[Photo from Sunday]
News began circulating back on Sept. 8 that St. Mark's Place mainstay Cafe Orlin was closing after service on Oct. 15.
A rep for Cafe Orlin confirmed the closure in an email, as I posted on Sept. 8: "Yes — it's sad but true. The owner asked me to say that he's thankful to all who came to the cafe over the years. Cafe Orlin had a great run of 36 plus years, but he's ready for a change."
Grub Street reported that the Cafe Orlin owner is also the building's landlord, "and a new restaurant will open in its place."
I don't know much about the ownership. This is from a Village Voice feature on sister restaurant Cafe Mogador in September 2014:
Owner Rivka Orlin came to New York City from her home in Essaouira, Morocco, at the start of the 1980s, and helped her recently transplanted brother run Cafe Orlin, still in operation just down the street. Shortly after, the siblings heard the space at 101 St. Marks was becoming available, so they opened a second restaurant, using recipes from their mother in the kitchen and naming it after the small town in Essaouira where their Israeli-Moroccan family came from. Mogador is now run by Rivka’s nephew, Gal, and cousin, Ariela.
Anyway, you have two weekends left to visit Cafe Orlin at 41 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue. It first opened in March 1981.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Cafe Orlin will close next month after 36 years in business (34 comments)
Brunch, lunch or dinner, it was always worth the wait.
ReplyDeleteAte there this past week, with heavy heart. Food was great as usual. Fuck all of you.
ReplyDeleteI go during the week because the weekends are crazy. So sad this place is closing. On a side note, I wish they had kept the table and chairs they had. The new furniture inside takes away from the classic cafe vibe.
ReplyDelete"Ate there this past week, with heavy heart. Food was great as usual. Fuck all of you."
ReplyDeleteDude, not the fault of anyone here.
No @ 10: 09 Fuck you. Is there any reason you need to say that?
ReplyDeleteI live next door and hate that place with a white-hot rage I reserve for few things. I stopped eating there when they started hiring wait staff based on their BMI instead of their ability to get an order straight or to offer up more than a disaffected shrug in response to a question.
ReplyDeleteI will not miss the Ubers dropping off crowds of former NYU roommates visiting from Murray Hill and Hoboken, and I look forward to walking down my block without needing to elbow my way through three Beckys waiting to meet up with a couple of Chads and Brads.