Closings: The Dip, Williamsburg Pizza

A for-rent sign now hangs outside the western storefront at 58 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue ... officially marking the end of the Dip's tenure here. (Thanks to Steven for the photo.) 

The quick-serve restaurant that served a variety of sandwiches went dark in the fall ... and they didn't respond to requests about their reopening status. 

The Dip opened in November 2019, and barely had four months in business before it had to shut down for the PAUSE in March. Still, they made an impression in their short time here... people seemed to like their specialty dish — the French Dip sandwich. 

The other retail space at the address is also vacant. The Clay Pot closed next door at the end of the summer. 

Meanwhile, on 14th Street, Williamsburg Pizza looks as if it won't be reopening here between Second Avenue and Third Avenue...

This outpost has been closed since the PAUSE... and the space was emptied out in the past week ... the pizzeria's other four locations remain in service...

This outpost of the popular pizzeria only opened in December 2019.

MiGarba shuts down on 4th Avenue: 'We close due to New York restrictions and unsustainable rent'

After five-plus years in business, MiGarba has closed at 127 Fourth Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street. (Thanks to Doug for the tip!)

A note on the door for patrons provides the reasons: "We close due to New York restrictions and unsustainable rent."

The pleasant wine bar/cafe, the first U.S. outpost of a Tuscany-based outfit, was a nice departure from the more fratty choices in the immediate area. 

Speaking of which, right in the same building... while there hasn't been any official confirmation, BarBacon remains shuttered... we haven't seen any activity here in months... and the interior looks to have been cleaned out...

The swine-dining bar opened in September 2018.

Permits filed to demolish the former B Bar & Grill on the Bowery

 

Permits are now on file with the city to demolish the one-level structure that has housed the B Bar & Grill on the Bowery at Fourth Street since 1994.

As reported last fall, CB Developers paid $59.5 million for a stake in 358 Bowery, previously a gas station before its conversion into the onetime hotspot. B Bar owner Eric Goode, who owns a handful of hotels including the Bowery Hotel, has been assembling air rights to build a larger development on this corner space. 

B Bar was expected to close for good in August. However, the bar-restaurant never reopened after the PAUSE in March. As we reported back on April 3, nearly 70 B Bar employees were laid off without any extension of benefits or offer of severance pay.

No word on what new development will rise here. Likely not a hotel given that Goode has one right across the Bowery.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• CB Developers pay $59.5 million for an interest in 358 Bowery — current home of the B Bar & Grill and likely a new development

• B Bar & Grill lays off its staff without severance

Loverboy has apparently closed on Avenue C

Multiple readers have pointed out that Loverboy has apparently closed on Avenue C at Eighth Street... a reader who lives nearby reports that workers emptied this space this week... 

There isn't any mention of a temporary or permanent closure on the bar-restaurant's website or social media properties.

Loverboy, specializing in pizza and slushy drinks, opened in June 2017 ... from the team behind Mother's Ruin on Spring Street. 

As previously noted, this corner space — in a building owned by Steve Croman — has been home to many concepts in recent years, some forgettable ... the list includes Lumé, the "Epicurean drinkery," ... Life — Kitchen and Bar … which had taken over for Verso. Other restaurants here in the past nine years include Caffe Pepe Rosso and Caffe Cotto. 

Before all this, the storefront once housed an excellent neighborhood bakery … (which apparently Iggy Pop frequented for cake and strong coffee in the early 1990s).

Ugly Kitchen makes closure official on 1st Avenue

Ugly Kitchen, a self-described gastropub serving Asian fusion and Filipino cuisine, had not been open since the summer here on First Avenue between Sixth Street and Seventh Street. In recent months, the Ugly Kitchen name had been removed from the awning.

This past Friday, Ugly Kitchen chef/partner Aris Tuazon shared an official closing announcement in an Instagram post: 

It is with great sadness that we announce the closing of Ugly Kitchen. Due to the insurmountable challenges of the pandemic, we have come to the sad and difficult decision that we have no alternative but to close our doors. We want to thank all of our wonderful guests and employees for supporting us ... You have truly become a member of our family and our bonds will surely continue in the future. 

We could have not have achieved our success over the past few years without you and we are confident that our cherished memories will continue anywhere we gather. Perhaps one day, when the time is right, Ugly Kitchen will rise once again. Until then, we bid our farewell.

The restaurant opened here in September 2011.

Photo from Oct. 1 by Steven

On 3rd Avenue, Feast exits, Yellow Rose arrives

After seven years at 102 Third Ave. between 12th Street and 13th Street, Feast has closed.

Ownership announced the news early last week on Instagram:

It's with bittersweet news that we're officially announcing the closing of our doors here at Feast. We've shared incredible memories and irreplaceable friendships with staff and guests alike. And for those reasons alone, we are eternally grateful.

In the spring of 2014, the restaurant made international news ... when a patron at Feast was asked to remove her Google Glass headset before dining. The diner, the organizer of a Google Glass user group, refused to do so, and left the restaurant. 

She wrote about the incident on Google +. Shortly afterwards, 13 one-star reviews of Feast appeared on Google from people who commented on the diner's post. The negative reviews were not based on the restaurant's food, but rather the no-Glass policy. (You can relive the memories here!)

Moving forward, the space already has a tenant. In recent weeks Feast has hosted a pop-up collaboration with Yellow Rose, a Tex-Mex-style eatery. Starting on Wednesday, Yellow Rose will be here full-time.

Per the Infatuation: "Expect a menu of a bunch of delicious tacos, spicy hominy soup with long fideo noodles, micheladas, and desserts."

Updated 11/10 

Grub Street has a feature on Yellow Rose here. Excerpt!

Four years ago, Dave and Krystiana Rizo moved to New York by way of San Antonio. Soon, Dave was cooking at Superiority Burger, while Krystiana managed and bartended at the East Village location of Emmy Squared just a few blocks away. But even as the couple was diving into the New York food scene, they craved the cooking from back home.

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' 

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

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. 

Pado is closing on 2nd Avenue

After nearly two years at at 199 Second Ave., the Japanese restaurant Pado has closed here between 12th Street and 13th Street ... though the owners vow to find another location.

In announcing their closure in an Instagram post, the owners cite a familiar foe — the landlord.

The restaurant industry during this pandemic has experienced unprecedented challenges and all of us had to fight hard to save our business and jobs. Since March, Pado team has been working tirelessly to remain in business. As much as we wanted to remain open, we unfortunately could not find an agreement with our current landlord at 199 2nd Ave. ⁣

⁣Pado emerged between compassionate and like-minded foodies with big dreams to make it in NYC. Our passion still remains intact and we will not let this pandemic change that. It pains us to announce our closure for 10/1, but we will strive to find a new place and we will share this information as soon as it is available for you.⁣
⁣
We want to thank all of our customers for your love and support. The pandemic did really bring out the best in people, and your kind words and support have been the biggest driving factor for us.⁣
⁣
We will see you again, we promise.⁣

H/T Vinny & O

Jules Bistro will not be reopening on St. Mark's Place

Jules Bistro, the casual French spot at 65 St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Second Avenue, will not be reopening coming out of the COVID-19 PAUSE.

Workers were packing up the space yesterday, as EVG regular Lola Sáenz reports.

Jules, which opened in 1993, offered free live jazz every night... and with its French film posters on the walls and red leather booths, always offered a throwback getaway on St. Mark's Place... Well-regarded restaurateur Georges (Café Noir, Bar Tabac, Cercle Rouge) Forgeois said that there wasn't really much room for outdoor dining here and running the place with 25-percent indoor capacity starting on Sept. 30 wasn't going to cut it.  

RIP Jules.

Closings: Broken Coconut, Snowdays, Blockheads, By Name

A roundup of some recent restaurant-cafe closings during the COVID-19 crisis...

• Broken Coconut, 15 E. Fourth St. between Lafayette and Broadway

For-rent signs are now in the window of the Instagram-friendly (#EatPretty) health-focused cafe that served items like quinoa parfaits and coconut chia. Broken Coconut opened in September 2017 in the storefront that was Other Music for 20 years.

Scott Sartiano, the nightlife impresario who founded 1Oak and Butter, is behind the venture. The BC outpost in Equinox Hudson Yards is open.


[Snowdays photos by Steven]

• Snowdays, 241 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue

The dessert shop specializing in Asian-inspired shaved frozen cream (aka snow cream) has been cleared out...



The business, originally called Snowdays Shavery, opened here in August 2014. While there hasn't been any official notice of this closure, the storefront is on the rental market. (H/T Upper West Sider!)



• Blockheads, 60 Third Ave. between 10th Street and 11th Street.

That's all for the East Village location of the big burrito specialists from the folks who launched Benny's. As the above photo shows, someone has painted over the Blockheads signage on the now-empty storefront.

And as we've seen with other restaurants with multiple NYC locations (Mermaid Inn, 99 Favor Taste, Oddfellows, Ravagh Persian Grill), the East Village has been scratched in favor of outposts in other neighborhoods. Blockheads is running operations on the Upper West Side, Midtown East, Midtown West and in White Plains.

Blockheads opened on Third Avenue in July 2015. Blockheads did not respond to queries about this location.



• By Name, 324 Bowery near Bleecker Street

The "art-inspired cafe concept" sold a variety of fruit-milk teas and bento boxes, opening in the summer of 2019.

There wasn't any notice of the closure, with the By Name website going offline.

This space was once Agozar!, the Cuban bistro-bar that closed in November 2017. The other part of the former Agozar! is now Codex, which sells used and new books with a focus on literary fiction and art.

---

There are at least a dozen other spaces that are dormant... spaces that readers-residents wonder if they will reopen. Waiting for confirmation on these — from either ownership or in some cases a for-rent sign. Some places that were shutdown the past six months are returning. Ainsworth, the high-end sports bar on Third Avenue at 11th Street, looked permanently shuttered with St. Patrick's Day notices on the doors. However, they are reopening later this week.

Clay Pot won't be returning to St. Mark's Place

Clay Pot's tenure at 58 St. Mark’s Place has officially come to an end, management confirmed via an Instagram message.

The restaurant, which served Hong Kong style open-flame cooked clay pot rice, opened here between First Avenue and Second Avenue in February 2018. It had been closed since the COVID-19 PAUSE. Their Bleecker Street outpost remains in service.

Per the rep: "St. Mark's Place will always have a place in our hearts."

Thailand Cafe will not be reopening on 2nd Avenue

A for lease sign now hangs outside what is the former Thailand Cafe here on Second Avenue between Fifth Street and Sixth Street.

The inexpensive-eats spot, seemingly around for years under several different owners, had been dormant since the COVID-19-related PAUSE. The restaurant's phone and website are no longer in service.

And the rent for the 1,300-square-foot space is available upon request.

The Athenian will not be reopening on 10th Street

The Athenian NYC, the well-liked Greek tapas bar on 10th Street from the team behind the Immigrant, will not be reopening. It had been shut since the COVID-19 PAUSE went into effect this past March.

"There wasn't enough clarity from the state/federal governments on re-opening plans to give us confidence moving forward," owner Jason Corey told me via email. "Although we loved our space and poured our blood and sweat into it (no tears), our lease was coming due and we decided not to renew."

The Athenian debuted in February 2018 at 224 E. 10th St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue. Before Corey opened the Immigrant Wine Bar on Ninth Street in 2009, he tended bar at Molyvos, a Greek restaurant near Carnegie Hall, and spent time there getting to know and appreciate Greek wines.

Meanwhile, the Immigrant continues on with outdoor dining (and takeout and delivery) on Ninth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. And Athenian fans will recognize Chef Max, who's now helping out behind the scenes at the Immigrant.

Oda House closes East Village location

Oda House, which served the rare-for-Manhattan Georigian cuisine as well as other Mediterranean staples, has closed on Fifth Street and Avenue B.

Saturday saw their last evening in service. By Sunday, neighbors spotted workers discarding tables and chairs and other equipment on the curb...



While there wasn't any official notice of this closure, Oda House did confirm via a Facebook message that the East Village outpost had shut down. The restaurant will continue on with its West 73rd Street location.

Oda House founder Maia Acquaviva, a plastic surgeon by trade, moved to the United States from the country Georgia in 2007 and was said to have rediscovered her culinary calling here. The restaurant opened on Fifth and B in May 2013.

Porsena has closed for good on 7th Street

[Photo from Saturday night]

After 10 years on Seventh Street, Porsena has closed. Saturday night saw its final service out on the socially distant curbside seating.

We heard rumors that Porsena was shutting down over the weekend. Management confirmed the news yesterday in a message to us:

We are all sad. It was a sort of a quick decision when we realized our landlord would never work with us in any way. We couldn’t continue to owe more money. So so sad as Porsena definitely deserved to survive.

Sara Jenkins opened her low-key pasta-focussed trattoria here between Second Avenue and Cooper Square in 2010. It garnered positive reviews and found a loyal following. The Porsena Extra Bar debuted next door in 2012.



EVG contributor Stacie Joy took a last look inside on Saturday evening...





As The City recently reported, "many New York restaurants are within months — or even weeks — of running out of the resources needed to stay alive."

The NYC restaurant industry is being crushed by the triple whammy of high rents, ever-changing new city regulations on outdoor dining and disappearing customer base.

About the for-rent sign at Tac N Roll on 4th Street

Tac N Roll's time has come to an end here — for now anyway — at 124 E. Fourth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

A for rent sign arrived outside the quick-serve cafe late last week.

Earlier this month, owner Eric Wong said that he was awaiting an insurance company assessment to see if he'd be able to cover damages from a looting the shop suffered late on May 31.

"Unfortunately, we have yet to receive compensation from the insurance company for our riot claim, and rather we keep depleting our funds to an empty space we asked the landlord to attempt to rent it or we can retake the space when the claim comes through," Wong said yesterday.

So a return is possible.

Most recently, Tac N Roll was sharing the space with the pop up Black 6 Coffee Trading Co. The veteran-owned company, which was created to fund the nonprofit organization the Black 6 Project, was serving coffee and a variety of breakfast parathas.

And Tac N Roll will continue with the pop ups, taking part in one this coming weekend at 50 Avenue A, the former Villa Cemita space. Wong, a Marine veteran, is teaming up with the incoming Milk Money Kitchens, whose founder and CEO, Nancy Preston, is an Army veteran who served as a Brigade Engineer building bases in Iraq.

View this post on Instagram

Come join us July 25th & 26th from 10am-2pm for a Pop Up alongside @black6coffee and @andersons_icecream hosted by @milkmoneykitchens 📍50 Ave A, New York, NY 10009 . . . . . . #tacnrollnyc #black6coffee #andersons_icecream #milkmoneykitchens #foodporn #foodbeast #nycwff #nycfoodie #eeeeeats #foodandwine #eater #thrillist #zagat #newforkcity #foursquare #timeoutnewyork #foodnetwork #amnyeats #evgrieve #paratha #coffee #icecream #saverestaurants #toosmalltofail #supportlocal #smallbusiness #covid19 #nycsbs #smallbizsos

A post shared by Tac N Roll (@tacnrollnyc) on Jul 17, 2020 at 11:44am PDT

Wong opened Tac N Roll in December 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
• The Black 6 Coffee Trading Co. takes up temporary residency on 4th Street

Bali Kitchen closes on Aug. 1: 'COVID-19 was too much for us'

[Photo from November 2018 by Stacie Joy]

Bali Kitchen, one of the neighborhood's most unique and affordable small restaurants, will close after service on Aug. 1.

Owners David Prettyman and Jazz P. Souisay shared the news via email:

COVID-19 was too much for us and we have decided to close Bali Kitchen.

Sadly, Bali Kitchen will close its doors on Saturday, August 1. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our loyal customers for your support over the past three years. You still have three weeks to get one last serving of Beef Rendang, Nasi Goreng or Tofu Betutu. We hope you will come see us before we close. Terima kasih banyak!

The Indonesian restaurant on Fourth Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue opened in September 2017.

On top of the COVID-19-related closure, Bali Kitchen suffered other setbacks. On the day they were set to reopen in May, someone tossed a brick through their front window. Someone also smashed into the space during the rash of break-ins on the night of May 31

They are open for takeout and delivery Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. You can order in advance via the BK website. You can also call them at (646) 678-4784.



Previously on EV Grieve:
• A visit to Bali Kitchen on 4th Street

The PokéSpot has closed

After nearly four years on the corner of Fourth Avenue and 12th Street, the PokéSpot has closed. A for rent sign hangs in the front window. (Thanks to EVG reader Sheila for the photo!) They had not been open since the COVID-19 PAUSE.

The PokéSpot arrived in the summer of 2016 in a time of NYC's poke-sanity.

The poké market has thinned out a bit since then with the closure of PokéVillage on 14th Street in 2018 and now the PokéSpot.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The PokéSpot set for former Subway (sandwich shop) space on 4th Avenue