Spiritea debuts on 2nd Avenue

Spiritea is now open on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Fifth Street.

This is the second outpost (third counting the one TK in Irvine, Calif.) for the fruit-and-milk tea shop, whose first location is in Vancouver.

EVG reader Carol from East 5th Street shared the opening news as well as these photos...







Spiritea reportedly brews all of their teas on the spot in a special Teapresso machine.

And here's a look at their offerings...



The space has gone under a drastic renovation in recent months... it had been vacant since 100% Healthy Blend (or maybe just Healthy Blend) closed after three months in November 2016. Previous tenants include the Mexican restaurants Dahlia's and Mary Ann's.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Tea time for 2nd Avenue and 5th Street

Tea time for 2nd Avenue and 5th Street

Signage is up for the new tenant at 300 E. Fifth. at Second Avenue — Spiritea (thanks to Carol from East 5th Street and Derek Berg for the tip!) ...



This is the second outpost for the fruit-and-milk tea shop, whose first location is in Richmond outside Vancouver (one is also opening in Irvine, Calif.).



A local food site had this to say about the location that opened in late 2018 in Richmond, B.C.:

What sets Spiritea apart from other tea shops is that they brew all of their teas on the spot in a special Teapresso machine. They use premium tea leaves, fresh fruit, Avalon Dairy organic milk and pure cane sugar made in France. Their focus is to provide the freshest and highest quality ingredients without the use of artificial fruit syrups or powders.

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A post shared by SPIRITEA DRINKS (@spiriteadrinks) on Jan 7, 2019 at 3:42pm PST

Signage here points to an opening this month.

Workers have been renovating this corner space, which was Mary Ann's for years before the Mexican restaurant morphed into Dahlia's.

The storefront has sat empty since 100% Healthy Blend (or maybe just Healthy Blend) closed after three months in November 2016.

New storefront reveal at 300 E. 5th St.

[Photo by Derek Berg]

Workers have removed the plywood from the under-renovation storefront on the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Fifth Street (officially 300 E. Fifth St.).

No word yet who the new tenant is. (Anyone happen to know what's coming here?) The work permits on file with the city note "interior renovation of existing store into eating & drinking establishment."

The storefront now looks similar to the other gut-renovated businesses on the Fifth Street side, which were billed as the Shops on East Fifth Street by the broker leasing the spaces in the summer of 2016.

This corner was Mary Ann's for years before the Mexican restaurant morphed into Dahlia's, which was later busted for reportedly serving a lot of minors in early 2016. The corner has sat empty since 100% Healthy Blend (or maybe just Healthy Blend) closed after three months in November 2016.

Gut renovating the former Mary Ann's space on 2nd Avenue

Workers have been doing some major excavating of late in the empty corner storefront on Second Avenue and Fifth Street... One of the workers told EVG Interior Demolition Contributor Derek Berg, who took the shots below, that there were multiple layers of floor and ceiling here... (some cheap-o and quick-o renovations from the past...)





The work permits don't shed much, if any, light on the next tenant. The permits say, in the ALL-CAP DOBese:

INTERIOR ALTERATIONS INCLUDING REMOVAL OF NON-LOAD BEARING PARTITIONS AND FINISHES, REPLACE CELLAR SLAB ON GRADE, REPLACE 1ST FLOOR WOOD JOISTS WITH METAL JOISTS, METAL DECK AND CONCRETE SLAB; PLUMBING ALTERATIONS INCLUDING REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT OF FIXTURES.

The space was last 100% Healthy Blend (or maybe just Healthy Blend), which closed last November after three months ... and previously it was the underage-drinking hotspot Dahlia's and Mary Ann's.

Dahlia's-Mary Ann's transformation complete

[EVG file photo via Goggla]

A quick follow-up to our post from Friday about Dahlia's (slowly) taking over the Mary Ann's space on Second Avenue and East Fifth Street.

The new sign was painted on Friday night, as this photo by EVG reader Christina shows…



… and here's a view of the final product in the daylight…



Previously on EV Grieve:
Slowly but surely the exterior of the former Mary Ann's is becoming Dahlia's

Slowly but surely the exterior of the former Mary Ann's is becoming Dahlia's

[EVG file photo via Goggla]

At some point in the past, say, nine months, Mary Ann's began morphing into Dahlia's on Second Avenue and East Fifth Street. On Tuesday, workers finally painted over the Mary Ann's on the front of the building…



The sidewalk awning still says Mary Ann's … As far as I can tell, the menus with Mexican fare are almost identical? Can anyone confirm this? (And the Mary Ann's in Tribeca is now also Dahlia's? So many questions????)



And I realized that I hadn't been to Mary Ann's in about 18 years…

Mary Ann's still closed; 3 of 4 eateries currently shuttered on Second Avenue and Fifth Street

Signs out front still say they'll reopen on Nov. 4. We have spotted several people inside working around the eatery's bar area here at Second Avenue and Fifth Street.

Although this closure is certainly temporary, seems weird to have three of the four restaurants on this corner shuttered. (And the fourth, the Moonstruck, has been temporarily shuttered in the past too.)

Mary Ann's remains closed

Last week, I noticed that Mary Ann's on Second Avenue at Fifth had been closed for "renovations." The place was expected to reopen Thursday, per their sign...



However, Mary Ann's remained closed during the weekend....



Here's a look inside on Sunday...



Dunno what this current closure is all about... As you may recall back in March, the state seized the restaurant for nonpayment of taxes...

Seizure be damned! Mary Ann's back open

Yesterday morning, we snapped some photos of the fresh "seized" stickers on Mary Ann's at Second Avenue and Fifth Street... EV Grieve reader Peter e-mailed to say the Mexican eatery was still closed as of the afternoon...but returning to the corner last night after 9...



"They were open and completely full up. I guess they paid
their bills!"

Mary Ann's seized; Fifth Street and Second Avenue a jinxed location for eateries?

As Eater first reported last night, Mary Ann's on Second Avenue at Fifth Street has been seized...




Tough corner these days, apparently... as you'll recall, the Moonstruck Diner on the northeast corner briefly closed in February... And on the northwest corner, Rhong Tiam East/Kurve...and we don't even know where to begin... Kurve was briefly shuttered last November