Signage alert: Rice Thief on 2nd Avenue

Signage for Rice Thief arrived last week at 95 Second Ave. between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. 

We first mentioned this pending arrival in April when the business received administrative approval from CB3 for a beer-wine license for the space. 

This will be the first Manhattan outpost for the restaurant, which started as a delivery service specializing in Korean crab dishes. 

Some background on Rice Thief from a January post by Eater: 

Richard Jang, alongside his mother, Jong Sook Jang, and girlfriend, Haiqi Yu, started the business in the fall of 2022, specializing in soy-marinated crab that's hard to find in New York, known as ganjang gejang, as well as seafood stews, and rice. The service — which has drawn a waitlist — started at his home, before relocating to a Sunnyside, Queens ghost kitchen. 

Their first restaurant debuted in Long Island City earlier this year. 

No. 95 was most recently Thailand Cafe, which did not reopen following the pandemic PAUSE of March 2020.