Report: Madam Vo team opening Madam Vo BBQ on 2nd Avenue

[104 2nd Ave. from December 2017]

The owners of Madame Vo at 212 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue plan to open a restaurant specializing in Vietnamese barbecue called Madam Vo BBQ later this year on Second Avenue at Sixth Street.

Eater had the scoop yesterday:

Owners Yen Vo and chef Jimmy Ly grew up in Vietnam eating Vietnamese barbecue, a part of the cuisine that is traditionally reserved for weddings and special celebrations ...

“We wanted to show New York that Vietnamese food is a lot more than what people are used to,” Ly says. “Vietnamese barbecue is a real thing in Vietnam, and a lot of people don’t know about it. We grew up eating it.”

And...

The focus of the menu is on a seven-course beef tasting with dishes such as lime-juice-dressed beef salad (bo tai chanh), beef wrapped in betel leaf (bo la lot), and beef grilled with scallion (bo luoi). Other meats include whole grilled sea bass, stuffed squid, lobster, and scallops. Dipping sauces run from orange butter-garlic to anchovy sauce with pineapple, and accompanying drinks will be beer, wine, sake, fresh juice, and sake-based cocktails.

Madam Vo BBQ will take over 104 Second Ave., which housed Wall 88 for seven months until last fall. Previously, the address was the Lions BeerStore — part retail shop, part restaurant — for 16 months.

P.S.

Bring back Bamboo House to this corner (because someone always brings this up)!


[Photo via Jeremiah Moss]

Wall 88 looks closed on 2nd Avenue

Multiple readers have pointed out that Wall 88 has not been open lately, including this past weekend here on Sixth Street and Second Avenue.

The Wall 88 phone kicks into a full voicemail box. There isn't any mention of a closure on its website and social media properties. (Yelp states Wall 88 is permanently closed.)

However, despite the fact that the gates have been down for a week, the Wall 88 Facebook page is still robo-posting stock photos and sentiments ...




The restaurant serving rather pedestrian pub fare opened back in March. There was a quick turnaround here after Lions BeerStore closed.

Lions BeerStore — part retail shop, part restaurant — opened in November 2015. An EVG reader said that the Lions BeerStore owners are partners in the new venture, though someone else is/was involved in the day-to-day operations.

H/T Ryan John Lee

Lions BeerStore has closed; Wall 88 Restaurant up next

Lions BeerStore has closed on the northeast corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street.

According to the Lions BeerStore Facebook page, the shop is "closing and moving locations."

Here's more via a Facebook message from yesterday:

"This exciting journey (and lease) have come to an end. We, wholeheartedly THANK YOU for your support, patronage and loyalty as we grew into one of the classiest beer bars in the city. It has been a pleasure to serve new and exotic beers to aficionados and neophytes alike. We hope you had a unique experience each time you came, and that your beer palate is even more distinguished than ever. Stay tuned for information about our new spot."

Operated by a father-son team who hail from Greece, Lions BeerStore was part retail shop, part restaurant. They opened in November 2015. (Not sure how their lease was up after 16 months in business.)

Meanwhile, not only did Lions BeerStore announce their closure yesterday ... a new restaurant also marked their arrival in the space ... here's Wall 88 Restaurant...



Vinny & O, who shared there photos, hears that the new restaurant (we don't know yet what they will be serving) will be open as soon as today...



As we understand it, the original owners, who want to spend more time in Greece, are partners in the new venture.