Hakata Zen is now closed for renovations on St. Mark's Place

[Photo by Steven]

The gate is down at Hakata Zen at 31 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. The sign says there's a renovation, with the hope of reopening as soon as possible.

The Hakata Zen website is offline, leading to some thoughts that we're in for a concept switcheroo here. That might not come as a surprise, given the recent turnover here.

As previously noted, the restaurant at No. 31 was a Hakata Hot Pot/Zen 6/Sushi Lounge combo since March 2016. A year later, it became Noodle Cafe Zen presents Sushi Lounge & Hakata Hot Pot. (This is ALL on the midterm FYI. This post recaps the switcheroo-ing.)

Eventually the space just became Hakata Zen.

Meanwhile, the Zen 6 over on Sixth Street became the vegetarian szechuan spot Spicy Moon.

Updated: A commenter says a broken pipe is to blame for the closure...