Rustico, the cafe that specialized in crêpes and Italian coffee at 135 First Ave. between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, has closed.
The owners are selling off the contents of the restaurant ...
There isn't any mention of the closure on Rustico's website or social media properties. It was a small place, so it always seemed busy, particularly during high brunch time on the weekend. (I never ate here, so I can't speak to the quality of the food or service.)
Rustico opened in November 2013. Before this, the address was home to everyone's favorite — Iconic Hand Rolls, which closed in April 2013 after 10 months in business.
Thank you to Lola Sáenz for the photos
6 comments:
They started off as a creperie, making crepes in the window. Business was very slow. They put the crepes on the back burner or disappeared them and somehow they started getting busier. A minor miracle. But I imagined it would always be a struggle as it's a small space and turnover was probably slow. In another time and place maybe they could have survived...
Two years is about the run time of most restaurants / food places. So Rustico falls within the average. I, too, stopped by for a crepe, but it never became a go to place once the crepes disappeared. What many young people thinking of operating a restaurant should do is to meet with people whose places have been up and running 10 years or more--ask them what their struggles were and why they have managed to survive in a very tough market.
I really don't understand the business model for restaurants in the EV. The spaces are small. They have too few tables. How do they pay the overhead even if they constantly turned over the tables 24/7? Masochism must be part of the equation along with naiveté.
uhg another gluten free gold mine gone.. they had the dankest gf waffles.. Rustico, my neighbor, you will be missed!
So sad. You never know: maybe they ran a bad business, but it's more likely they can't afford the rent. When Back Forty, which was always busy, couldn't afford their rent, that was a harbinger of things to come.
It was my favorite place on the ES. I'm so so disappointed .
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