Max Fish says farewell to 120 Orchard St.; new outpost planned

As expected, Max Fish has closed its location at 120 Orchard St. between Rivington and Delancey. 

The bar had not been open since July, and rumors circulated that this was it. In October, reps for the company that runs Grey Lady and Short Stories appeared before CB3 for a new liquor license for the space, as BoweryBoogie previously reported. 

Yesterday, Max Fish posted the official closing announcement on Instagram, though they vow to return again one day:

This is not the end of Max Fish by any means. In the meantime while we look for a new location we will be working on our webstore, collaborations, and participating in pop up events. We look forward to seeing you at our new location in better times! 

Thank you all for your love and support. We’d also like to shout out bar and service family and friends throughout the city, best wishes to everyone, please stay safe. These have been hard times for all of us. Hopefully we’ll see all of you sooner than later! 

From The Max Fish Family

This was the second iteration of Max Fish, the second on the Lower East Side. The bar opened here in August 2014... this after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St. 

Higher rents caused them to move out to Williamsburg after the Ludlow Street original closed in July 2013. However, those plans for a bar in Brooklyn never materialized. 

So here's to Max Fish 3.0.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

• From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

• First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

• Report: Max Fish clears first hurdle in return to the Lower East Side

The 2nd Annual SlimaFest is tomorrow night at Max Fish

[File photo of Count Slima by Walter Wlodarczyk]

Max Fish down on Orchard Street plays host tomorrow night (7-9) to the 2nd Annual SlimaFest ... in honor of local legend Joseph "Count Slima" Williams, who worked for the Two Boots family for 30-plus years, starting with helping build the original location at 37 Avenue A in 1987.

Slima, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, is also an artist... his work will be for sale at Max Fish, where a suggested $10 donation gets you free pizza from Two Boots as well as some live entertainment ... and the chance to see some of his art...



Max Fish is at 120 Orchard St. between Rivington and Delancey.

The new Max Fish reopens tomorrow

Per the Max Fish Facebook page:

Not really much else to say besides...The Fish is back in the L.E.S. Thanks for all the love since we've been closed, see you this weekend!

Max Fish closed last July after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St.

Owner Ulli Rimkus told DNAinfo that "people will see a bunch of the same things they saw on Ludlow Street. They just have to come and look for it."

The bar's former pool table will also return, though not until after a back wall is knocked down. (There will be pinball machines too.)

While the new version of the bar will retain familiar elements, Rimkus said she also plans to make space to show work by new artists.

"I don't want it to be a Max Fish museum," she told DNAinfo, who also has photos of the new interior.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

A few more details (hard-boiled eggs!) about Max Fish, which hopes to return to the LES

Report: Max Fish clears first hurdle in return to the Lower East Side

Hey, it's Max Fish

Happened to be walking on Orchard Street between Rivington and Delancey the other morning ... and we saw the new Max Fish signage for ourselves for the first time.

BoweryBoogie pointed this out earlier last week. BB hears from owner Ulli Rimkus that the opening date here at No. 120 is currently set for Aug. 2.

As previously noted, the new space will be on two levels ... with some possible scheduled performances as well as a small menu that includes — !!! — chili ($5) and hard-boiled eggs ($1).

Max Fish closed last July after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St. Plans to open an outpost in Williamsburg never materialized.

CB3 approved the liquor license for the space in April.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

A few more details (hard-boiled eggs!) about Max Fish, which hopes to return to the LES

Report: Max Fish clears first hurdle in return to the Lower East Side

Report: Max Fish clears first hurdle in return to the Lower East Side

The CB3/SLA committee voted early this morning to support Max Fish's return to the Lower East Side ... specifically a new two-level home at 120 Orchard St. (We can almost taste those new Max Fish menu items!)

Owner Ulli Rimkus and her new partners (former Max Fish employees) as well as supporters (and at least one naysyaer) waited to nearly 1 a.m. to appear before a crowded CB3/SLA docket.

You can head over to The Lo-Down and BoweryBoogie, who were in attendance, for the play by play.

BoweryBoogie also reports that the folks looking to take over El Sombrero on Stanton and Ludlow got the go-ahead as well. The new proprietors, who are related to the previous owners, plan to keep the name intact.

Max Fish closed last July after 24 years at 178 Ludlow St. Plans to open an outpost in Williamsburg never materialized.

Previously on EV Grieve:
First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

A few more details (hard-boiled eggs!) about Max Fish, which hopes to return to the LES

A few more details (hard-boiled eggs!) about Max Fish, which hopes to return to the LES

As you probably know, the folks at Max Fish are hoping to have a revival in the Lower East Side… the bar, which had a nearly 25-year-run at 178 Ludlow St., is looking to move into the Gallery Bar at 120 Orchard St.

Paperwork filed ahead of this month's CB3/SLA committee meeting next Monday offers up some details about Max Fish 2014.

• Proposed hours are 4 p.m. to 4 a.m.
• The paperwork lists nine tables with 69 seats ("including couches") … plus "56 other couch seats."
• They are planning on using two levels (ground floor and cellar)
• They "may host scheduled performances, possibly 1 performance per week, and it may be advertised but the premises will not be turned over to promoters."

You can check out the very detailed CB3 questionnaire (which includes the floor plans) here (PDF!)

There's also a mention of a few basic food items for sale…



Behold the Max Fish hard-boiled eggs!

Also, check out BoweryBoogie, who had some more info yesterday about the new Max Fish.

Max Fish closed last July 29 after 24 years on the LES. Higher rents caused them to move out to Williamsburg, but plans there for a bar haven't materialized.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

[Updated] Max Fish is apparently moving to Brooklyn; eyeing August close date

First sign that Max Fish is returning to the Lower East Side

There have been rumors that Max Fish owner Ulli Rimkus wants to reopen a bar on the Lower East Side.

Heard from a few sources Max Fish is looking to reopen in the Gallery Bar space.
— New York Nightlife (@NYNightlife) March 26, 2014

Here's some proof of that via the just-released April CB3/SLA licensing committee agenda:

• Ulli Bar Corp, 120 Orchard St.

The address is home to The Gallery Bar, which BoweryBoogie reports "owes the landlord of 120 Orchard Street close to a quarter-of-a-million dollars" ... and the owners are apparently looking to sell.

After 24 years, Max Fish closed last July 29 at 178 Ludlow St.

Not sure what the status is of the Max Fish outpost in Williamsburg.

Second time around the SLA grants Sweet Chick a liquor license for the former Max Fish space

Despite an earlier disapproval, The State Liquor Authority has granted Sweet Chick, the Williamsburg-based restaurant specializing in chicken and waffles, a full liquor license for the former Max Fish space on Ludlow Street, the Lo-Down first reported yesterday.

Sweet Chick partner John Seymour tweeted the news during the afternoon.

Thank you to the State Liquor Authority for granting SC Ludlow our Liquor Licence.. Can't wait to be part of the LES community !!!

— John Seymour (@JohnSeymourNYC) March 25, 2014

The SLA originally denied the license back in December … this after CB3 denied the initial application in October. As BoweryBoogie reported two weeks ago, there was a petition against Sweet Chick's opening that had the support of nearly 100 percent of the tenants in the adjoining 176-178 Ludlow St. as well as business owners on the block.

In our Our and About in the East Village feature last week, Margery Teplitz, who lives in the tenement above the incoming restaurant, expressed her concerns.

From the look of their plans, they want to put the exhaust system in the airshaft, which goes right next to my bedroom as well as a bunch of others. They also want to remain open 17 hours a day cooking fried food in a 120-year-old building that’s basically like a sieve. My neighbor upstairs makes chili a couple times a week and you can smell it for seven hours, so you can imagine fried chicken.

… We’re supposed to have a reasonable quality of life, which does not include a blaring exhaust system 17 hours a day and the smell of fried chicken.

CB3/SLA October highlights: Artichoke taking over the Hat; taker for Max Fish & Motor City spaces

The big news from the October CB3/SLA committee meeting agenda is that Artichoke Pizza has designs on taking over neighborhood staple El Sombrero (aka The Hat) on Stanton and Ludlow. CB3 released the agenda last evening.

BoweryBoogie quickly reported the following:

We spoke with the Mexican restaurant and confirmed that the Hat, on the block since 1984, is indeed set to close. However, the Artichoke deal is reportedly not yet finalized. Apparently the owner has, in so many words, had enough and simply decided to cash out the business.

Sad but not surprising news... going back to Jeremiah Moss' post in February, in which he spoke with Regina Bartkoff, a waitress at The Hat since 1988.

"The rent has been steadily going up and they have a lease for a few more years, but in 2012 we took a nose dive. We have been losing our regular customers steadily, due to them not being able to pay the rents on the LES and being forced out. It just keeps going down."

We asked Bartkoff via Facebook last night for an update. She said she originally heard that they'd close in November. But the end will likely come sooner. "I think it's just the last days and I'm going down with the ship."

On the topic of Ludlow Street mainstays closing ... there is an application on the agenda for the Max Fish space. Not much is known right this moment about the mystery applicant:

• To be Determined, 178 Ludlow St (op)

Know anything about the applicant? Let us know via the EVG email.

Updated 10:18

Oh! And there's also a taker for the former Motor City space. Missed that on the first pass. (H/T The Lo-Down!)

Here's the info for now on that:

• JMDR 127 Ludlow LLC, 127 Ludlow St (op)

As for the meeting:

SLA & DCA Licensing Committee
Monday, October 7 at 6:30 pm and 8:30pm (two sessions)
Community Board 3 Office - 59 East 4th Street

We'll take a look at the rest of the agenda later...

[Image via]

Just after 1 a.m. outside Max Fish

Photo by @toddsines.



Photo by @goodpeoples

Last call in a few hours.

A little after 8 pm at Max Fish

Last night for the bar here on Ludlow Street.

... and someone has already removed the pay phone...



Thanks to @ThePeterHa for the photos...

Max Fish closes tonight

Contrary to previous published reports, Max Fish closes after tonight on Ludlow Street.

There's a feature on the bar closing in The Wall Street Journal today... (Subscription required)

Said owner Ulli Rimkus:

"I wish it could be around forever," she said, dumping the walkway trash into a garbage can. "I wish I could pass it on to a daughter, have it around for 80 years. But if you don't own the building, what can you do?"

And!

"In 1989, our neighbors were all artists and musicians—it was perfect," Ms. Rimkus said, now sitting at the curvy bar, the Velvet Underground blasting over the stereo. "It changed when we started to see all our neighbors disappearing."

The bar, which opened in 1989, will have a new location in Williamsburg this fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

[Updated] Max Fish is apparently moving to Brooklyn; eyeing August close date

'End of Days' are here for Max Fish

[You never know when a cliched photo of the Max Fish toilet will come in handy]

Max Fish closes for good on the Lower East Side on Aug. 1, according to Gallerist.

And the Ludlow Street fixture, which is moving to Williamsburg, signed off with their final exhibition — titled "End of Days," which Ava Rollins and Yolande Whitcomb curated. (The show, featuring work by Craig Wetherby, Ricky Powell and FAILE, is only up through tonight.)

X Games at ESPN paid tribute to the Max Fish on Monday... noting how the bar was big with the skate crowd through the years...

Max Fish will all be leaving a neighborhood that now resembles the chaos of New Orleans' Bourbon Street on the weekends more than the downtown cool with which it once was associated.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

[Updated] Max Fish is apparently moving to Brooklyn; eyeing August close date

Report: Max Fish closing at the end of July ahead of move to Williamsburg

As you probably know, high rents are sending Max Fish packing to Williamsburg later this year. We were told earlier that Max Fish is eyeing an August closing date on Ludlow Street.

The Lo-Down gets the word straight from owner Ulli Rimkus that the bar will close here at the end of July. Rimkus also divulged a few other details, like "she really wants to create something new — not necessarily a replica of the LES classic."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

[Updated] Max Fish is apparently moving to Brooklyn; eyeing August close date

'Ludlow Street Masacre' continues: 27-year-old rehearsal space below Max Fish next to close

Spencer Wilking at the Voice reports that the 27-year-old rehearsal space under Max Fish at 178 Ludlow street will have to close this summer... Ken Caldeira and Sal Principato (vocalist for Liquid Liquid) opened the space in 1986.

But the end is very near. Landlord Arwen Properties has told Max Fish and Principato that they'll both need to vacate the building by early summer. (That's different from the August date we heard for Max Fish, who's moving to Brooklyn.)

"They're in no mood to bargain because they stand to make a killing in the anticipation of the hotel," says Principato, referring to the Hotel Ludlow, the latest boutique hotel that will soon open next door to Max Fish. "We're a liability. Who's gonna pay those big bucks with a bunch of musicians in the basement?"

As Wilking wrote: "Call it the Ludlow Street Massacre — the rehearsal space, Pink Pony, Motor City, and Max Fish, all closing."

Read the whole article here.

[Image by Spencer Wilking]

Report: Max Fish making it official in Williamsburg

[You never know when a photo of the Max Fish toilet will come in handy]

The folks at Max Fish have applied for a liquor license with Community Board 1 in Brooklyn, Gothamist reports today.

As reported earlier, high rents are apparently sending the Ludlow Street mainstay since 1989 packing to Metropolitan Avenue ... where, Gothamist notes, they have designs on a vacant 3,000-square-foot space that was asking $14,000 a month in rent.

There's a hearing to discuss the bar's application next Thursday at the Swinging 60s Senior Center, 211 Ainslie St., at 6:30 p.m.

We were told earlier that Max Fish is eyeing an August closing date on Ludlow Street. We were also told that the Asbury Park branch of Max Fish won't be reopening this summer.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

[Updated] Max Fish is apparently moving to Brooklyn; eyeing August close date

More about Max Fish maybe moving to Brooklyn

At The New York Times today, Cara Buckley has more on the probable move of Max Fish to Brooklyn.

Owner Ulli Rimkus gave her this via text message: "We are trying to move to Williamsburg. Nothing certain, except that we have to move." She declined to answer more questions. And this: She "later shooed a reporter out of her bar."

And what do longtime neighbors at Katz's and Russ & Daughters think?

They "met the news with resignation bordering on nonchalance. The rapid gentrification of the neighborhood made the bar's departure feel inevitable, they said.

"Everything else is gone," said David Manheim, 38, a waiter at Katz's. "Why shouldn’t Max Fish be gone too?"

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

[Updated] Max Fish is apparently moving to Brooklyn; eyeing August close date

Well, the EVG inbox is filling up with news that Max Fish will be moving from its Ludlow Street home to... Metropolitan Avenue, according to this online petition, first noted this evening by The Lo-Down.

Per the petition:

‘We’ll Take the Spirit and Everything Else With Us’ -Ulli
The Lower East Side institution and cultural icon Max Fish will be moving. We are seeking a 2pm - 4am liquor license for the following address:

132 Metropolitan Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211

If you've enjoyed time at The Fish please sign and share this petition. And if you live or know anyone that lives within 500 Feet of either 132 Metropolitan Ave or 99 North 1st St in Brooklyn, please contact me directly at: tmq777@gmail.com.

Several people have been sharing the petition on Facebook. No other info is immediately available, such as when Max Fish would close up on Ludlow Street... where it opened in 1989.

In December 2010, reports surfaced that the demand of rising rent costs might lead to Max Fish's closure. However, by January 2011, owner Ulli Rimkus had received a lease extension.

Updated:

The petition is also posted on the Max Fish Facebook page... word we received from the Max Fish camp is that they're eyeing an August closing date on Ludlow Street ...

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

About Max Fish in Asbury Park

The Post has a feature today on the Asbury Park branch of Max Fish... which includes this "tale of the tape" ...



The article quotes Deb O'Nair, one-time keyboardist for the Fuzztones who now spends time in Asbury Park.

"The days I was hanging out in [Manhattan’s] Max Fish, it was all artists and musicians. Now that neighborhood feels like a big NYU dormitory."

Meanwhile, Max Fish owner Uli Rimkus doesn't have much to say on the future of the original bar on Ludlow Street.

"Right now, I'm surviving day by day," she says. But at least she isn't worried that her new neighbors will call in complaints to 311 this summer. Pointing toward the ocean, she says, "They're fish."

Previously on EV Grieve:
The art evolution of Ulli Rimkus and Max Fish

From Tin Pan Alley to Max Fish

Here's the Asbury Park outpost of Max Fish

Last week, Paper reported that Max Fish was opening an outpost on the Asbury Park boardwalk for the summer...

Movin' On Up NYC took a look at new beachier Max Fish upon its grand opening last weekend ...

The bar also has a patio...

Per Movin' on Up: "The spot [owner Uli Rimkus] secured for the bar is on the southern patio of Convention Hall, jutting out onto the beach. The view could not be more picturesque."