Bar Virage has closed on 2nd Avenue

[Photo by Steven]

Bar Virage, the corner bistro with a popular sidewalk cafe on Second Avenue at Seventh Street, closed Sunday after service... bringing an end to its 20-some years in business. (H/T Rhonda!)

This photo by Steven last night shows that the dining room has been emptied out...



No word on why the restaurant closed. (We did spot a retail listing for the address dating back to September 2017, last updated in April. The space appears of be off-market now.)

A sign on the front door thanks patrons...



The space went under a renovation in 2014, switching from Virage to Bar Virage (featuring an expanded bar area) ... there was another renovation in 2010.


[2010]

Autre Kyo Ya has not been open lately

Autre Kyo Ya, the well-liked sibling of Kyo Ya, the Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant at 94 E. Seventh St., has apparently closed for good at 10 Stuyvesant St.

EVG reader Christopher Pelham says the French-Japanese restaurant, operated by Erina Yoshida and her father Tony, has been dark the past two weeks. (Open Table lists them as "permanently closed." The restaurant's website is offline and the phone goes unanswered.)

Word here is that Mr. Yoshida, who also owns Sunrise Mart and the cocktail bar Angel's Share, plans to (sub?)lease out the space. We're told that Mr. Yoshida's focus now is on Japan Village, the new food hall-grocery that recently opened in Industry City.

Autre Kyo Ya opened in December 2015.

Space Mabi closes 1 year in on 1st Avenue

That's apparently it for Space Mabi on First Avenue at Fourth Street... the Korean cafe-restaurant quietly closed earlier this month. There isn't any message on their social media properties about a closure, though Google and Yelp both list it as permanently closed. The signs have been removed and paper covers the windows.

Space Mabi opened on Nov. 3, 2017, with a shifting focus depending on the time of day. Per their Facebook description:

Space Mabi is a new gastropub with cozy atmosphere in East Village that specializes in New Korean cuisine, plus creative Korean alcoholic beverages.

Under the sun, we operate as ‘Cafe Space Mabi,’ under the moon, we serve as ‘Restaurant Space Mabi’, and under the stars, we turn into ‘Bar Space Mabi’.

[Photo from November 2017]

They eventually discontinued the daytime service, opening then at 5:30 p.m.

The space was previously Guayoyo, the low-key, family-owned Venezuelan restaurant, which never reopened after a basement fire in the Icon Realty-owned building in January 2015.

This marks the second self-described gastropub to close within two blocks this month on First Avenue.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Guayoyo has been closed now for 1 year

Gastropub — 'Your new playground' — slated for former Guayoyo space on 1st Avenue

Ummburger has closed on 1st Avenue

After a little more than a year in business at 99 First Ave. at Sixth Street, Ummburger has closed... the gates had been down of late during announced business hours... then a for rent sign arrived late last week...



Ummburger seemed doomed from the get-go, to be honest, with cutesy names for their burgers (the Good Morning Vietnam, for instance) ... and, well, the name for the restaurant. The drinks menu included the "Ummazing Chalices," 38-ounce fish bowl cocktails on dry ice for $25.

NYU's Washington Square News featured Ummburger in an article from February on restaurants suffering from a drop in business after the New Year.

[Co-owner Salil Mathew] put out a 40 percent discount coupon for students in Campus Clipper magazine after the holidays, aiming to attract local college students in the hope they would return later, paying full price.

Because of the dip, Mathew has been forced to lay off employees, and by his estimation, has had to cut work hours by as much as 50 percent. Balancing a new restaurant, a second job as a nurse manager and a family, Mathew hopes his steep discounts will bring him a much-needed break.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Ummburger makes it official on 1st Avenue

Ummburger vying for the Mancora space on 1st Avenue

That's a wrap for Yonekichi's rice burger spot on 9th Street

[Photo by Steven]

Yonekichi has shut down its quick-serve spot on Ninth Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue... EVG Ninth Street Bureau Chief NOTORIOUS notes that Yonekichi even took their bench seat out front..



Yonekichi, part of Bon Yagi's East Village stable of restaurants, announced on its website that the lease was up ... and they will be looking for a new home...



The to-go spot was a big hit (except with the Daily News) when it opened back in August 2014, serving a variety of crisp rice buns with made-to-order fillings.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Yonekichi bringing rice burgers to East 9th Street

Cholo Noir space now for rent on 6th Street

A for rent sign now hangs in the window at 503 E. Sixth St., which apparently brings an end to Cholo Noir's 13-month run here between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The Chicano-inspired bar-restaurant had been closed since Aug. 19, with handwritten notes indicating the trusty "closed for renovations."

There's isn't any mention of a closure on Cholo Noir's website or social media properties.

As previously reported, CB3 twice denied a liquor license for the proprietors in 2016 ... among other reasons, there are 20-plus full on-premises liquor licenses within 500 feet of the address. CB3 members also didn't see much public benefit from the concept on a mostly residential block in a nightlife-saturated neighborhood.

Given the amount of work that they already put into the space, ownership went to the State Liquor Authority for a license. As DNAinfo reported in February 2017:

[T]he owners remain positive the eatery will be a good presence in the neighborhood, claiming Cholo Noir will be centered around the food, with cocktails to complement the menu.

“Most people don’t go into a Mexican restaurant and say, ‘Let’s go get wasted,’ but people do go for good Mexican food and they like to have something to complement it,” said Paul Le Mos, who plans to run the restaurant alongside Lennard Camarillo, former operator of West Village eatery Florencia 13.

The proprietors don't want to bring another noisy bar to the neighborhood, he said, but want to serve the community with great food and culture.

To the contrary, a few nearby neighbors felt as if they were, in fact, a drinks-first establishment ... offering all-you-can-drink brunch specials... and other happy hour deals ...

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers out there. Come celebrate @cholonoir with a special #brunch menu. #eastvillage

A post shared by CholoNoir (@cholonoir) on May 13, 2018 at 11:16am PDT

In 2014, the owners received $15,000 by winning the New York Public Library’s New York StartUP! Business Plan Competition.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Another no for Cholo Noir

'Low and Slow' on 6th and A

Flinders Lane closes Sunday after 5 years on Avenue A

[Image via Instagram]

After five-plus years at 162 Avenue A, Flinders Lane is shutting down following service on Sunday.

The owners, who hail from Melbourne, Australia, shared the closing message earlier this month on Facebook:

It’s with a heavy heart after much thought and consideration we feel the time has come to close the doors to our New York location.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved our over the past 5 years bringing life to this little space in the East Village day after day creating memories we’ll never forget — the incredible guests, our beloved regulars, the friends we made, the laughs shared and of course all the amazing staff. Without you none of his would have been possible. You truly are rockstars 🙏❤️

Our last service will be Sunday August 26 and we’d love to see you in to raise a glass one last time.

Thanks for the memories NYC

The Australian restaurant drew praise in the Hungry City column at the Times upon opening.

The Flinders Lane location in Stamford, Conn., will remain open.

The space between 10th Street and 11th Street was previously The Beagle ... and the Italian restaurant Orologio before that.

Nobody Is Perfect has closed

Nobody Is Perfect closed its doors for good in late July here on Fourth Street near Avenue B.

"The gas in the entire building, including the apartments and the restaurant next to us, has been shut down for six months," proprietor Mario Carta explained in an email. "We were unable to provide a decent menu to our customers during that period of time and that affected our business knowing that we were open for less than a year trying to build a clientele in the neighborhood."

Carta, who also runs Pardon My French at 103 Avenue B and Chouchou at 215 E. Fourth St., opened the Italian restaurant in the spring of 2017.

He also noted that the Community Board 3 denied their sidewalk cafe application that "could have helped us stay open."

In issuing the denial in May for the 16-table sidewalk cafe, CB3 officials said that the restaurant received 45 311 calls since it opened, 18 of which required a visit from the NYPD, according to the official minutes of the meeting. (PDF here.) Five residents (as well as a rep from the East 4th Street/Lower Avenue B Block Association) also spoke at the CB3 meeting, stating that Nobody is Perfect "plays excessively loud music and allows cheering and chanting associated with its weekend boozy brunches," which was in violation of its license. (There were other complaints too, such as leaving the restaurant's front windows open past 10 p.m.)

Nobody Is Perfect was the fifth restaurant to try this address in the past 10 years. B4 closed in June 2016 after nearly three years in business ... and previously Piccola Positano, Tonda and E.U. gave the space a go.

H/T Alexis!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Team behind Avenue B's Pardon My French eyeing 2 spaces on 4th Street

East Village Thai has closed

East Village Thai fans were saddened to learn that the small restaurant on Seventh Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square closed after service on Sunday.

The restaurant's owners first made the announcement on Facebook on Saturday before their last day...



EVG reader Mackenzie, who first brought this to my attention, ate there last Wednesday. The owners made no mention of the impending closure.



Back in 2012, the Daily News said that EVT served some of the best Pad Thai in the city.

Yuan Noodle has closed on 2nd Avenue

[Top 2 photos via Chris Rowland]

Yuan Noodle has closed at 157 Second Ave. less than a year after debuting to positive notices here between Ninth Street and 10th Street.

There are two signs on the front window. As of yesterday afternoon, one sign noted that the business was for sale (via Yuan's owner Jacob Ding, who's also a commercial real-estate broker) ... and the other one, upside down, noted a closing sale...



Upon opening last summer, Eater wrote that Yuan "is nothing short of spectacular." The New York Times praised Yuan's signature Guilin mi fen (rice noodles).

In recent weeks, Yuan started looking like a restaurant that was closing, offering 2-for-1 shot deals ...



... and signs for all-night happy hours and $25-all-you-can-drink specials...



Anyway, not sure what happened here. (There isn't any note about the closing on the Yuan website.) This has been a challenging space to make work. Biang! — the sit-down Chinese restaurant via Xi'an Famous Foods owner Jason Wang — closed here back in March 2017 after 15 months in business. The previous tenant, Wylie Dufresne's bistro Alder, closed after two-and-a-half years at the end of August 2015.

As noted before, if Wang and Dufresne, given their successes, couldn't make the space work ... not sure who can. Other recent restaurants here (before 2013) included Plum and Cafe Brama.

In May, applicants from Butter Midtown received CB3's OK to open a Mexican restaurant at No. 157. Given the business-for-sale sign, this deal apparently fell through.

Despite the application on file at the CB3 website, Ding told Eater in May that his restaurant was not closing.

Kambi Ramen House has closed on 14th Street

After 10 years at 351 E. 14th St. near First Avenue, Kambi Ramen House shut down after service this past Thursday.

EVG regular Pinch shared these photos... a sign on the door notes that their lease is up...



Kambi's sister restaurants, Minca Ramen Factory on Fifth Street near Avenue B, and Andante in Brooklyn remain in business.

Korilla BBQ has closed on 3rd Avenue

Korilla BBQ is the latest business to close on the northeast corner of St. Mark's Place at Third Avenue.

They shut down last evening, making the announcement on Instagram...

Thank you #eastvillage for allowing us to open our first brick & mortar here but unfortunately tonight will be our last day as we make way for an office building. It’s been real and hope to see you guys at our other locations! — 📌 Downtown BK - 2 Metrotech Ctr 📌 Midtown East - 672 Lexington (@55-56th) 📌 Urbanspace Vanderbilt - 230 Park — #rip #kimchi #koreanfood #korilla #kbbq #eatbold #eatliveveggies #burrito #lunch #dinner #seasonal #kitchen

A post shared by Korean Seasonal Kitchen 🇰🇷 (@korillabbq) on Jun 27, 2018 at 4:34pm PDT

As the post states, Korilla's other locations will remain open... and their food trucks will stay in circulation.

Korilla opened here in October 2014, taking over the space from the throwback diner Archie & Sons.

Before opening that fall, the building was decked out in a building-high tiger-striped mural (reaction here) ...



Korilla joins the other now-former tenants on this corner to shut down — McDonald's and Papaya King. The Continental closes this weekend. The E Smoke Shop on the corner is moving down the block.

As previously reported, a seven-story, 66,000-square-foot office building with ground-floor retail is slated for this corner. Permits were filed on March 15 to demolish the low-rise buildings here at 3 St. Mark’s Place, 23 and 25-27 Third Avenue.

REEC picked up the 99-year leasehold for the properties for some $150 million, per The Real Deal last November. There still aren't any new building permits filed for the property, owned by the Gabay family.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Shake Shack effect? McDonald's on 3rd Avenue at St. Mark's Place has closed after 20 years

Report: Northeast corner of St. Mark's Place and 3rd Ave. fetching $50 million for development site

Report: NE corner of St. Mark's Place and 3rd Avenue will yield to a 7-story office building

Demolition permits filed for northeast corner of 3rd Avenue and St. Mark's Place

23 Third Ave. getting its stripes

The 7 restaurants that have closed on the Bowery in the past year

This past weekend, the owners of Hecho en Dumbo (b. 2010) and Cherche Midi (b. 2014) shut down their respective restaurants.

This makes, since last spring, seven restaurant closings on (or near!) the Bowery between Fourth Street and just south of Houston. Other recent casualties:

• L'Apico (b. 2012), 13 E. First St. in the Avalon Bowery complex.

• DBGB (b. 2010), 299 Bowery


[The former Wise Men]

• Wise Men (b. 2013), 355 Bowery

• Agozar! (b. 2002), 324 Bowery

• Paulaner Brauhaus (b. 2013), 265 Bowery



There was also Rebelle (b. 2015) at 218 Bowery just south of Prince Street.

In any event, there weren't any reasons provided for the closures. DBGB chef-owner Daniel Boulud told this to The New York Times: "In this location, it’s busy on weekends but erratic in the early part of the week."


[The memory of DBGB lives on in Extra Place]

There are, of course, plenty of other places to drink and dine along here, starting at Fourth Street and down to Houston — BBar and Grill, Phebe's, the Bowery Market, Great Jones Cafe (close enough), Gemma, the Wren, Sorbillo Pizzeria, Bar Primi, Think Coffee, Saxon & Parole, 310 Bowery Bar, Sláinte, Bowery Meat Company, Baar Baar and the food court at Whole Foods Market® Bowery. Perhaps there are just too many choices.

Hecho en Dumbo is closing after 8 years on the Bowery

The owners of the Mexican restaurant at 354 Bowery between Great Jones and Fourth Street announced their upcoming closure last night.

Here's part of their message:

Hecho en Dumbo will be closing its doors for good next Saturday night, June 9th, after over 8 years on the Bowery.

We are thrilled that since our humble start as a pop-up in DUMBO over a decade ago, Mexican cuisine continues to evolve and flourish in our city and it has been a privilege to be a part of it.

Hecho en Dumbo arrived here in March 2010, taking over the space that previously housed Marion's Continental.

No. 354 has been on the rental/sales market this past year via several different brokers.

H/T EVG reader Erin!

That's all for the Loop on 3rd Avenue

And just a little north of the usual coverage area... a for rent sign now hangs above the Loop, the small sushi restaurant on Third Avenue near 16th Street.

They named their signature rolls after Billy Joel, John Lennon, the Spice Girls and other pop cultural references. As The Infatuation noted a few years back: "We’d love to hate it, but it’s all pretty damn good."

And food writer Nick Solares, who shared the above photo, noted: "It was not destination sushi but a solid neighborhood option."

Chickpea has closed on 14th Street

The Chickpea outpost has closed on 14th Street near Third Avenue. Apparently its last day was April 12.

And as this photo via EVG reader Shiv shows, the "for rent" banner is in place. (The listing doesn't mention the asking rent.)

No word on why this location of the quick-serve Middle-Eastern chain shut down. (There are multiple locations around the city.) The Chickpea website is also currently offline.

Benny's Burritos & Empanadas will not be reopening on 7th Street

Benny's Burritos & Empanadas has not been open of late. And yesterday, owner Mark Merker confirmed that the small shop at 86 E. Seventh St. near First Avenue has closed for good.

Merker, who launched Harry's and Benny's Burritos in 1987, opened Che Cafe last April. In January, Che Cafe went dark for several weeks ... reopening at the end of the month with a new business partner ... as well as an expanded menu featuring burritos, empanadas, tacos and chicken tortilla soup, and a new name — Benny's Burritos & Empanadas.

"The partnership didn’t quite work out," Merker said in a Facebook message. "For now I will be doing catering only."

Benny's Burritos closed on Avenue A and Sixth Street after 27 years in business in November 2014. (The Benny's to-go space next door closed in February 2015.)

The 400-square-foot space has been on the market for the past month. The listing doesn't mention the asking price, which we hear is $4,200 a month. The space was home until the fall of 2016 to Abraço, the popular coffee shop/cafe that moved across Seventh Street.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A look at Che Cafe, home of empanada pouches

Baci e Vendetta has closed on Avenue A: 'it simply wasn't sustainable'

Baci e Vendetta has closed at 131 Avenue A after nearly 16 months in service.

Veteran restaurateur Paolo Secondo was set to take over the Italian cafe for a new concept. Secondo received the OK from CB3 last month for a new beer-wine license for the space here between St. Mark's Place and Ninth Street.

However, Nic Ratner, a partner in Baci e Vendetta, told me that the deal with Secondo fell through ... "and as a result we shuttered Baci e Vendetta and returned the space to the landlord."

"We gave the beer and wine thing a go with a heavier emphasis on food and it simply wasn't sustainable," Ratner told me via email.

Ratner said that he and his business partner Robert Morgan, whose bars include Kingston Hall on Second Avenue, will focus on the return of the Ninth Ward at 180 Second Ave.

Baci e Vendetta opened after an extensive gut renovation in December 2016. This space was the 10 Degrees Bistro until the fall of 2015 ... and the Flea Market Cafe before that.

Expect a for lease sign here before too long.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Team behind Shoolbred's and Ninth Ward vying for 10 Degrees Bistro space on Avenue A

After nearly 26 years, Three of Cups is closing on 1st Avenue; Emmy Squared arriving next?

Anthony Barile, an owner of Three of Cups, which opened on First Avenue at Fifth Street in December 1992, announced on Facebook last night that the pizzeria and Italian restaurant — along with the Three of Cups Lounge — will close after service on April 1.

The day has come where I must share the sad news that Three of Cups will be closing. I’ve thought often about what I might say when this day came and each time I pushed the thought from my head, but here we are.

The reasons are many that we are at this moment, with all of them meaning that I can’t sustain it any longer. It’s the end of the longest thing I’ve continuously been involved with, almost 1/2 my life, nearly 26 years.

My wife worked here before we were married, my children grew up playing here and my son has worked here with me for the last two years. Three of Cups is a big part of our home and lives.

I am thankful to all the fine people that have worked with us to make it happen everyday, without them it never would have. There are too many to list here, but if you know Three of Cups, you know them too. I wish them the best of what life has to offer.

Our customers are the best, so many loyal souls over so many years. Without you we’re obviously not here all these years. Our staff and customers made Three of Cups what it was.

Three of Cups has always been a home for the unique souls of the East Village.

I’ve learned so much from all these people; staff and customers alike, and I’m grateful I had that opportunity.

So many fun, heartwarming and crazy times shared with friends, family, customers and staff! It’s the end of an era and it will all be greatly missed.

I want to acknowledge my long time partner and dear friend, Santo Fazio who all those years ago brought me along for this crazy trip, I love him for that.

Please come by before we close the doors for good, we’ll share a drink and toast to the good times. Our last day will be Sunday, April 1.

Last June, Three of Cups posted news that they had secured a new lease.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the owners of Emmy Squared were on the CB3-SLA docket for a new liquor license for the Three of Cups space. (A PDF of their questionnaire is here.) A CB3 flyer had been posted in the window...



Eater reported in December that Emmy Squared, the Williamsburg-based restaurant serving burgers and Detroit-style pizza, was taking over the GG's space on Fifth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. It's not clear if the Emmy team will still be taking this space, which remains dormant since GG's closed on Dec. 23.

Back on First Avenue, the retail condominium space at No. 83-85 had been on the market for $5.4 million.

Updated 1:30 p.m.

A rep for the Emmy Squared rep told Eater... that they are "considering the First Avenue space for a new Emmy Squared and the former GG’s space for a new restaurant concept."

Maguey y La Tuna closes on East Houston

Back in January, word spread that El Maguey y La Tuna, the 15-year-old Mexican restaurant on East Houston between Attorney and Ridge, would have to shut down at the end of March after the landlord doubled the rent from $7,000 to $14,000.

Unfortunately, the closing came earlier than previously announced — Maguey y La Tuna closed on Feb. 25.



There's also a notice that the Marshal has taken legal possession of the space on behalf of the landlord...



There was some talk that owner Maria Cortez, who was born and raised on the Lower East Side, was considering opening a food cart to keep serving the community. One of the handwritten notes on the door suggests that people check the Maguey y La Tuna Facebook page for updates.

Previously on EV Grieve:
On East Houston, El Maguey y La Tuna will have to close after the landlord doubles the rent