Concern about the future of the 188 Allen Street Gallery

Cheese Grille has apparently served its last grilled cheese sandwich as a quick-serve restaurant from 188 Allen St. between Houston and Stanton. 

The long-and-narrow space — in business for nearly 10 years — has been closed of late... and a for-rent sign hangs in the front window...

Google lists them as permanently closed. [Updated: Ownership says they are open for catering and private events.]

Meanwhile, a group of artists and some art fans are hoping the sidewalk dining structure can continue on as 188 Allen Street Gallery, an art space that has showcased a variety of artists since last summer (see here and here)...

The Department of Transportation has already issued a "Termination" notice for the structure.

NYC street artist SacSix, who has curated shows here as well as created murals on the storefront, appealed to the DOT in a recent Instagram post, inviting city officials here "to see how small business entrepreneurs can create incredible communities in unique spaces." 

Said an EVG reader in an email: "This gallery has been a godsend for our community bringing creative artists together to showcase their talent. For many new artists, this is an opportunity to showcase their works ..." 

Waga is closing on St. Mark's Place

Photo by Steven

Closing sale signs are now up at Waga, 22 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

The shop sells handmade goods — from jewelry to bags and leather belts — primarily from West Africa. 

Waga seems like it has been here longer than its 2001 debut... and is one of those unique places that gave this block a little charm. 

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."

Beloved Cafe has closed on the Lower East Side

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy

After nearly 20 months in business, Beloved Cafe has shut down at 196 Allen St. between Houston and Stanton.

The health-focused cafe has been dark in recent weeks. A rep at the San Francisco outpost confirmed the closure, stating, "Everything is so expensive there." The rep said, "At the beginning, it was so crowded, but then not busy enough."

Beloved Cafe opened in September 2021, offering organic juices, teas, smoothies, salads and plant-based bowls — not to mention fresh-baked sourdough doughnuts.

Owners Amy Vito and her husband, Kambiz Fahim, opened the original Beloved Cafe in San Francisco's Mission District in 2017.

Gorin Ramen has closed on 14th Street

Gorin Ramen has shut down after three-plus years at 351 E. 14th St. just west of First Avenue.

However, Gorin fans can still travel to their Gotham West outpost on 11th Avenue for the Kitakata ramen.

There isn't any mention of this closure on Gorin's social media or website. Google lists them as "permanently closed" and someone removed the signage and menus from the restaurant's exterior fence.

The ramen shop opened here in January 2020 and only had three months of uninterrupted service before the start of the pandemic in March 2020.  

Basics Plus has closed on 3rd Avenue

Basics Plus has officially closed at 91 Third Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street ...  

Earlier in April, employees at the chainlet of houseware and hardware stores confirmed they were going out of business by the end of the month, though they didn't provide a reason why.

Basics Plus opened here in August 2014. BP was set to shut down in March 2019 but downsized its space instead, giving up the corner storefront (now occupied by Cure Thrift Shop).

Several other NYC locations remain in service.

The previous tenant at the address, the like-minded (but better, TBH) Surprise! Surprise! closed after 25 years in April 2014.

RIP to the MRI place on Avenue A

A for-lease sign now hangs on the storefront at 191 Avenue A near 12th Street, marking the end of the downtown location of Stand-Up MRI of Manhattan.

The office provided an Open Upright MRI scanner — an alternative for patients who are claustrophobic, cannot lie down due to pain or whose size prevents them from being evaluated in a traditional MRI scanner (according to the website).

Stand-Up MRI had been here for roughly 12-15 years (we can't remember exactly!). The arrival did prompt some "there goes the neighborhood" groans. As we've seen in the past, the artists and "hipsters" show up first, then come the cafes-galleries-coffee shops, then the Stand-Up MRI joints... then it's off to another neighborhood...

The Midtown location of Stand-Up MRI of Manhattan remains in service.  

As we recall, until the mid-1990s, this space was a funeral home. 

The Braised Shop closes in the East Village

After nearly five years of serving a variety of Taiwanese street food, the Braised Shop has closed at 241 E. 10th St. at First Avenue. Last night was the last in service.

However, in making the announcement, ownership promises that "it's not the end." Sounds like they have plans for a new concept elsewhere. 

Here's their entire message via Instagram...

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Braised Shop (@thebraisedshop)

Basics Plus said to be closing on 3rd Avenue

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

According to store employees, Basics Plus will close at 91 Third Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street at the end of the month. 

There are currently posted signs advertising "30% off entire store."

This isn't the first time that the EV location of the chainlet of houseware and hardware stores announced a closure. BP was set to shut down in March 2019 but instead downsized its space, giving up the corner storefront (now occupied by Cure Thrift Shop).

The Basics Plus outpost closed on University Plus in 2019 ... though several other NYC locations remain in business.

Basics Plus opened here in August 2014 ... taking over for old fave Surprise! Surprise!, which shuttered after 25 years in business in April 2014.

Mighty Quinn's has closed its East Village outpost

After 10-plus years on the NW corner of Second Avenue and Sixth Street, Mighty Quinn's has closed its first restaurant. 

Yesterday marked its last day in business in the East Village. 

The news first came via an EVG reader, who unsuccessfully tried to order catering online this past week. The reader then stopped by the EV Mighty Quinn's, "and the counter server told me they were shutting down and moving employees to the West Village location."

Here's a statement from the Mighty Quinn's founders via Facebook:

It’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed since we opened the first Mighty Quinn's in the East Village. We rolled a 6,000-pound smoker through our new dining room and parked it next to our cutting board, where it remains today. We all knew the adventure was going to be a wild ride and we feel blessed to have been able to serve so many from this restaurant. It is with a heavy heart that we have decided not to renew our lease at this location. 

While we wish to have been able to just keep our first restaurant in the system forever, many realities have made that path impractical. 

We hope that all our local guests will make the short trip over to our West Village location at 75 Greenwich Ave. after we close the East Village restaurant on April 9. We still offer delivery to every address in the East Village (and the surrounding areas) from our other locations. 

We’re excited about the future, with seven new restaurants in the pipeline, but will forever cherish our original home.

Thank you to our team, our guests and the entire East Village neighborhood.

Mighty Quinn's started as a stall at Smorgasburg in 2011, later opening its first brick-and-mortar location here in December 2012. There are now multiple corporate locations in the NYC metro area, and ownership has been franchising, with restaurants in New Jersey, Maryland and Florida... and in Dubai.

Shortly after Mighty Quinn's opened here, we heard from some anonymous upstairs neighbors about the smell coming from the popular BBQ joint. One resident told us: "[O]ur apartments & hallways reek of barbecue, all the way to the top floor — it's coming up through the radiators, walls and floors." An exhaust duct was later added to the building.  

Although their styles differed, this is the second barbecue restaurant to close within two blocks in recent months: Dallas BBQ shut down at the end of 2022. 

Perhaps this bubble tea wasn't up everyone's Alley

That's apparently all for the Alley at 68 Cooper Square (across from Cooper Union) ... earlier this year, a "closed until further notice" sign went up on the front door...

There wasn't any further notice. This address is no longer on the Alley's website... and Google lists them as permanently closed. 

This was the first NYC location for the growing and Instagram-popular Taiwanese bubble tea chain, debuting late in the summer of 2019 to some long lines. There's now an Alley in Flushing.

Oh my: Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast the latest concept to close at 36 St. Mark's Place

After less than a year on the block, Oh K-Dog & Egg Toast has closed its doors at 36 St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

Workers cleared out the storefront late last week, and an employee confirmed the closure to EVG correspondent Steven.

The quick-serve establishment sold Korean-style snacks such as stuffed hot dogs and egg toast ... the space included a K-pop shop, selling music, books, calendars, stickers, etc., for a variety of South Korean bands. 

The Texas-based chain still has locations in the NYC metropolitan area, including on Ludlow Street.

This address has seen several concepts come and go without much success... the last business was Joe's Steam Rice Roll ... others included Cheers Cut, the Taiwanese mini-chain of fried foods ... Friterie Belgian Fries ... Fasta ("Pasta Your Way") ... and the $1.50 branch of 2 Bros. Pizza. 

At the last night of Anyway Cafe

Photos by Stacie Joy 

On a snowy Monday night, Anyway Cafe ended its 28-year tenure at 34 E. Second St. near Second Avenue.

As we first reported on Monday, several now-former employees are hopeful to work out a new lease for the space with the building's landlords. If that doesn't happen, the employees aspire to open a like-minded business — live music! vodka! — elsewhere. However, the new establishment will not be going by Anyway Cafe — that name remains with the original owners.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy stopped by for some of the closing-night festivities, which included live music from JOff WilsOn (left) and Joe Sztabnik ...

[Updated] Avenue C Laundromat now closing on March 31

Photos by Stacie Joy

Updated: The closing date was extended to March 31

-----

Avenue C Laundromat closes after service tomorrow.

The official reason: the landlord (listed as D&K Plaza, Inc. in Rego Park) is selling (or has sold) the two-level building here at 69 Avenue C at Fifth Street. There isn't any listing of a sale in public records just yet.

The announcement earlier this month apparently caught staff by surprise... employees such as Ines Calle (below), who has worked here for 20 years, are left looking for new work...

Said one EVG reader about this closure: "It's a real bummer for anyone who lives in the immediate neighborhood and I feel bad that the women who have worked there for so many years are now looking for new jobs. I guess these new luxury buildings that keep going up in this neighborhood all come with a built-in washer/dryer? Ugh."

The former Commodities space is now for rent on 1st Avenue

Photo by Steven

A for-lease sign now hangs in the front window of the former Commodities.

On Jan. 12, the landlord took legal possession of 165 First Ave. just north of 10th Street — which had been home to Commodities for 30 years. 

There was hope for a reprieve, though that didn't happen here. Workers were spotted dismantling fixtures the following week... now comes the leasing notice. (Per the listing, the rent is available upon request for the ground floor, which measures 2,100 square feet... plus a similar-sized basement.)

New owners took over the business in January 2019 and changed the name to Commodities Health Foods from Commodities Natural Market.

Michael Hughes opened Commodities here in 1993. Hughes and his wife Audra opened an outpost in Vermont in 2015. 

Essex Squeeze has closed its 5th Street outpost

Photo by Steven

Essex Squeeze has been dark in recent weeks... and now comes word that the juice-coffee shop has permanently closed here at 300 E. Fifth St. just east of Second Avenue.

Sources tell EVG contributor Stacie Joy that the closure was "due to a rent increase and lack of business."

The cafe, run by LES natives and childhood friends Cedric Hernandez and Charles DeLaCruz, opened its first outpost in Essex Market in 2020. There's also a location in Dekalb Market Hall in Brooklyn.

The EV location opened in March 2022.

This space was previously Idlewild Coffee Co., which closed after just two months in business during the summer of 2020. The owner blamed the presence of the 9th Precinct's police barricades at the time for greatly reducing his foot traffic.

Idlewild took over from another coffee shop — Southern Cross Coffee, which shut down in September 2019 after two and half years in service.

The Marshal has seized KC Gourmet Empanadas on Avenue B

Photos last night by Stacie Joy

A tipster pointed out earlier this week that KC Gourmet Empanadas has not been open lately here at 38 Avenue B between Third Street and Fourth Street. 

And yesterday, a notice arrived on the front door showing that the Marshal paid a visit, and the landlord is now in legal possession of the premises...

The owners were also behind El Carnaval, a Panamanian restaurant and bar, right next door at No. 40. That establishment is now permanently shuttered after going dark last summer ... a for-rent sign hangs on the storefront. We understand an applicant will be on next month's CB3-SLA docket for a new liquor license for the space.

El Carnaval was accused of serving liquor without a license in the summer of 2021. There's a video from the meeting here. (El Carnaval is the first applicant.)

We heard from multiple neighbors in the summer of 2020 — when restaurants expanded to sidewalk and curbside spaces — who complained about blaring music via DJs coming from outside the quick-serve spot.

According to the minutes from the June 2021 Community Board 3 meeting, KC Gourmet Empanadas "has been egregiously non-compliant for a year. Following community complaints, the CB3 office told them the applicants should not be playing loud music in the streets and that they were non-compliant with their outdoor seating, but the applicants did not display concern for how this behavior was negatively impacting residents." 

KC opened here in February 2019. 

Reader report: Toasted Deli has not been open lately

Several readers have said that Toasted Deli has closed at 105 E. Ninth St. between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue. 

The gate has been down during the usual business hours of late... and the phone is not in service. 

The deli, which offered a wide variety of sandwiches and wraps, opened in June 2021.

Rent hike forcing Café Cortadito to close on 3rd Street

Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy 

After 18 years in business, Café Cortadito (210 E. Third St., just east of Avenue B) is closing at the end of the month. 

Ricardo Arias and Patricia Valencia, the husband-and-wife owners of the popular Cuban restaurant, say they can't afford the landlord's rent hike from $8,000 to $15,000 a month. The last day is this coming Saturday, Jan. 28. (There was also an issue with a large water bill passed along by the landlord during the pandemic. The matter ended up in court, and a judge sided with the landlord.)

The Cortadito team also said that they would be dismantling the curbside dining structure and donating salvageable parts to the nearby community garden and to people who requested a souvenir from the restaurant...

On the positive side, the owners said they would like to stay local and are hoping to relocate elsewhere in the neighborhood — they've already looked at a few available spaces on Second Avenue. 

As for what's next for this space, there's speculation that corner tenant Poco may take over this lease.

There won't be a last-minute reprieve for Commodities

Late last week, the landlord took legal possession of 165 First Ave. just north of 10th Street — which has been home to Commodities for 30 years. 

There was a legal notice from a city Marshal on the front door. Here's how that works:

A City Marshal may conduct an eviction or legal possession only after a court has ruled on the landlord's petition for removal and issued a Warrant of Eviction to the marshal.

We've seen tenants and landlords broker a new deal a few times in the past, and several fans of the market were hoping for a last-minute reprieve here as well.

Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be happening.

EVG reader Allan Yashin shared the photo from yesterday afternoon when he saw the lights on and the gate open. He saw this as a good sign, and hoped that there was a resolution ... "only to walk in and find a team of men dismantling the fixtures... After all these years, the store beloved by many, including me for over 25 years, has come to an end."

New owners took over the business in January 2019 and changed the name to Commodities Health Foods from Commodities Natural Market.

Michael Hughes opened Commodities here in 1993. Hughes and his wife Audra opened an outpost in Vermont in 2015.

Previously on EVG:

• A visit to High Vibe on 3rd Street