Ladybird announces year-end closing on 7th Street

Ladybird, the vegetarian restaurant at 111 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue, will close at the end of the year. 

The announcement came late last week via Instagram, when ownership said they have decided not to renew the lease after nearly a decade in the neighborhood. 

"When we opened Ladybird, we set out to create something playful, welcoming, and a little unexpected," the post reads. "What followed was more than we ever imagined." 

Ladybird opened in 2017 as part of the Overthrow Hospitality family, serving plant-based small plates and cocktails. 

Overthrow said the decision comes as Overthrow shifts its focus to expanding Soda Club (on Sixth and A), beginning with a Denver location this fall. 

Meanwhile, you have five-plus months to enjoy Ladybird.

"We hope you'll continue making memories with us around these tables, just as you've done for the past decade," per the closing post. 

Proletariat is closing for now on 7th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Proletariat, the craft beer bar via Overthrow Hospitality, ends its 14-year East Village tenure on Saturday. 

However, there's a glimmer of hope for Proletariat's fans. Per the closing announcement on Instagram:  

Your three favorite bartenders can't let 14 years of amazing community end, SO we are working to acquire and keep Prol alive & thriving! We're still unsure whether we'll be able to stay here or have to find a new spot, but wanted to at least give everyone the heads up. 

For now, in its current iteration, April 11 is the last day. 

Overthrow Hospitality's Ravi DeRossi told us that they are expanding nationally, starting with Denver and Austin, and are scaling back in NYC.

The bar got its start in the back of Jane's Sweet Buns (blast from the past!) on St. Mark's Place in May 2012 before taking over the whole space. They moved to this larger storefront on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square in June 2022. 

Meanwhile, next door, Overthrow Hospitality's mushroom-centric Third Kingdom closed on March 29.

"Third Kingdom was my favorite restaurant I ever opened, but it never did well enough to justify keeping it," DeRossi said.

You can find updates on the Overthrow Hospitality Instagram account here.

What's next for the Soda Club space on Avenue B

Text by Stacie Joy; reader-submitted photo 

We've recently noticed activity inside (and outside of!) 155 Avenue B near 10th Street, the former home of Soda Club.

A tipster tells us the space will be called Long Count, described as an aged-wine wine bar with slow-food vegan cuisine, and is aiming for an early-January opening. (Long Count is a Mayan term associated with the Mesoamerican calendar system, according to the Internet.)

Overthrow Hospitality, the vegan restaurant and bar group, still holds the lease on the space. We’ve reached out to them for details. 

Soda Club — the Michelin Bib Gourmand-awarded vegan wine and pasta bar — relocated earlier this year to a larger spot at 95 Avenue A at Sixth Street. 

Soda Club debuted on Avenue B in the spring of 2021.

H/T to the EVG reader for the tip!

Overthrow Hospitality set to debut Al-Andalus on 5th Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

Al-Andalus, a Middle Eastern-inspired tapas restaurant from Overthrow Hospitality, is set to open soon at 511 E. Fifth St.

 

Amira Gharib, the opening chef at Soda Club, has crafted a menu of shareable small plates — all priced at $10 or less — drawing on the culinary traditions of North Africa, the Levant, and southern Spain. The restaurant will also feature a wine program and 10 cocktails on draft.

 

The space between Avenue A and Avenue B was previously home to Eterea, Overthrow's vegan Mexican restaurant, which closed in March 2024. Eterea's chef, Victor Hernandez, died after suffering a stroke in December 2023.

Avant Garden reopens in new Avenue A home

Avant Garden is up and running at its new home, 95 Avenue A at Sixth Street.

As reported in March, Avant Garden was leaving its home of eight years around the corner at 130 E. Seventh St.

Ravi DeRossi, the owner of Overthrow Hospitality, told us that Avant Garden is one of the busiest restaurants in his plant-based portfolio and that they've outgrown the 28-seat Seventh Street space with a small electric kitchen.

On the second level of 95 Avenue A, Avant Garden now has double the space for diners and an expanded wine-spirits list. This corner building also houses Overthrow's Amor Y Amargo. The upstairs last hosted the pop-up concept Café de L’Enfer, an absinthe and champagne cocktail bar.

June 24 marked Avant Garden's last day on Second Street. (The address is on the rental market.)

After the relocation, multiple EVG readers noted the Department of Transportation posted a "Termination" notice on Avant Garden's curbside dining space on Seventh Street... dated July 5.

Michelin named Avant Garden one of NYC's five best vegetarian restaurants, including Overthrow's Cadence and Soda Club.

During the first months of the pandemic in 2020, Avant Garden provided free plant-based meals to anyone in need. 

&Beer is a new pop-up concept on 7th Street

Ravi DeRossi's vegetable-centric Overthrow Hospitality has introduced a new concept on Seventh Street... last week saw the debut of &Beer at 21 E. Seventh St. between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

The 14-seat counter space will host a rotation of pop-ups throughout the year — beginning with Mushrooms & Beer, led by Avant Garden chef Juan Pajarito. 

Per Overthrow:

&Beer will, naturally, offer a diverse selection of beers on-tap alongside bottles and cans curated by Proletariat's cicerone Ramon Manrique Hung, plus a selection of natural wines, paired alongside a mushroom-focused menu consisting of 12 offerings, all featuring mushrooms in various forms. The team has worked with local purveyors like Smallhold and Mushroom Queens to devise the focused menu.

The new spot is adjacent to Proletariat, which moved here last summer from St. Mark's Place. 

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday from 5-10 p.m.

Avant Garden is on the move

Avant Garden, considered the crown jewel of the Overthrow Hospitality plant-based portfolio, will be relocating from 130 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue in the months ahead.

"After eight years in business, Avant Garden is still one of our busiest restaurants at Overthrow Hospitality," Ravi DeRossi, the owner of Overthrow Hospitality, told us in an email. "The 28-seat space with its tiny electric kitchen just isn't able to meet the demand anymore so we will be moving into a new and bigger space."

No details just yet where the new Avant Garden will live ... or the exact timing. 

"We do not expect there to be any lapse at all between the closure of the current location and the opening of the new location," he said.

The listing (PDF here) at Meridian Capital Group notes a June 1 possession date. The asking rent is $8,500 a month.

Michelin named Avant Garden one of NYC's five-best vegetarian restaurants, a list that includes Overthrow's Cadence and Soda Club.

During the first months of the pandemic in 2020, Avant Garden provided free plant-based meals to anyone in need. 

The 3rd annual Mask-Querade taking place on 7th Street this Oct. 30

East Village restaurateur Ravi DeRossi's Overthrow Hospitality group is once again hosting a Trick-or-Treat Halloween festival for children ages 12 and under on Seventh Street between Avenue A and First Avenue.

The third-annual event takes place on Oct. 30 from 1-3 p.m.

Details via the EVG inbox...

Come join the East Village for an afternoon of fun-filled trick-or-treating! Now in its third year, Overthrow Hospitality's Maskquerade offers an afternoon of trick-or-treating to over 1,000 neighborhood children — plus treats for adults, bag-decorating stations and more. 

Hosted on Seventh Street, Overthrow Hospitality transforms the open street into a Halloween scene with the help of a 12-foot skeleton, lifesize dragon, cobwebs galore and more. 

Residents interested in helping out on Oct. 30 can sign find a volunteer sign-up here. Donations are also being accepted via a GoFundMe here. Candy donations can be made directly at Amor y Amargo, 95 Avenue A at Sixth Street, during business hours.

Overthrow has five establishments on this block of Seventh Street: Cadence, Ladybird, the Fragile Flour, Rabbit and Avant Garden.