or mailbox, find the right angle, and get to work. I don’t redraw or revise when I return to the studio. What you see is exactly what I saw: a moment captured in time.
Most of my drawings today come from requests, and I love hearing the stories behind them. If a restaurant is meaningful to you, I’d be honored to draw it. You can make a request here.
A Few Videos of John the Artist
Trust the Process
Atticus Radley shot the video for Atelier Eva
Bringing Joy Into the World
Video courtesy of Secret NYC
More About John’s Process
Video by Riley Arthur of All the Diners of New York City
Contact John
Drawn and printed by hand