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. By 2001, Windows on the World had become the highest-grossing restaurant in the United States. Sal Traina/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images The restaurant averaged $40 million in revenue annually, USA Today reported. The lunchtime cold buffet also proved successful, generating $20 million each year. In its last fiscal year, the restaurant's bar generated $6 million in revenue. A meal at Windows on the World started with an elevator ride to the top floor of the North Tower. Sal Traina/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images The restaurant was located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower, 1,300 feet above Manhattan. Guests would exit into a glamorous mirrored elevator lobby, pictured above, engraved with scenes of New York City. Stepping inside, guests would enter the 50,000-square-foot dining and entertainment space. Sal Traina/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images Originally designed by architect and interior designer Warren Platner as a sprawling dining and entertainment complex, it included the main restaurant, private dining rooms, bars, and event spaces, with floor-to-ceiling windows offering panoramic views of New York City. The Windows on the World complex spanned approximately 50,000 square feet and occupied two floors. The interior of the restaurant was clean and modern, with white tablecloths, modern light fixtures, and geometric booth seating. The most famous aspect of dining at Windows on the World was, of course, the view. Getty Images The main dining room on the 107th floor featured floor-to-ceiling windows facing east and west, allowing guests to take in the entire Manhattan skyline as they dined. By day, diners could watch the city's daily life unfold before them. Once the sun went down, the cityscape below became a vast field of twinkling lights. Windows on the World was a place to see and be seen. Susan Wood/Getty Images Its extraordinary height above the city below, convenient location for officegoers and tourists, and upscale interior design made the restaurant not just an architectural achievement, but also one of the most distinctive dining experiences in the world. The restaurant was redesigned in the mid-1990s by architect Hugh Hardy after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, trading the clean, white design for warmer tones. When the restaurant opened in the 1970s, it featured items such as pork, chicken, fresh seafood, and Mexican dishes. Susan Wood/Getty Images The menu, originally co-created by American chef James Beard when it opened, was upscale and internationally influenced, reflecting the concept of New York City as a melting pot of different cultures and cuisines. There was also an Hors d'Oeuvrerie devoted to international small plates and a buffet. Sal Traina/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images The formal dining room offered prix-fixe meals and a lunchtime buffet, while the smaller restaurant and Greatest Bar on Earth served sushi and sashimi in the evenings. Critics lauded the cold buffet, citing its fresh