Thursday, October 5, 2017

Chelsea Thai coming to former Neptune space on 1st Avenue; Filipino fare for Avenue A


[Photo of 192-194 1st Avenue from June]

Two currently vacant East Village storefronts have new restaurant tenants.

According to a news release via Eastern Consolidated (H/T Real Estate Weekly), Chelsea Thai, which has operated a stall in the Chelsea Market for 19 years, has signed a 10-year-lease at 192-194 First Ave.

The space between 11th Street and 12th Street was previously home to the Neptune. The Polish-American restaurant closed last Dec. 4 after 15 years in business. According to one source, the asking rent doubled for the space.

While the Neptune arrived in 2001, the location had been home to a Polish-American diner, such as KK, for many years.


[Photo of 167 Avenue A from August 2016]

Meanwhile, at 167 Avenue A, Mama Fina's House of Filipino Sisig, an Elmwood Park, N.J.-based restaurant, is opening an outpost here between 10th Street and 11th Street.

The family-owned Filipino restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Elmwood Park, and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. (According to Yelp, they are cash only at their N.J. location.)

Moonstruck Eatery closed at No. 167 in July 2016 after one year of business. And several years earlier, the address was boats 'n hoes hotspot Diablo Royale Este, which closed at the end of August 2012.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Today is the last day in business for the Neptune

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why is filipino food so expensive compared to chinese food?

DrGecko said...

Lucky me - I had a hand surgeon who operated, so to speak. out of a building a few blocks from the NJ location, so got to eat there several times. Best Filipino food I've had anywhere in the area. And the NJ location, at least, was cheap, something that probably won't survive the trip across the Hudson, but if the food is as good, this will be a major addition to the neighborhood.

DrGecko said...

@anon 8:54 - I don't think that Filipino food is more expensive than Chinese good. There are a lot of good, cheap Filipino restaurants in Woodside, for example. EV restaurants are expensive because of the rent and because they're going for an affluent clientele. And EV Chinese restaurants can be equally expensive (Hot Kitchen on 2nd Ave, for example).

Anonymous said...

Why is Thai food more expensive than Chinese food?

I'm sure this woman is ecstatic that will Chelsea Thai has opened and will be frequenting it.

"Neptune, an obscure Polish restaurant on First Avenue, proved the biggest disappointment of the fourteen places where Chang ate that week. The idea belonged to Chang’s then-boyfriend, another card-carrying food fanatic. (For the couple’s first date, they had gone to a festival called “Egg Rolls and Egg Creams.”) Telling me about the Neptune debacle, Chang sounds depressed, apologetic even. “We happened to be in Union Square, which always throws us off in our food choices,” she says. She had suggested ABC Kitchen for her favorite cumin-carrot salad and a glass of wine. Maybe Cotan for Japanese? Or Zabb Elee for Thai? But no, the boyfriend insisted on Neptune. He felt really bad, she says. “It was the first time he’s ever struck out picking a restaurant.” They broke up not long afterward."

#neverforget

Anonymous said...

"It was the first time he’s ever struck out picking a restaurant.” They broke up not long afterward."

Affluence is clearly one of the worst things ever to be foisted on this country.

#notbeingsarcasticintheslightest