Íxta announces itself on the Bowery

Storefront signage is now up for Íxta at the long-vacant 299 Bowery between First Street and Houston. 

Last August, CB3 OK'd a liquor license for restaurateur Akbarali Himani, whose credits include a Chickpea in Penn Station and NISI Mediterranean in Times Square. 

A job listing for an executive chef here describes Íxta as a "trendy upscale Mexican restaurant." As previously noted, the space in the Avalon Bowery complex is quite large, with a capacity of 194 patrons, who would be treated to "live Mariachi performers," per the restaurant's questionnaire at CB3.

Daniel Boulud closed DBGB here in August 2017 after an eight-year run. 

On the CB3-SLA docket tonight: Ixta for the former DBGB space on the Bowery

Tonight is the second of the two CB3 SLA committee meetings for August.

Here's a look at a few of the applications on the agenda: 

• Ixta (LLC to be formed by Mike Himani), 299 Bowery (op) 

This looks to be tonight's big-ticket item. Restaurateur Akbarali Himani is seeking a full liquor license for Ixta, a Mexican restaurant proposed for the former DBGB space at 299 Bowery between First Street and East Houston (top pic).

According the the public documents on the CB3 website, Ixta would be open Sunday to Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., with hours of 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. The space in the Avalon Bowery complex is quite large, with a capacity of 194 patrons, who would be treated to "live Mariachi performers." 

Himani has been running a variety of restaurants in NYC and Long Island the past 30 years. His current credits include a Chickpea in Penn Station and NISI Mediterranean in Times Square. 

Daniel Boulud closed DBGB here in August 2017 after an eight-year run. 

• The York, 186 Ave B (op) 

Hospitality vets James Hurst and Hayden Tobin are looking to open The York here at 186 Avenue B between 11th Street and 12th Street. 

The York would be open daily from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m. and serve a menu featuring "American comfort food," per the questionnaire at the CB3 website. The sample menu items include several burgers, sandwiches and brunch entrees. 

This address was most recently Very Thai, which had a nearly three-year run until late 2019 ... after taking over from Barbone. 

• ACES (Fine Food and Spirits Inc), 197 2nd Ave. (op) 

This is a carry-over from the July meeting for the former Black Emperor space between 12th Street and 13th Street. You can read about it here. The Aces questionnaire is at this link. 

Tonight's meeting starts at 6:30 in the CB3 office, 59 E. Fourth St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery. There's also a Zoom option via this link.

299 Bowery arrives on the rental market 20 months after DBGB closed

A for-rent sign has finally arrived on the former DBGB space at 299 Bowery.

JLL (Jones Lang LaSalle Brokerage, Inc.) has the listing. There's not much info, such as the asking price, on the 6,600-square-feet of space. Per the listing: "Fully built restaurant space with infrastructure, kitchen and bar in place (no key money)."

DBGB shut down in August 2017 after eight years in the Avalon Bowery complex here between First Street and Houston Street.

The former Tatyana Boutique next door is also still for rent. That storefront has been vacant for three-plus years.

Previously on EV Grieve:
DBGB has closed, and erased from the Bowery

DBGB has closed, and erased from the Bowery

As announced, DBGB shut down after service on Friday following eight years in the Avalon Bowery complex between First Street and East Houston Street.

"In this location, it’s busy on weekends but erratic in the early part of the week," chef-owner Daniel Boulud told The New York Times. "I hope to find a more appropriate space for it in New York."



On Saturday morning, workers (above) were prepping to clean out the space on the Bowery ... and by the end of the day on Saturday...





... and a last look at the former sidewalk cafe (for now...in case Boulud decides to do something else with the space)...



For now, three of the five retails spaces in this Avalon Bowery section are vacant as DBGB joins L'Apico and Tatyana Boutique as former tenants.

Previously on EV Grieve:
How DBGB is 'pissing on the grave' of punk rock

Why we're writing about Duke's Bohemian Grove Bar in Buffalo

Breaking: DBGB making sidewalk cafe look less barren

Report: DBGB is closing on the Bowery

[EVG file photo]

Daniel Boulud has announced that he is closing DBGB Kitchen and Bar on Aug. 11 after an eight-year run in the Avalon Bowery complex between First Street and Houston.

"In this location, it’s busy on weekends but erratic in the early part of the week," he told The New York Times. "I hope to find a more appropriate space for it in New York."

Per Eater: "The neighborhood is changing," says Boulud of his decision to close the "very good restaurant" serving tuna tartare, lamb ribs, and boudin Basque.

Curious how the neighborhood is changing in his estimation — getting too upscale for the likes of DBGB? Or changing in that the Bowery hasn't really taken off like people anticipated. A good number of retail businesses have come and gone. Ditto for restaurants. For instance, PYT — "Home of America's Craaaziest Burgers" — closed after just three months in a space that was previously home to three restaurants in fairly quick succession. L'Apico closed in May after five years around the corner in the Avalon Bowery Place complex.

Anyway, farewell to DBGB... I enjoyed keeping tabs on its sidewalk cafe in the restaurant's early days...



Previously on EV Grieve:
How DBGB is 'pissing on the grave' of punk rock

Why we're writing about Duke's Bohemian Grove Bar in Buffalo

Breaking: DBGB making sidewalk cafe look less barren

DBGB apparently parted with these chairs on the Bowery

Or else they are expanding their sidewalk cafe!

EVG regular Derek Berg spotted these early last evening...

Why we're writing about Duke's Bohemian Grove Bar in Buffalo

Because they go by DBGB for short.

And there is a place called DBGB on the Bowery.

And DBGB chef-owner Daniel Boulud is now suing the owners of Buffalo's DBGB for trademark infringement, the Daily News reports.

We learned about the lawsuit via Eater, who noted: "Boulud's people apparently sent the owners a cease and desist letter in 2010, right after the Buffalo restaurant opened. The owners initially agreed to change the name, but never actually made the switch. A note on the bar's site reads: 'Please be advised that Duke's Bohemian Grove Bar has no affiliation with DBGB Kitchen & Bar located at 299 Bowery St. in NY, NY.'"

Wonder if the Buffalo DBGB has a sidewalk cafe too?

Another makeshift shelter arrives along the Liz Christy Garden

As we reported on March 7, city officials dismantled and discarded the makeshift shelter that a homeless man had been living in the past three months on the Bowery at East Houston...

One thing probably doesn't have to do with the other... but the timing made a few readers curious... DBGB set up its sidewalk cafe four days after workers removed the shelter, which sat about 30 feet from the southern edge of the cafe...

In any event, we noticed that the man, who a Liz Christy volunteer said is from Cuba, has set up a much smaller space not too far away from where he was... so far, nothing more than a chair and a few bags...

[Bobby Williams]

Foodies are fucked: Momofuko, DBGB, Peels — CLOSED

Oh, Prune appears to be open for brunch.

Pulino's enters Bowery sidewalk cafe garden party; DBGB put on notice

Three months after DBGB installed a garden oasis on the Bowery, corner mate Pulino's has retaliated with its own urban greenery...

Check mate, Boulud!

Breaking: DBGB making sidewalk cafe look less barren

DBGB takes CBGB by the back door

Extra Place — home of dog walkers, skateboarders and Wonder Woman — just received a big ol' jolt of Boulud.

According to a report at The Feast, chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud is taking over a big space in the former piss-filled alley off the Bowery:

Located at 18 Extra Place, just a block away from Boulud's sausage emporium DBGB, the commissary will supply prepped items to all of the chef's restaurants as well as create a space for "great parties," as Boulud puts it. It may also signal the chef's intent to get into the prepared food and retail space.

That's the big news here. Boulud is building the space to USDA standards, which will pave the way for a cross-country retail business. Currently, bread for all of the restaurants is baked in the catacombs of Daniel, while sausage and charcuterie is produced at Bar Boulud. With the commissary both of those operations will be moved to Extra Place. The plant is scheduled to be online by July, which could put DBGB sausage and Bar Boulud charcuterie in your house in time for Labor Day.

[Photo via The Feast]

The Bowery, 10:32 a.m., April 10

Just setting up for the day...

How DBGB is 'pissing on the grave' of punk rock

So when you visit the DBGB website...

...you might hear something awfully familiar — particularly if you're a Clash fan.

So let's have The Gurgling Cod tell the tale:

I clicked over to the website for Boulud's fancy sausage burger joint, DBGB, and literally could not believe my ears. I thought that I had a stray tab open, for I had no other explanation for why "The Magnificent Seven" was playing over my office computer speakers. But, no. Boulud has, in fact, taken that bete noire of restaurant websites, background music, and extended the whole pissing on the grave of punk rock brand by having the fucking Clash as his background music. For nineteen dollar hamburgers.

I am not an entertainment lawyer ... But, my hunch is that you need to pay to use music someone else recorded for your commercial website. At the very least, let's hope that Joe Strummer's kids get free nine dollar hotdogs when they are in town.

(H/T Patell and Waterman’s History of New York)

DBGB expanding sidewalk cafe?

Ha. Previously.

DBGB ready for Old Man Winter and his entourage

Does this mean the sidewalk seating is done for the season?

Breaking! People are eating outside at DBGB

Hope they have some mittens! Chilly out there! Thanks to a special correspondent for the photo...

DBGB's decorative planters finally receive a warm welcome to the neighborhood

The DBGB outdoor dining diary

A few weeks ago, I wondered why DBGB hadn't been putting out its sidewalk cafe on the Bowery since debuting it on Sept. 29.... while places like Pulino's and Gemma continued to draw crowds outside... on the evening of my post, the tables and chairs appeared outside!

So, for some reason, I started keeping tabs whenever I walked by DBGB in the early evening...

Oct. 22


Oct. 25


Oct. 26


Oct. 27


Oct. 28


Oct. 29


Nov. 1


Nov. 2


Nov. 3 — oops!

Now it seems as if the restaurant will keep the tables out no matter what the weather is like...

Nov. 4


And while the inside looks to have a healthy bar-dining room crowd, I only ever saw two people outside while walking by...

33 endangered, threatened sea turtles released into Gulf waters

Early last evening.


(And yes, I know the headline doesn't match the photo...)