Jules Bistro, the casual French spot at 65 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue, will not be reopening coming out of the COVID-19 PAUSE.
Workers were packing up the space yesterday, as EVG regular Lola Sáenz reports.
Jules, which opened in 1993, offered free live jazz every night... and with its French film posters on the walls and red leather booths, always offered a throwback getaway on St. Mark's Place...
Well-regarded restaurateur Georges (Café Noir, Bar Tabac, Cercle Rouge) Forgeois said that there wasn't really much room for outdoor dining here and running the place with 25-percent indoor capacity starting on Sept. 30 wasn't going to cut it.
Well-regarded restaurateur Georges (Café Noir, Bar Tabac, Cercle Rouge) Forgeois said that there wasn't really much room for outdoor dining here and running the place with 25-percent indoor capacity starting on Sept. 30 wasn't going to cut it. RIP Jules.
44 comments:
fuuuuuck
Very sad. Thanks for always being there Jules.
I am so sorry to hear this. I hope closing now will allow him to reopen in a new space down the road when this is behind us. We are going to see a lot more closings in the fall. It’s so sad.
Fuck!!!! This is truly sad. I had many good dinners and glasses of wine with friends here. Haven't been there in a couple of years though, but had fond memories of it. Another loss for our neighborhood. The hits just keep coming. RIP Jules :(
First mermaid inn now jules :(
This was a really unique and enjoyable place. What a loss for this neighborhood. As one commenter said above, I hope they can reopen somewhere later.
unbelievably sad. This was such a great place. Always got into conversations with interesting strangers at the bar. heartbreaking. :(
Sad to see you go.I'm sorry it had to happen this way.
Sorry to hear it. The city had better not be bailing out Hudson Yards (there is talk of that) while all these small businesses go under.
My wife and I, plus assorted friends, have had Christmas dinner there every year since, oh 2007? What a loss!
Shitty loss for the nabe, that's for sure. Good luck!
This is truly a loss for the nabe too bad they couldn't get some relief don't know if it true in this case but remember folks most landlords especially the larger corps do not care about our neighborhood their tenants or anything else except profit shun them for they will make a waste of your home and area
I will cry.
Favorite place and people
Aw I have so many good memories of Jules. Rip ❤️
This makes me want to cry! I hate that so many neighborhood spots aren't coming back...Porsena, Jules, Mermaid Inn....
Loved Jules, and loved that space!! Heartbreaking to see these unique and beloved EV landmarks disappear. Wish them well and yes to a come back!
Cercle Rouge has closed too. Cafe Noir, in its new location, TBD. Bar Tabac has its liquor license suspended. Only that's [possibly] standing is Le Singe Vert.
Jules used to be my home away from home. Used to do my homework on a midday outside, just having a baguette and carafe of wine: Staff would keep me company. One day I forgot my wallet. They asked me to come back some other day to pay. Met and connected withe many folks there, both staff and customers alike. Brought many dates there. Dined solo at the bar many times. Hooked up with waitresses and managers. Time moves on.
Why aren't there more sad songs about the closings of a restaurant? Perhaps if I told the story of Jules Bistro's death, I might understand it better, make sense of it—perhaps even change it. This closing still seems implausible. A restaurant was present your entire life, and then one day it disappeared and will never come back. I resist belief. It had been diagnosed with COVID-19-related restaurant closures six months earlier; I had known for months that Jules Bistro might not survive, and that it'll inevitably close for good. But its death nonetheless seemed like the wrong outcome—an instant that could have gone differently, a story that could have unfolded otherwise. If there is a right turning point in this bistro's narrative, then maybe, like John Harmon, it never really died, only pretended, but still could resurrect itself. I'll try not to grief anymore; I lament. This. Is. The. End.
~ee
Goddammit, I absolutely loved this spot. It was perfect for any and every occasion. Wonderful live music and a cozy atmosphere. Jules will truly be missed!!
Saw so many great musicians there,some of them are pretty big now. This one is a real shame, some other closings I care less about.
This one hurts.
Not a jazz fan but losing unique venues like this are brutal. Won't be the same without it.
Been Missing Jules
It's so sad to see this one Go for good
Loved Jules
RIP Jules (and Mermaid Inn), yet another East Village classic gone. :(
Jules is closing...SERIOUSLY??? NO WONDER the rented apartments above this venue have plummeted in rent. What a shame!
Before Paris, I ate my first Parisian food here.
I'm not even a jazz fan, but the music created a magical atmosphere. It was a fun spot where people in Brooklyn not even into jazz would come to for a musical, gastronomical vacation...after all it was cheaper than a plane ride from JFK to Charles de Gaulle. Jules trully is reminiscent of Paris.
In Brooklyn for live Parisian nightlife music, there is still Barbes (maybe?), but they don't have food there.
Since the early 1990s I enjoyed Jules and Cafe Yaffa. Now both gone? Good luck to Saint Mark's Place -- they're gonna need it!
Wow. This One Really Hurts. Was such a GREAT date spot for the steak and frites, cool atmosphere and wait staff, and Jazz. Bummmmeerrrrrr.
THANKS JULES, for the Great Everything. You Will Be Missed.
A very sad loss for the neighborhood. I spent many happy nights here enjoying the jazz from so many great performers. Many became my friends. The staff was always amazing and like family. A big loss for the East Village...and the World.
A very sad loss for the neighborhood. I spent many happy nights there enjoying the jazz from so many great performers. Many became my friends. The staff was always amazing and like family. A big loss for the East Village...and the World.
This, and now Native Bean on Ave A is closing tomorrow is too much to take. Sad sad sad!
Jules was my first real restaurant gig, back in 94. Guillaume taught me how to open wine. So sad. RIP Jules.
It was one of the few places left in the nabe that was "bro proof". Too bad.
What I’m really going to miss, after hearing live jazz music wafting out through the open doors of Jules, is the guillotine they stationed outside every year on Bastille Day, because the way things are going we are going to need a few good guillotines real soon.
Went there since 1999, Cafe Noir was another favorite spot...Went there in 2018, eat one of the best tartare in town...Life decided to kill the restaurant industry the independent that could still make a living. That life is over. If you have strong investors backing you, you on! otherwise you dead. That the story of COVID, you can only live if the big guys decides you to live! Otherwise Bye Bye Charly!
@1:43pm: "Bro proof" - exactly, and we need more like that in our community, not less. So sorry to see Jules go.
You do remember almost 200,000 Americans have lost their lives to covid, there’s still no treatment or cure or vaccine and thousands upon thousands have long term disability from it. The restaurant closed bc people eating close together too dangerous and owner wanted to bail on business venture. Yes it’s a loss easily rebuilt but put in perspective!
This is what happens if we force an industry closed, so no income for six months while still paying rent. Zero reason restaurants couldn’t have been opened in June when they were supposed to, with the protocol every other industry is following. The rest of the state reopened indoor dining three months ago with no rise in cases.
Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is absolutely heartbreaking. One of our favorite neighborhood spots, it will be missed :(
I am terribly late to making a comment here as I just discovered this blog while surfing the internet reminiscing about Jules and how much I missed it. Jules was perhaps my favorite restaurant in all of NYC. I live uptown but had been making the trek to St Marks Place once or twice a year for two decades, often on my birthday as a special celebration. It is so, so sad to see something so beloved by me go!
I only wish Jules had sent me an email before their demise became inevitable letting me know how much COVID was harming them, urging me to come more often to keep them in business. I could have easily tripled or quadrupled my frequency of coming there and would have enjoyed the excuse to make the trek downtown (and, of course, felt virtuous for saving a great restaurant!). I would have even proselytized friends on behalf of Jules.
My birthday is coming up in a couple of days which is what got me to look up Jules and brought back all those fond memories. Ah, well.
Bar Tabac is owned by the same owner in Brooklyn and reminds me of Jules
I'm a trumpet player, who'd played at Jules every now and then from 2003 to the last time I was in New York in the Summer of 2019. I've just realized and I'm deepely sadened on this date, June 10, 2022, that Jules Bistro is closed for good. I've been living in Copenhagen and Stockholm with ny wife for the last 7.5 years. We haven't visited New York since 2019 for obvuous reasons. I'm really gonna miss Jules. I miss it already! My wife and I are coming to New York for a visit in July. It's gonna be really depressing to not see Jules on the block. Just its presence did more than its share to add to the life of the East Village. To be quite honest, I don't even want to see what's gonna replace Jules!
On Bastille Day, when Jules used to put their famous guillotine out on the sidewalk every year (safely disabled, of course, but still sending a message), they're especially missed. I hope M. Forgeois can eventually reopen Jules in a new location, ideally still in the EV.
As for the guillotine... nobody has to look too hard for appropriate candidates for that these days. Смерть Путіну!
Oh no! First date with now husband 22 years ago… on se souvient
I loved Jules. For many years. My best nyc experiences here...alone with friends. We love you Jules.you will be missed.
My gf and I sat outside on March 10, 2020, just about the last trouble-free day before Covid hit. Georges Forgeois came over and joined us as we had coffee and dessert. Jules had been one of my favorite restaurants in the 90s. I left NY after 9/11. This was my first time returning to NYC in almost 20 years. I was in heaven walking all over the Village and LES where I'd lived for years, and got to see the city I loved in all its glory on a day with perfect weather.
Georges, I was honored to be one of the last people to enjoy a fully functioning Jules, and your company and conversation. I'll have to make my way to Le Singe Vert soon.
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