These bars and restaurants are temporarily closed, and at least one is permanently shuttered

In recent weeks and months, we've received several reader queries about a handful of bars and restaurants that have not been open during advertised business hours. 

Among them: 

• Taverna East Village 

Taverna East Village has been closed since at least early December at 228 First Ave. between 13th Street and 14th Street. 

According to a patron in December, the Greek restaurant was closed without any notice to the public until a sign later arrived noting the closure due to a "required Con Edison" inspection. The rolldown gates have been down lately. 

The restaurant's website still notes: "We are currently closed due to a Kitchen Renovation project. We are working very hard to reopen as soon as possible." 

The outpost of Astoria's favorite Taverna Kyclades opened in the fall of 2013. However, ownership changed hands, and the name change to Taverna East Village was made public last June.

• The Cabin 

The bar-restaurant remains closed at 205 E. Fourth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

An Instagram post from Dec. 26 states the bar-restaurant is temporarily closed due to "building maintenance." 

Yelp states that the Cabin will reopen on March 31.

• Grillify-NYC 

The bar and grill specializing in burgers has been closed in recent weeks at 540 E. Fifth St. between Avenue A and Avenue B. 

A Feb. 26 Instagram post states, "Sorry we are temporarily closed." 

Estefanie and Luis Cuahutle, a brother-and-sister team, took over ownership of the former Le Burger space last summer. People seem to like this low-key spot, so hopefully, they will return.

• Down & Out NYC 

The bar at 503 E. Sixth St., between Avenue A and Avenue B, has been dark for months, and we have been waiting for an official notice about its closure. (Google lists the business as permanently closed, but we have not received a reply to our messages about its status.) 

The top photo, from Jan. 12, showed legal documents affixed to the front door. 

The cocktail and oyster bar opened in late 2022. 

The address was previously Cholo Noir, the Chicano-inspired bar-restaurant that closed in August 2018 after 13 months. No. 503 was also home for five weeks to Long Bay, a Vietnamese restaurant that closed in the spring of 2015. 

Several years earlier, the space housed Gladiators Gym.

This longtime convenience store has closed at 124 2nd Ave.

Top photo by 2ndAvenueSilverPanther

2nd photo by Steven 

Village Convenience closed its doors yesterday at 124 Second Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place. 

Workers cleared out the space, marking the end of an era for the longtime business. (One neighbor said the space has been a convenience store under various names since the mid-1970s.)

There have been signs of distress lately, starting with the store's closure during usual business hours and reopening with a 50%-off sign on the storefront. 

While there were unfounded reports that the store lost its license to sell cigarettes and lottery tickets (a lucrative piece of business) after selling to a minor, no official confirmation has surfaced.

Another local Duane Reade by Walgreens closes

The Duane Reade by Walgreens on the SW corner of Broadway and Fourth Street closed yesterday. (H/T to the EVG reader who shared this info.) 

 Prescription holders here are being sent to the CVS on Bleecker...

As USA Today reported last month: 

The thinning of Walgreens locations has been in the works. Walgreens said in October 2024 it planned to close about 1,200 underperforming stores across the U.S. as a strategy to offset declining profits resulting from low drug reimbursement rates and sluggish retail sales. 

This is the latest Walgreens or Duane Reade to shutter around here in the past 5-6 years. The oddly configured Walgreens on 14th Street and Fourth Avenue closed in January 2022, the Walgreens on Astor Place closed in August 2020, and three neighborhood Duane Reade by Walgreens locations shut down: The outpost on Avenue D at Houston and First Avenue between 14th Street and 15th Street shuttered in November 2019, while the storefront on 10th Street and Third Avenue shut down in early March 2019. 

Still, it seems like there are still a lot of Duane Reades around.

Holy farewell: Saint Pizza is leaving Avenue B

After less than two years of serving solid slices, Saint Pizza closed at 223 Avenue B between 13th Street and 14th Street. (H/T Salim and Russell K!)

In an Instagram post from Friday (below), ownership stated, "Some sad news: We are leaving our Avenue B location for circumstances beyond our control."

The post also says they will be relocating elsewhere...

 

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A post shared by Saint Pizza (@saintpizzanyc)

After 10 years on 1st Avenue, SenYa has closed

Photos by Steven 

A pizzeria is taking over the SenYa space at 109 First Ave. between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. 

There's now a rather generic-looking sign up on the gate of the former Japanese restaurant with the coming-soon info. 

SenYa debuted here in the spring of 2015. 

On the topic of pizza... a few blocks to the south between Third and Fourth, we have a cheap-slice switcheroo, with Basilic Pizzeria taking over for the short-lived Halal Bites Pizza...

The now-former Korean Street Foods space is for rent on Avenue A

Photo by Steven

Yesterday, workers placed a for-lease sign at 147 Avenue A's retail space between Ninth Street and 10th Street, marking the official end of Korean Street Foods.

The quick-serve business offering Korean street foods opened in the spring of 2023, taking over the space from corn dog specialists Two Hands.

The asking rent for the 800-square-foot space (plus basement): $9,995.