Thursday, December 13, 2012

Natori remains open on St. Mark's Place

At the end of November, we heard that Natori, a longtime favorite on St. Mark's Place, was closing for good on Nov. 30. We understood that the owner needed to return to Japan for family matters. Workers confirmed this closure to us.

However, in the last week, several readers noted that Natori was back open. We brought this up to our original tipster, a reliable source. The tipster was surprised. "I went there that [last night] and the owner was sobbing over it being the end."

Then an EVG regular just had dinner there, and brought up the topic. The waiter said that they weren't closing, and dismissed the topic. The EVGer tried again to no avail. The waiter though, was friendly and talkative about other topics. The EVGer also noted that there weren't any early-bird specials that Natori had been known for... In any event, Natori is still open. We'll try to get more information about what's happening here.
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7 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 13, 2012 at 9:49 AM

    I was also surprised when I walked by yesterday and saw it was open. Glad it's still there, as they were fully booked when I got there on the 30th. Hope they keep on going!

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  2. AnonymousDecember 13, 2012 at 9:59 AM

    I wonder if this is a similar situation to Curly's - in that the landlord found someone else to run the place and they all pretend it's the same.

    In the case of Curly's (and I understand from David that it worked to his advantage), the fake place using the same name closed shortly afterwards because the real owner and management were no longer behind it.

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  3. AnonymousDecember 13, 2012 at 10:33 AM

    Maybe they were just short on rent and needed a couple of booked nights. Not the first time that happened. Remember when Max Fish were about to close? Ha.

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  4. AnonymousDecember 13, 2012 at 5:20 PM

    Last Saturday they had a sign up for the early bird specials. So I hope that they haven't eliminated that aspect.

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  5. AnonymousDecember 13, 2012 at 11:46 PM

    change in ownership.

    ReplyDelete
  6. esquared™December 14, 2012 at 10:36 AM

    This is a good thing. May Natori stay for more years.

    I think the owner may have had a change of heart or just prolonging the good-byes. Was there on a couple of days the week it was supposed to closed and there were a lot of former EV/NYers, from Pennsylvania to California, who came to Natori and say goodbye and told their stories the first times they were there. As mentioned in the post, owner was teary and surprised that her establishment is beloved by many.

    Hope Natori does stay, with or wihthout the happy hour special. Good luck to them, either way.

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  7. East Village EatsDecember 19, 2012 at 11:36 AM

    I walked by last night, still open... Yay!

    ReplyDelete

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