The Wild Son will not be reopening

Photo by Steven

The Wild Son has been closed for the past few months at 130 First Ave. just south of St. Mark's Place ... and more recently, the sign outside the lunch counter had been removed. 

We were unsure if this might be a revamp or a rebrand. However, ownership has confirmed that this is a permanent closure.

Robert Ceraso, owner and creative director of the Endless Hospitality Group, said they made the decision to focus on the company's four EV establishments — Bar Lulu, Good Night Sonny, the Wayland, and the latest, Madeline's Martini (not to mention the newish High Hope Tavern in Westerly, R.I.).

"It was occurring to us that that little location was just taking way too much of our bandwidth," he said.

The Wild Son relocated to the East Village from Little West 12th Street in May 2020. They moved to a smaller space next door in November 2021, offering a daytime service and turning the corner space into Bar Lulu.

"The unfortunate truth is it's just really hard to run a small food-focused business in New York City right now. Especially if your product is supposed to be approachable and cost-conscious," Ceraso said. "Cost of goods are still through the roof. It's not impossible, but it's definitely not easy. 

"It was a tough decision because we really loved that little lunch counter and thought we made that space really nice."

Openings: Bar Lula on 1st Avenue

Bar Lula debuts this evening at 132 First Ave. on the SE corner of St. Mark's Place (the former Wild Son, which moved next door to a new lunch counter space last week). 

As previously noted, the new venture from the Endless Hospitality team (The Wayland, Goodnight Sonny, the Wild Son, Pop's Eat Rite) takes "inspiration from French and Mexican culinary traditions." 

Per a Bar Lulu rep:

This is a passion project from executive chef Luigi Petrocelli, chef Ricardo Arias and partner and beverage director Julio Xoxocotla. 

Chefs Petrocelli and Arias wanted to combine their knowledge of French technique with their love of Mexican ingredients to create something new and vibrant. Most of the menu's dishes are smaller and meant for sharing...

You can find the menu here. And you can check up the new-look interior Monday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. 

The new outpost of the Wild Son opens today

ICYMI: The Wild Son opens today in its new home at 130 First Ave. — directly next door from its previous spot on the SE corner of St. Mark's Place. (After our last post, the opening date moved from Nov. 5 to today.)

The new Wild Son outpost will be in service Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for breakfast and lunch via its 10-seat lunch counter and outdoor space. Find the menu here.

The old location at 132 First Ave. is now closed. It will reopen soon as a cocktail bar/restaurant called Bar Lula, which "will take inspiration from modern French bistros and the bold flavors, colors, and culinary traditions of Mexico," per a restaurant rep. 

From from Sunday by Steven 

New outpost of the Wild Son opens Tuesday on 1st Avenue

Photo by Steven from September

Updated 5 p.m. The post has been updated to reflect a new opening date — Tuesday, Nov. 9. The Wild Son outpost at 132 First Ave. will be closed starting tomorrow for a minor refresh.

Starting Tuesday (Nov. 9), the Wild Son will be open in its new outpost at 130 First Ave. — directly next door from its current spot on the SE corner of St. Mark's Place.

As previously reported, the restaurant is opening a lunch counter at No. 130 with a daytime breakfast and lunch service.

In late September, Robert Ceraso, the cafe's co-owner, told us they were extending the daytime service currently only offered on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to all weekdays.

The new Wild Son space will also feature an updated menu (find it here), which features some "greatest hits," like the Good Morning Sunshine and the Grandma Anna egg sandwiches, plus a few other sandwiches, salads ... along with coffee, teas and juices.

The lunch counter seats 10 patrons, with additional room outside. Hours: Tuesday-Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

And what will become of the corner space where the Wild Son is now?

According to a rep for Endless Hospitality, who also operate EV spots the Wayland, Goodnight Sonny and Pop’s Eat Rite, 132 First Ave. will close for a few weeks and reopen as a cocktail bar/restaurant called Bar Lula, which "will take inspiration from modern French bistros and the bold flavors, colors, and culinary traditions of Mexico."

The Wild Son relocated to the East Village from Little West 12th Street in May 2020. 

The Wild Son plans for daytime expansion with a lunch counter next door on 1st Avenue

The Wild Son is taking over its neighboring space at 130 First Ave. here by St. Mark's Place. 

 

Robert Ceraso, the cafe's co-owner and creative director, provided details. 

"We're going to be doing a Wild Son lunch counter in that space — extending the daytime service that we currently only offer on Friday, Saturday and Sunday to all weekdays," he said in an email. "It's going to be breakfast and lunch service only." 

When the new space opens (projected for mid-October now), patrons can expect to find favorites from the current Wild Son menu as well as some throwbacks to when he ran the sandwich shop Animals adjacent to The Wayland on Avenue C. 

"Animals was actually the precursor to The Wild Son concept that we eventually opened on the west side and then moved here," said Ceraso, whose other East Village establishments include The Wayland and Good Night Sonny. "So it feels good. It feels like it's coming full circle." 

Hours for The Wild Son annex are expected to be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

Despite opening during the pandemic (May 2020), The Wild Son, which relocated to the East Village from Little West 12th Street, has become a popular destination.

No. 130 was previously the pop-up restaurant called Nudibranch and Nightmarket.

Thanks to Steven for the photo and EVG reader Alyssa for the initial tip.

The Wild Son is now open on 1st Avenue and St. Mark's Place

The Wild Son made its EV debut yesterday at 132 First Ave. at St. Mark's Place.

As previously reported, this was to be a second outpost of the cafe, which opened in 2016 on Little West 12th Street.

However, Robert Ceraso and Jason Mendenhall (The Wayland, Good Night Sonny, The Lost Lady) decided not to reopen the original location.

Here's a little more from the restaurant's reps:

The Wild Son’s kitchen is newly headed by Luigi Petrocelli, who previously cooked under Marco Canora at Hearth for eight-plus years, including overseeing its recent transition to a healthier focus. With its casual anytime fare, The Wild Son’s opening all-day menu features sandwiches, salads, bowls and shareable plates.

When the restaurant is able to expand their hours and launch a separate dinner service in the future, the nighttime menu will apply the same philosophy of creative seasonal cooking drawing on influences from around the world to more substantial dishes.

And the current menu...



I asked Ceraso why they decided to debut now, as the city remains on PAUSE and the restaurants that are open are relegated to takeout and delivery service.

"We were planning to open the week of the shut down. So the space has been done for a long time," Ceraso told me. "Assuming we won’t be allowed to have customers inside in even a limited capacity until at least the middle of July, we needed to do something. Like everyone else, we need to operate with a limited staff at the moment. This seemed like the best way to bring the food back that customers from the west side had been waiting for, as well as introduce the restaurant to the neighborhood."

The Wild Son is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. for pick-up and delivery (no alcohol right now). Find more details and place orders via the Wild Son website.

The corner space was most recently the Rolling Stones-themed Waiting on a Friend, which took over from Colibri and VBar before that. (And yes — St. Mark's Bar & Grill one day long ago.)

The Wild Son is on the gate

[Photo by Steven]

A quickie update to a post from earlier last week about the Wild Son... the coming soon/winter 2020 signage is now on the gate here on the southeast corner of St. Mark's Place and First Avenue.

As we first reported back on March 18, Robert Ceraso and Jason Mendenhall (The Wayland, Good Night Sonny) are opening an outpost of their Chelsea cafe the Wild Son here at 132 First Ave. And now you have the tentative opening date/season.

The Wild Son shapes up on 1st Avenue and St. Mark's Place

You may have noticed the fresh coat of paint and storefront renovations happening over at the southeast corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's Place ...



As we reported back on March 18, Robert Ceraso and Jason Mendenhall are opening an outpost of their Chelsea cafe the Wild Son here at 132 First Ave.

The EV Wild Son will be open all day for breakfast and lunch, with dinner-drinks in the evening.

No word on an opening date.

Ceraso and Mendenhall's other local establishments include the Wayland (Avenue C), Good Night Sonny (across St. Mark's Place) and the Lost Lady (Avenue C). They also have designs on the former Mr. White's space on St. Mark's Place.

At No. 132, the Rolling Stones-themed Waiting on a Friend briefly took a turn here last fall after taking over the space from Colibri and VBar, whose original 10-year lease had expired.

Previously on Ev Grieve:
Team behind the Wayland and the Wild Son eye St. Mark's Place for 2 restaurants

Plans for an East Village outpost of the Wild Son moving forward; steakhouse no go for St. Mark's Place

[Photo of 132 1st Ave. yesterday by Steven]

As we reported back on March 19, Robert Ceraso and Jason Mendenhall are planning to open an outpost of their Chelsea cafe the Wild Son at 132 First Ave. at St. Mark's Place.

CB3's SLA committee gave their approval for a new liquor license on March 19.

The current tenant in this corner space, the Rolling Stones-themed Waiting on a Friend, which opened back in the fall (taking over the space from Colibri and VBar before that), is expected to close after Thursday.

The EV Wild Son will be open all day for breakfast and lunch, with dinner-drinks in the evening.

Meanwhile, Ceraso and Mendenhall, whose East Village credits include the Wayland on Avenue C and Good Night Sonny on First Avenue at St Mark's Place, had planned for a steakhouse at the former Mr. White space at 123 St. Mark's Place.

However, as Eater reported yesterday, CB3's SLA committee nixed a full-liquor request for that spot between Avenue A and First Avenue.

So, per Eater:

They felt the steakhouse concept would only work with a full liquor license and are now pivoting to something that could work with just wine and beer, Ceraso says. That idea is still in development and moving forward with the location is not a definite yet according to Ceraso. He also says plans for a steakhouse are on hold since it would require finding a new space.

So for now No. 123 will remain empty...


[The former Mr. White on St. Mark's Place]

Previously on Ev Grieve:
Team behind the Wayland and the Wild Son eye St. Mark's Place for 2 restaurants

Team behind the Wayland and the Wild Son eye St. Mark's Place for 2 restaurants

[The former Mr. White on St. Mark's Place]

Robert Ceraso and Jason Mendenhall have plans to open two restaurants on St. Mark's Place.

This duo behind the Wayland (Avenue C), Good Night Sonny (First Avenue and St. Mark's Place), the Lost Lady (Avenue C) and the Wild Son (West Little 12th Street) are on tonight's CB3-SLA agenda for two spaces between Avenue A and First Avenue.

Ceraso provided a quick recap of what they have lined up...

123 St. Mark's Place, the former Mr. White

"We are planning an American grill with our partner Chad Shaner as the executive chef. Chad is an alum of Gotham Bar and Grill and Union Square Cafe and most recently with his own restaurant, Freeks Mill in Brooklyn," Ceraso said. "The grill will focus more on naturally raised meats and steaks."


[Photo by Steven]

The unnamed-for-now restaurant has proposed hours of 5 p.m. to 1 a.m., according to the questionnaire on file at the CB3 website. The space will accommodate 20 tables for up to 50 diners as well as an eight-seat bar.

Mr. White, the upscale, New Orleans-themed restaurant, closed in January after less than a year in business.

-----


[132 1st Ave.]

132 First Ave., former VBar, current Waiting on a Friend

On the southeast corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's Place, Ceraso is planning on a second location of his all-day restaurant, the Wild Son, which opened on the West Side near the High Line in June 2016.

Ceraso said the Wild Son "focuses on vegetable-driven small plates, salads, sandwiches and homemade pastas at night and breakfast/brunch foods all day seven days a week in the mornings and afternoons."

As such, the proposed hours are 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. daily, per the questionnaire on the CB3 website.

Here's a look at the evening menu...


[Click for more detail]

The owner of the building, who was born and raised on St. Mark's Place, "was adamant that she didn’t want a nightlife concept there, so the Wild Son was a perfect fit," he said. (In addition, a partner in this project is also the GM across the street at Good Night Sonny who lives on the block "and is always available to oversee the goings on.")

The Rolling Stones-themed Waiting on a Friend opened back in the fall, taking over the space from Colibri and VBar before that. The Vbar's original 10-year lease is expiring.

Back to Ceraso and his plans: "We think that the two concepts really balance each other out and we’re excited to be able to bring both to the block."

The CB3-SLA meeting is tonight at 6:30. The location: the Public Hotel, 17th Floor, Sophia Room, 215 Chrystie St. between Houston and Stanton.