Yuca Bar returns to service tonight after renovations

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Yuca Bar is set to reopen this evening after a month-plus-long renovation on the NW corner of Avenue A and Seventh Street. 

The bar-restaurant serving Latin cuisine celebrated its 20th anniversary this past September, and ownership decided to renovate the space...going for, they said, a Miami-NYC-Tulum Caribbean feel.

The owners said they would freshen up the exterior in the spring ... as well as participate in the new outdoor dining program and create a structure that adheres to the just-released guidelines for the allotted April-November timeframe. 

Yuca Bar opens this evening at 5 for dinner (no daytime service yet). They will offer brunch this coming weekend, with the bar open for late-night service, and will have regular hours after all the renovations are completed. They plan to still work on parts of the space during the day. 

One last item: There had been some speculation about their lease and whether they would stay or if the landlord would raise the rent. Proprietors confirmed that they negotiated a new lease and plan to stick around for another 20 years (or more).

Yuca Bar remains closed for renovations

Photos by Steven

The renovation of Yuca Bar on the NW corner of Seventh Street and Avenue A is taking longer than expected. The signage originally stated a closure until Jan. 25.

However, there is work left to complete...

Yuca's Instagram account now lists a February reopening.

The restaurant offering Latin cuisine and weekend brunches closed for the renovations on Jan. 2.

Yuca Bar closed for renovations on 7th and A

Photos by Steven

Yuca Bar is now closed for renovations on the NW corner of Seventh Street and Avenue A ... door signage points to a Jan. 25 reopening date for the restaurant offering Latin cuisine and weekend brunches ...

Yuca Bar is back open tonight

[Photo by Steven]

Yuca Bar has been closed since last Sunday night's fire in an apartment above the restaurant on Avenue A and East Seventh Street... according to a sign on the door, Yuca returns this evening ... "with full bar and reduced menu" starting at 5:30.

Yuca Bar remains closed

[Photo yesterday by Steven]

The bar-restaurant on the corner of Avenue A and East Seventh Street is still closed after Sunday evening's fire on an upper floor. (Unofficially candles in an apartment were to blame for the blaze.)

There's no word yet when Yuca Bar might reopen. EVG correspondent Steven said that "the interior is a wreck."

Indeed, workers have cleared out all the tables and chairs from the dining room...



And a worker was spotted dragging out large trash bags of damaged items to the curb. Still no word on the Yuca website or Facebook page (which hasn't been updated since May 2015) about a temporary closure. The phone is back in service, though there isn't any answer or outgoing message.

As for the building's tenants, Steve Herrick, the executive director of the Cooper Square Committee, left this comment on our post:

If any residents of 133 E. 7th St. can reach out to Cooper Square Committee at 212-228-8210, we can help you access resources including temporary housing. We can also help the displaced tenants to organize and get your building repaired as soon as possible.

Yuca Bar closed for a week-long renovation

If you're a fan of Yuca Bar, then do not be alarmed when you spot kitchen equipment in the restaurant's dining room this week... a sign on the door here on Avenue A at East Seventh Street explains that they are closed until Monday for renovations...