A final visit to the Tuck Shop, closing today after 13 years on 1st Street

Today is the last day in business for the Tuck Shop, which has been selling Australian meat and vegetable pies these past 13 years on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Owner Niall Grant told me this about the closure in an email last week: "All the usual reasons can be cited but rising costs in general are behind this difficult decision. After 13 years in business I am tired of the struggle to keep a small business afloat in NYC."

Yesterday, EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by the shop where the mood was fairly upbeat, all things considered...



Here's part of the Tuck Shop team (from the left): Andras Castro, Lee Galdos, Pedro Arrioca, Juan Lorenzo and Grant...



Grant said that he is especially concerned about finding jobs for his longtime kitchen team. (He was helping with résumés while Stacie was there.) Arrioca, the head chef, has been at Tuck Shop from Day 1 while Lorenzo, the sous chef, has been there for nine years, and Castro, the prep cook, for seven years. (If anybody out there has a kitchen opportunity for any of them please email tuckshopfirststreet@gmail.com.)




[Tuck Shop employee Elvis Barlow-Smith]





Here's a longtime customer who stopped in for a last Tuck Shop meal...



Grant said that he'd love to have people could come by today to have a meal and say goodbye...



Previously on EV Grieve:
Tuck Shop is closing after 13 years on 1st Street

Tuck Shop is closing after 13 years on 1st Street

[Photo of Niall Grant from 2016 by James Maher]

Niall Grant, the owner of Tuck Shop on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue, told me last evening that he is closing the business here at the end of service next Tuesday, Sept. 25 after 13 years selling Australian meat and vegetable pies on the block.

The other two Tuck Shop locations, in Chelsea Market and Urbanspace, will shut down by the end of the month.

Here's part of an email that Grant shared:

All the usual reasons can be cited but rising costs in general are behind this difficult decision. After 13 years in business I am tired of the struggle to keep a small business afloat in NYC.

My chief concern is finding jobs for my excellent kitchen team who have been with me for many many years including our head chef Pedro who has been with Tuck Shop since the very start, sous chef Juan (9 years) and prep cook Andras (7 years). They're a wonderful team so if anybody out there has a job for any of them please email tuckshopfirststreet@gmail.com.

I'd also like to thank all the folks who have worked for Tuck Shop over the years. I've made some lifelong friends and had lots of laughs with the staff. I wish you all well in your endeavors.

Finally I'd like to thank all the customers and regulars who supported Tuck Shop since 2005. I really appreciate what you've all done for me and my staff. You've allowed us to prosper, fed our families and paid our rents. We really appreciate it. Please come by the stores and say goodbye as we will miss you all greatly.

Thanks again,
Niall and the whole Tuck Shop family!

Here's part of our Out and About feature with Grant from February 2016:

I love this street. After 11 years here, I know everybody’s face. There are still a lot of the same old faces. All these guys hang out in front of the place. Some have been here for maybe 30 years. You see people grow up. It’s great to be part of a community like that. It’s nice seeing the whole family grow up upstairs.

The Tuck Shop is alive and well on East 1st Street

[Image via the Tuck Shop website]

As noted this week, the Australian-based pie and coffee chain closed six out of its seven NYC locations, including the outlet on Fourth Avenue and East 13th Street.

In the comments, several readers noted how much they like the original meat-pie purveyor here — The Tuck Shop at 68 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Seems like a good time to check in with owner Niall Grant.

We are alive and well and, in fact, had our best month ever in September. October is looking even better so we will be here for a long while to come with the support the community. We've been open for nine years already and will be signing a new lease shortly.

I have been a East Village resident since emigrating from Ireland in 1992 and opened the Tuck Shop in part because I felt there were enough Irish bars in NYC already.

Tuck Shop did close the St. Mark's Place location last July. There is a second Tuck Shop location in the Chelsea Market.

Box Kite Coffee opening at former Tuck Shop space on St. Mark's Place?

The Tuck Shop closed its location on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A on July 7. According to the sign on the door, the shop closed for a variety of reasons, including "Gentrification ... Rent is too damn high!, Laziness/ennui, Albany/Bloomberg and Gluten-free people."

Word here is that the storefront will become home to Box Kite Coffee, a shop operated by barista Cora Lambert.

Paperwork filed ahead of last night's CB3/SLA committee meeting shows a change in ownership at 115 St. Mark's Place.



A recent issue of Imbibe magazine had an item about Box Kite Coffee opening in NYC...



We haven't heard official confirmation of this... and there's no other word on a possible opening date.

Tuck Shop closes St. Mark's Place location

The Tuck Shop closed its location for good on St. Mark's Place near Avenue A last night. The locations on East First Street and in the Chelsea Market remain open.

According to the sign on the door, "we decided to close this location for myriad reasons" ... which include:

Surf's Up!
Real-Estate Taxes (my personal fav)
Gentrification
The booze
Sandy (of course)
Rent is too damn high!
Laziness/ennui
Albany/Bloomberg
Gluten-free people

The Australian restaurant opened this location in the summer of 2009.

From April...


[Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.]

The enthusiasm for gluten-free bakeries in the neighborhood may be waning somewhat

Spotted at the Tuck Shop yesterday on St. Mark's Place. Headline and photo by Andrew Adam Newman on Ave C.

DOH temporarily closes Tuck Shop on East First Street

A Tuck Shop regular regretfully informs us that the DOH has temporarily closed the East First Street location after a visit yesterday yielded 46 violation points, including for "evidence" of various live things ... You can hit the locations on St. Mark's Place and the Chelsea Market in the meantime...

Meat pies and sausage rolls coming to St. Mark's Place

NYC Food Guy reports that Tuck Shop is opening a second EV outpost at 115 St. Mark's Place. He reports:

"Late night eaters are in for a treat, the new location, like Tuck Shop’s original location at 68 East 1st Street b/t 1st and 2nd Avenues, will be open until 5AM Friday and Saturday (an hour later than Crif Dogs) and 2AM Sunday through Thursday."

[Image via NYC Food Guy]