Neptune Restaurant on First Avenue between 11th Street and 12th Street closes after service today. Staff started telling this news to patrons on Friday evening.
This iteration of the Polish diner has been around since 2001... though there has been a Polish-American restaurant here, such as KK, for a lot longer ...
[Photo from 1997 by Dave Buchwald]
The buildings here at 192-194 First Ave. arrived on the market in January 2015. At that time, both of the retail spaces (the other being Lin's Laundromat) were listed.
This past July, the EMMES Group of Companies sold the two five-story, walk-up buildings to Nazarian Property Group in an all-cash transaction valued at $13 million.
Then in the fall, the Neptune cut back hours during the week...
[Photo by Greg Masters]
And add the Neptune to the RIP list of affordable diners, joining Polonia, Kiev, Christine's, Leshko's, Teresa's, the Stage ...
Previously on EV Grieve:
Space that houses 1st Avenue's Polish-American diner Neptune is on the market
38 comments:
Oh dear, seeing it here makes it seem awfully real, accent on the awful. But I'll be there today, with bells on, for one last bowl of soup and who knows what else. I had the Hungarian Potato Pancake yesterday, and it was good as it ever was.
Oh my god! This caught me by surprise! I always liked taking out of town guests to the garden in the back! Terrible news....
Sad to see them go; they're good people and I'm very sorry their livelihood is being taken away.
Unfortunately the sale of the building represents another win for greed and another round of homogenization for the neighborhood.
Nothing is going to survive the era of Trump. Nothing.
Oh my God. This is just sad. I loved sittng out their garden in the summer, and the warmth of a hot plate of pierogies in the winter. We still have Little Poland on 2nd Ave. but that's more of a diner type of spot without the outdoor option. Neptune had some very good staff too, better than most places, and they will be missed. Thanks for everything Neptune, you will be missed.
Damn. Always appreciated this under the radar, no nonsense, relatively inexpensive, very good greasy spoon.
Great place to spend some time on a gloomy day with a cup of coffee and a newspaper, left alone to wallow in my self pity.
Total bummer. They will be missed.
Painful
Where am I going to get a Farmer's Platter now? With every closure of an old established place, it gets a little easier contemplating my own departure from the neighborhood. Thanks for the memories, Neptune. Good luck to all the waitresses and waiters who are losing their jobs.
So sad to see another neighborhood place be forced out. I hope owners and staff find jobs and peace somewhere else- doubly sad at the holiday season.
Soon there will be no place that is not precious or pretentious to have a simple meal or a place for conversation.
I've been going to Neptune since they opened. Sorry they are closing.
Melanie
East Village Corner
So sad..sorry to see them go.
Been going to Neptune's for over 10 years. A nice down to earth place with good food at reasonable prices. Going to really miss it.
I loved the back patio but the last few times there the food was awful. Was thinking of giving them one more chance today, decided against it and then saw this. Teresa's was the best, Christine's when it first opened was very good. Odessa was good but quality declined. Veselka is good but pricier and pricier. The era of the diners is long gone.
Wow, I had just made a note to go there for borscht based on the recent Veselka post and comments. Very sorry to see them go.
I'll add my goodbye. Not much to be done about it, and after losing the Stage, I hold no hope at all for the EV.
SittingWith.com, Odessa is well worth supporting. Nice people, and good food. I was there last week for a chicken cutlet dinner with sauerkraut and wasn't disappointed.
Nothing will ever match Teresa's
Veselka? What is it, like $11 for a cheese blintz. pffft.
I'm so sorry to lose this beloved place. Knew it would happen but during Xmas season just so much worse.
So what are the remaining diners (all kinds) left in the East Village?
Our hearts are so heavy at the closing of Neptune. We are losing such a gem. The owner Zenan and his waitresses and Silvia were so warm and friendly. The customers were so faithful and there were the same wonderful people every week at the same time that formed a true bond and it was real community place. There really aren't anymore warm friendly places like this where you could get comfort food, delicious real home cooked meals at reasonable prices, with picnic tables and a backyard,flowers,etc.
Zenan, thankyou for all the wonderful years, memories, wonderful meals and joy you have given us. Best of Luck to you and let us know if you open anywhere else, we'll all be there.
After our breakfast I bought home 4 dozen frozen pierogis and an order of their potato pancakes to freeze and have on Christmas.
The best pierogis ever!
Oh oh oh. The number of breakfast specials we ate arriving at 10:58 when it was KK and $3 is uncountable.e price went up some time when it was Neptune but still a regular spot for so many years. I'm very sad about this.
This is just so sad. La Foccacharia (remember them?), Teresa's, Polonia and now Neptune. All the homey, neighborhood, reasonably priced places are gone. It's a schlepp for me but I'll start going to Odessa and Little Poland just to help keep their businesses up. Veselka is good but expensive and too trendy. And I refuse to wait over a half hour for a table. This is terrible news.
God DAMN it, another take-out menu that has to go into my Dead Restaurant File. I have been going here since the day they opened, and cannot believe we are losing yet another piece of the old EV to greedy bastards who don't live in the neighborhood they want to profit from. I still remember the photos the original owner had on the wall of him meeting Lech Walesa in March 1990, he was so proud, and I am beyond sad to see them go. The food could be delicious, or just so-so, but the space was always a perfect one to sit and eat alone with a book or newspaper, or meet friends and hang out for hours (making sure to leave a big tip) without getting the stink-eye from the waitresses because there was a line halfway down the block waiting to get in and they wanted your table. Good luck to the waitstaff, the cooks, the busboys, I hope you all land on your feet and find new gigs right away. You will be deeply missed.
Remember, Teresa's moved to Brooklyn Heights several years ago; they probably saw the writing on the proverbial wall. They're on Montague street, and most accessible via the 2 and 3 trains to Clark Street, or the 4 and 5 to Borough Hall.
If you work in the Financial District, they're a good bet.
what does this have to do with Trump? he is not the president yet.
i went in to say good luck in the future, and to have a last white borscht. there were so many people stopping in to say good by - and lots of tears and hugs.
they will be missed. another true neighborhood treasure gone.
at least their last night was one full of friends and neighbors.
Thanks Carol for mentioning La Foccaceria. That place was incredible. And it had been there for something like 70+ years. As for Neptune, I never got over the change from KK in the late 90s. Add Derobertis to the RIP list.
My heart is broken. I have been going to this diner when it was KK diner in 1992. It's another East Village staple gone down the drain . was devastated when Yaffa café closed. This is much worse . I have no reason now to even go to the East Village. Sad
Sadly it soon won't matter how much we patronize our favorite old school diners and restaurants since nobody can compete with the real-estate machinery running and ruining our neighborhood. Real New Yorkers eat at places like this everyday especially when he have shitty kitchens, live alone or just can't be bothered to cook each night. The fantasy lifestyle image of NY today is wining and dining at price is not an issue hyped foodie trend setting scene maker restaurants has finally taken over the East Village.
...I have been out of town caring for a sick relative, and just got back to find out that I missed a chance to go there and have a farewell nosh.
Yep, lots of lost treasures around here.
Was that the place with vasteddi?
Sad to hear this - they had an amazingly priced breakfast special. Please support B&H as they are the last remaining lunch counter spot in our whole neighborhood. Even for a meat eater like me, it's easy to find things to order at B&H (they are strictly non-meat). And for perogi's or varenky, you really shouldn't be eating those anywhere else besides Streecha. So please, I implore my neighbors to support these two local gems. Two local gems that are fantastic at what they do (Odessa's quality is horrid)- One that's been in business since 1936 and the other run by a Ukranian church. God bless the LES!
i had forgotte about La Foccaceria - they moved up 1st avenue and never recovered. sems like a lifetime ago. they were a wonderful and unique restaurant (original site and new)
i can understand that many places go out of business, even after decades, however, we have lost almost our entire meigihborhood over the past 10 years and can never recover from that. most closings have been from unconscionable rent increases.
B&H serves fish as well. Everything else is vegetarian.
Good memories, Carol, and don't forget Kiev, which closed in the summer of 2000.
Bill
Kiev! My introduction to boiled beef and horseradish sauce, never found better.
Little Poland on 2nd avenue is expensive.
Gutted, just gutted....
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