As we first reported Friday, Japadog has closed on St. Mark's Place.
The Japanese-inspired hot dog restaurant by way of Vancouver opened the first U.S. outlet at 30 St. Mark's Place to great fanfare in January 2012.
And we were completely wrong about this place… predicting long lines and the end of humanity, pretty much. (We weren't alone in this feeling!) But the place never quite seemed to catch on. (Remember when they tried a breakfast service for a day or two?)
What do you think? Too much food competition on St. Mark's Place with $1 pizza, sliders, ramen, Chipotle, etc., etc.? Not to mention an already established hot-dog specialist down St. Mark's in Crif Dogs. The arrival of Papaya King back in May could not have helped…
We haven't heard an official reason for the closure. An employee told Eater yesterday that Japadog closed due to "problems with management." There hasn't been a mention of the closure on Japadog's various social media platforms.
As for what's next here… the space is fully vented for a restaurant… we spotted the listing on Craigslist back on Thursday … still, you have to figure ramen, $1 pizza, bubble tea, FroYo or vaping products as possible candidates here…
Previously on EV Grieve:
Cue the long lines: Japadog opening first New York City location on St. Mark's Place
Breaking: Japadog is closing for good after tonight on St. Mark's Place
Japadog construction starts; plus, the end of an era for 'the doorshitter'?
11 comments:
I dropped out of high school and don't do my own taxes, so please confirm my math: using the figures in the CL ad, the rent comes out to 37,500 a month. Correct? 300sf @ $150 per.
So if a dollar slice earns what, 60 cents, you'd need to sell 62,500 slices a month to cover rent. That comes out to over 2000 slices a day.
Solution: Zoltar upstairs, meth lab downstairs. Also a nice rack of iPhone cases would be cool if we can save a little space for it. Who's in with me?
Anyhow, I'm going back to bed now and will be there for a long time. I packed a couple tuna sandwiches. Byeeeeeeeeee!
They tried hard but at the end of the day its just a hot dog and st marks must look like a carnival to anyone who passes through but thats just it, st marks is a pass through, no one really hangs there anymore other than the bums.
Japadog was great, it will def be missed. In addition to hot dogs their ice cream scoops served in lightly fried hot dog buns were delcious.
No key money is interesting. Feel like you don't see that so often?
The hot dogs were super-delicious but expensive. And how often can one eat hot dogs? Unless you've completely given up on your health and your figure.
Glenn,
So about everyday!
@anonymous 11:20
Count me in too!
Hotdogs are made from the parts of dead animals that people who eat dead animals don't even want to eat. Popularized in germany and the surrounding countries during major wars when there was no other food or money. Now really, who'd want to pay market rate for that? If it ain't super cheap, it ain't a hotdog.
I was gonna talk about hot dogs, but now I'm not sure if this is the thread I was gonna comment in. If it's the wrong thread, Jared EV Grieve will delete my comment for the usual fee. He'll just deduct it from my 800 dollar monthly membership fee.
@Uncle Waltie-
+1 for Ray's Candy Store
Unfortunately, the hot dogs themselves weren't very good, no matter how novel the toppings piled on them. The initial prices were disproportionately high, and some early items on the menu were never available.
If the dogs themselves aren't good, the hot dog place is doomed; ultimately, this killed Japadog. They never built enough of a following to sustain the business, the place was always mostly empty.
This will also be what kills Papaya King: the dogs aren't worth a damn. All they had to do was use the same dogs as their successful 86th St. store and follow the same basic formula, but no: the dogs are different, and they're crap. I went back to 86th St. to check, and the dogs were far superior.
It was probably too late for Japadog to change
perceptions about them. Hopefully it's not too late for Papaya King, provided they care enough to use good dogs. It's crazy that they'd mess with a successful model, it that's what they seem to have done.
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