The former Otto's Tacos space is for rent on 2nd Avenue

The for rent sign arrived last week at 141 Second Ave., officially bringing an end to Otto's Tacos here between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street. 

The tasty quick-serve tacqueria closed at the start of the PAUSE in March, and never reopened. (The other OT locations are also out of business.)

Otto Cedeno opened his first restaurant here in November 2013. 

There wasn't any closure announcement on the OT social media properties or website, which is now offline.

Meanwhile, the asking rent for No. 141 is available "upon request." A lot of things have come and gone here through the years, such as Good Guys, a Subway (sandwich shop), part of a Max Brenner outpost and Burritoville (sob).

Caracas Arepa Bar is closing its East Village outpost after 17 years

Sunday is the last day in business for the East Village location of Caracas Arepa Bar on Seventh Street just east of First Avenue.

Co-owner Aristides Barrios made the announcement on Instagram yesterday (and Eater was first to report on it):

Thank you to all who helped build this place, we did it with our own bare hands. Thank you to those who helped us navigate these 17 years... Those part of the team, now became family and those supporting us over the years, also became family...

Caracas Arepa Bar will continue on with their Williamsburg location.

Barrios and co-owner Maribel Arauj started the business of selling the stuffed Venezuelan arepas here on Seventh Street in 2003. The original location at 93 1/2 E. Seventh St. suffered extensive fire damage in September 2016, and the owners were never able to reopen in the space. 

And that storefront remains vacant, along with the former Luke's Lobster next door. This will make three consecutive empty spaces then after service on Sunday.

Previously on EV Grieve:

• After the fire: Getting Caracas Arepa Bar back in business 'may take some time' 

Ducks Eatery will close this weekend after 8-plus years on 12th Street

Ducks Eatery will be shutting down after service on Saturday here on 12th Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

The owners, siblings Julie and Will Horowitz, made the announcement Friday on Instagram:

After a tough few months, we have made the very heavy decision to close our doors for good on Nov. 7. While this is not how we envisioned our time on 12th Street ending, we're choosing to focus on all of the extraordinary experiences that have come out of being part of your community for nearly nine years. 

Thank you for sharing your sense of adventure, your stories and your warmth with us. We are humbled and so grateful.

After opening in August 2012, Ducks Eatery was known for a creative meat-centric menu ... that evolved into more sustainable, non-meat items (including that smoked watermelon a few years back).

The two also previously ran Harry & Ida’s Meat and Supply Co. on Avenue A until last November. 

Harry & Ida's opened in June 2015, and immediately drew raves for their pastrami. The market, which specialized in preserved foods and smoked meats, was named for their great-grandparents Harry and Ida Zinn, Hungarian immigrants who had a store in Harlem. 

Updated 4 p.m.

Eater has more on the closure:

Will Horowitz attributed the closure to the economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic in a phone call with Eater on Monday. Though the restaurant’s longtime landlords ... attempted to negotiate a rent agreement, keeping the business afloat on takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining sales would have been “impossible,” he says.

...Horowitz says the restaurant’s indoor dining room could accommodate no more than 10 people at the state-mandated 25 percent capacity.

“It would have been a death wish going into winter,” he says

Image via Manhattan Sideways

The vacant corners on the west side of 3rd Avenue and 13th Street

The retail spaces on the northwest and southwest corners of Third Avenue at 13th Street are vacant.

As previously reported, Brazen Fox, the two-level sports bar, shut down in September after seven years in business. And the for rent signs arrived last week. (No word on the asking rent for this "high foot traffic area.")

From 2009-2012, the space had been the restaurants Hea ... and Friend House.

More recently, Bluemercury, the luxury beauty retailer, vacated the southwest corner. 

Gothic Cabinet Craft shop closed in January 2016 after 47 years in business on this corner. A listing showed that the asking rent here at the time was nearly $30,000 a month. 

90 E. 10th St. is for rent, bringing an official end to the stand-up steakhouse phase

A for rent sign now hangs — as of this past week — in the front window at 90 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue... this marks the official end of Ikinari Steak, which debuted here to great curiosity (and hype!) in February 2017.

As previously noted, this was the first U.S. location (there are more than 100 worldwide) for the popular Tokyo-based restaurant. The concept: Diners, particularly in-a-rush office workers, stand and basically eat quickly.

However, the craze didn't quite catch on here. By early 2019, the fast-expanding company — Pepper Food Service Co. — continued to struggle to find an audience and shut down seven of the 11 Ikinari Steak outlets in NYC and converted two of them to another type of restaurant. 

The original 10th Street location remained open... until the PAUSE went into effect back in March. By the summer, financial difficulties — due mainly to rent payments — caused the chain to face closing all its NYC locations.

In 2018, the company became the first Japanese restaurant chain to go public on the Nasdaq stock market. It was delisted from Nasdaq last year.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• 1st sign of Ikinari Steak, the quick-serve, no-seat steakhouse coming to 10th Street 

• On 10th Street, Prime & Beyond has closed; popular Japanese steakhouse coming

The restaurant portion of Sage Kitchen has closed

The Sage Kitchen restaurant space has been dark since late in the summer... and now a for rent sign hangs in the window here at 356 Bowery between Fourth Street and Great Jones. 

While the restaurant is closed, Sage is still operating its commissary business from a different location for catering and delivery. The owners discussed the situation in an Instagram post from this past Thursday:

It breaks our heart to tell you that our restaurant on Bowery is closed and will not be reopening. The restaurant was the dream of four friends for a long time and when it came to life last spring so many of you became a part of it.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 and the incompetence of our politicians has made operating a restaurant in New York City completely impossible so we’re going start searching for a new location for our restaurant for when the time is right to reopen. 

With that said, we are very fortunate to have our incredible team working hard in our commissary kitchen and Sage Kitchen will continue to be available for delivery and catering — just like we have done since our inception.

The 6-year-old catering company opened the restaurant space in April 2019.

Report: Astor Place Hairstylists will close next month after 73 years in business

Astor Place Hairstylists is the latest NYC institution to fall victim to the economic hardships brought on by COVID-19.

The subterranean shop, founded in 1947, will close before Thanksgiving, according to manager Michael "Big Mike" Saviello, who told the Post their that business is down by 90 percent.

They reopened in June, but the customers didn't return. 

Said Saviello: "Maybe we’ll come back when the city comes back, but right now it's not feasible." 

In 2018, Nicolas Heller, a filmmaker (aka New York Nico),  released "Big Mike Takes Lunch,” a documentary that captures a day in the life of the longtime manager. (Read my interview with Heller here. The link also includes an embed of the 12-minute film.)

Heller addressed the pending closure on his Instagram account ... urging his 466,000 followers to pay a visit...

Maybe I was being naive, but I never saw such an iconic NYC institution ever closing. I figured it was too loved by the community to ever shut down. But because of the pandemic, there are no customers and they can’t afford the astronomical rent. 

I’ve been told they definitely plan on closing for good UNLESS there is a “miracle.” I’m not sure what that means, but for your sake, I couldn’t encourage you more to stop by and get your haircut, and find your new barber. @astorplacehairstylists is so much more than just a barbershop, it’s a museum, it’s the epitome of NYC...

 And Astor Place Hairstylists addressed the outpouring of support in this Instagram post...

View this post on Instagram

So many have been asking to donate🙏🤗but even that can’t sustain a nyc business. Thank you from the bottom of our hair cutting hearts for your support. The memories people are sharing...wow! Check our stories. For better or worse, Astor Hair is a one-of-a-kind place because of the people. The owners, the staff, the clients, the visitors. It’s a really hard blow, but Astor Place Hairstylists will never die completely. Maybe one day we will be back in a different form...reincarnated somehow. 🤞❤️🙏💈 #astorhair #nyc #barbershop #iconic #eastvillage #greenwichvillage #barberlife #hairstyles #fcovid19 #nychistory

A post shared by Astor Place Hairstylists (@astorplacehairstylists) on Oct 25, 2020 at 5:21am PDT

Photo from 2011 by Karen Gehres, who directed the film "Astor Barber All Stars."

Last weekend for Black & White on 10th Street

Black & White wraps up its 20 years at 86 E. 10th St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue tomorrow (Sunday). 

As previously reported, management (Johnny T of Niagara and Bowery Electric is an owner) says they will eventually relocate. Per an Instagram post from September: 

Hey everyone, we’re moving locations... so come get your last drinks here while you can and we’ll see you in our new location in 2021! 

The bar is open today and tomorrow from 4-11 p.m. 

Lois will close on Sunday with hopes of reopening in the spring

Lois, the low-key wine bar at 98 Avenue C between Sixth Street and Seventh Street, will close on Sunday... with plans to return in the spring of 2021. 

Owners Nora O'Malley and Phoebe Connell discussed the decision in an Instagram post:

We've had a blast the last few months, hanging with you on our "patio." If you've dined with us this summer, you know that we've changed a few things while still trying to keep the Lois vibe alive, and, most important, all of our Lois family safe and happy.

After careful consideration, we've decided that indoor dining as it stands today does not meet our standards of safety, so we will be closing for the winter to regroup. Hopefully that will put us in a position to come back in the spring for outdoor dining.

Let's be honest, things are changing every day and no one knows how they're going to change next. We understand that @mayordiblasio and @nygovcuomo believe that year round outdoor dining + 25% indoor can save this industry, but the reality is much more complex.

We are truly a small business, and we currently do not have the financial resources to upgrade our ventilation system or build private igloos. We support every incredible operator in this city, however they choose to run their businesses — this is simply our reality.

 We deeply hope that we’re able to return again in the spring, and dreaming of drinking with you again is what will get us through the winter, but the reality is that we just aren’t sure. That’s as transparent as we can be with all of you who have made the past 5.5 years a dream come true. Please come out and help us say so long, not farewell.

Lois opened in March 2015... Grub Street named it one of the neighborhood's best bars in 2016. 

Image via the Lois Facebook page. H/T Vinny & O!

City Gourmet Cafe has not been open lately

An addition to yesterday's post-PAUSE status check.

Word from 14th Street regulars is that City Gourmet Cafe has closed here at 238 E. 14th St. between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

There hasn't been any official notice about a closure, though the phone is out of service. 

City Gourmet Cafe opened back 1989, and had been a reliable spot for all-day breakfast, smoothies, sandwiches and Middle Eastern staple like lamb shawarma. 

(H/T Pinch!)

Best Price Deli & Grocery closes on Sunday, and they can use some help emptying the store

As reported last week, Best Price Deli & Grocery is closing here on the southeast corner of First Avenue at 12th Street. Sunday is their last day after 15 years in business.

An EVG reader and Best Price regular shared this about the situation at the shop:

They’re an awesome grocery with great owners and staff and will be very missed!

Everything is currently buy one, get one free, which you can’t beat. The — very unreasonable on all fronts of the situation — landlord has told them they want the place completely empty when they move out, which means they not only need to get rid of the inventory but also the shelves and fixtures, 

So here's a shoutout to help them clear their stock and maybe find a new home for their shelving, counters, refrigerators, etc. They will need to trash anything that is left over, which is not only wasteful but also costly for them when they’re already getting the short end of a shitty stick.

Glaze Teriyaki Grill closes on 4th Avenue

Glaze Teriyaki Grill is out of business on Fourth Avenue ... the latest quick-serve casualty here between 13th Street and 14th Street... joining Melt Shop (RIP February) and Liquiteria (RIP late 2019) ...

... and possibly Dig, which looks mighty closed on the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and 13th Street...
Glaze opened here in August 2012. It is survived by two other locations in NYC as well as outposts in Chicago and San Francisco.

Best Price Deli & Grocery is closing on 1st Avenue

The Best Price Deli & Grocery has started its store-closing sale here on the southeast corner of First Avenue at 12th Street... preparing to shut down at month's end...

We hear that the rent is $22,000, and business has been down in recent months.

Thanks to Lola Sáenz for the top photo ... and Vici Shaweddy for the night shot.

Zoku Sushi apparently gives up the ghost on St. Mark's Place

A for rent sign recently arrived outside 42 1/2 St. Mark's Place, which marks the end here of Zoku Sushi, a delivery-only service.

Just last fall Zoku was getting press for being among the trendsetters of so-called ghost kitchens, a way for restaurateurs to combat increasing rents and employee wages as well as fees charged by food-delivery apps.

Per the Post:

Charlie Yi, founder and CEO of Zoku Sushi in the East Village, has tapped a team of Nobu-trained chefs to prepare top-quality sushi — and thrown them into a 500-square-foot kitchen that’s behind an unmarked door at 42 St. Mark’s Pl.

No, you can’t sit down and eat there, and no, you can’t even pick up your order there. Instead, a team of delivery guys employed by Zoku are circulating in and out to bring sackfuls of sashimi, nagiri and miso to your door.

“Since we don’t have a restaurant or service staff, we can deliver that value to our customer and spend money on top chefs,” Yi says.

There isn't any word of a closure on the Zoku website or social media properties, which haven't been updated since march 17.

This space between First Avenue and Second Avenue was previously 10Below Ice Cream.

Thanks to Steven for the photo!

Saigon Market has closed on University Place

EVG reader Doug shares the sad news that Saigon Market has permanently closed on University Place between 12th Street and 13th Street... they closed after service on Oct. 4 ... 

The owners left this message on the restaurant's website:

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is affecting our way of life and businesses. Saigon Market has tried our best to survive through this but unfortunately with deepest pain and regret, we want to inform you that our doors will close permanently as of Sunday, Oct. 4.

Saigon Market would like to THANK our local communities, loyal patrons, and friends for all of the support during the past 10 years!

They will continue on with their Saigon Grill & Bar in Brooklyn. 

Owner's retirement will bring a close to EV children's treasure Dinosaur Hill next month

Text and photos by Linda Dyett

The jam-packed children's toy, game and book shop Dinosaur Hill, a neighborhood institution since 1983, will be closing at the end of November. Pamela Pier, the shop's tireless owner, has decided to retire.

This little-shop-that-could — many of its items under $5 — set the pace for the many of the visionary, iconoclastic stores that have opened on the East Village's side streets in the decades that followed. 

A final storewide sale is already under way — 25 percent off through the end of October, 40 percent off in November. 

Veselka, Dinosaur Hill's equally well-known next-door neighbor, will be taking over its lease, and expanding into the space here at 306 E. Ninth St. just east of Second Avenue.

Pier, who trained as an artist and early-childhood educator, had a specific goal with all the old-fashioned wooden wheel-y vehicles, dexterity-improving games, science kits, pick-up sticks, xylophones, art supplies, soap bubbles, erector sets, hobby horses, books, stuffed orangutans, puppets, marionettes, a multiethnic range of dolls, and, as an afterthought, wearables, in her inventory. 

She wanted "to keep kids out of cyber space and engaged in 3D activities." Some items are produced by local artists and artisans. Other goods come from small-scale companies around the United States. The hand-carved cherry wood teething rings and rattles? They're from a supplier in Texas while the bass wood alphabet blocks, available in a variety of languages, are handcrafted in Grand Rapids, Mich. And still others come from around the world: marionettes from the Czech Republic … clothing items from India and a women's craft co-op in Ghana.

When Pier finally decided it was time to retire, she contacted Veselka to see if there might be interest in its expanding into the space that Dinosaur Hill occupies. The answer was yes! (This is not the first such negotiation Pier has had with Veselka. Some years back, she moved from another storefront in the same building to accommodate an earlier expansion the restaurant made.)

Meanwhile, her employee Karen McDermott and McDermott's husband, Jason McGroarty, plan to maintain Dinosaur Hill's legacy by opening their own East Village children's shop — with Pier on board as consultant. If the right storefront opens up, they’re interested.

But there's no doubt Pamela Pier and her truly unique Dinosaur Hill will be sorely missed.

--------

Linda Dyett is an East Village-based freelance writer and editor who’s been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Monocle, New York magazine and — back when glossy magazines were still magazines — Allure, Glamour, etc.

LT Baron's Dry Cleaners & Laundry shuts down on 11th Street

LT Baron's, a small dry cleaners and laundry at 520 E. 11th St., has gone out of business here between Avenue A and Avenue B. (Thanks for Gojira for the tip.)

Several families have owned the business through the years, with a nice couple taking over early this year.

Several neighborhood dry cleaners have had to permanently close during the pandemic, including Sun's Laundry and C & C. The customer base has seen a sharp decline with more people working from home and fewer people attending dress-up events such as weddings.

AuH20 Thriftique closes up shop on 7th Street

After 14 years selling stylish women's vintage clothes and accessories, AuH20 Thriftique has closed its shop at 84 E. Seventh St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

AuH20 closed on Oct. 1 — the shop's 14th anniversary.

Kate Goldwater, who opened the storefront after graduating from college at age 22, made the announcement on Instagram. She will continue the business via online sales. 

On Sept. 17,  she shared her story in a post on Medium titled "The President Ruined a Business I Spent 14 Years Building."

As she wrote: "I joke with my husband that it's just a secondhand store. I wasn't saving lives, but I think I really did have something special in the East Village. I really do feel like I'm letting everyone down by closing it, but I also don't think that I have another option."

Image via Instagram

Fresco closing this week with hopes of reopening early next year

 

Siblings Ilias, Vanessa and Anna Iliopoulos have decided to temporarily close Fresco, their 8-year-old gelateria-cafe at 138 Second Ave. and return to their native Greece. 

They plan to reopen Fresco early next year here between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street, and possibly pivot to a full-service cafe model. 

"It's not a landlord issue. It's purely about the decrease in revenue due to COVID-19," Ilia told EVG correspondent Steven about the temporary closing.

He says that they plan to stay open until the end of the weekend depending on when they run out of supplies.

Photo of Ilias and Vanessa by Steven.

New York Sports Clubs permanently shutters Avenue A location 2 days after reopening

That was fast. After a grand reopening on Monday, the New York Sports Clubs at 28 Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street has permanently closed.

Multiple readers shared an email from NYSC about the closure.

On behalf of NYSC, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close the Avenue A location on September 30th. 

This decision was a difficult one, but all isn’t lost. Effective immediately, your membership has been upgraded to our Elite Membership level at your current rate which gives you access to our entire network of clubs. By having an Elite Membership, you’ll be able to work out in all of our over 160 locations — from DC and Maryland to New York, Boston, Florida, California and yes, even Puerto Rico.

Meanwhile, the sign on the door points to a temporary closure...

Town Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 14 due to coronavirus-related closures. They had reportedly worked out a deal with a group of lenders and a private-equity firm to serve as the lead bidder for the assets. 

On Wednesday, AG Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Town Sports for allegedly illegally charged customers their membership fees during the COVID-19 closure and then failed to issue reimbursements.

This NYSC outpost opened in March 2015 in the newly gut-renovated building... what tenant might want to take arguably the neighborhood's ugliest building?

Previously on EV Grieve:
• New York Sports Club in the works for Avenue A

• New York Sports Club says hello on Avenue A

• Familiar Burger-Klein sign has disappeared from Avenue A

• Here is the New York Sports Club building on Avenue A