Back in November, we started hearing rumors that Avenue A mainstay 7A would close in the coming months… sold to a group who planned to open a southern-themed restaurant. (Mama Lulu's or something similar, said a tipster at the time.)
Fast-forward to yesterday when, according to a tipster, management informed staff that the 24-hour restaurant will close at the end of January.
We didn't hear any
official reason for the closure. However, it is not because of a rent hike, we're told. 7A owner Moshe Hatsav also owns part of the building at 130 E. Seventh St.,
which was recently renovated ... where the penthouse is fetching $16,995 a month. (Also, 7A had been
closed for renovations last January … as well
as in January 2011.)
In any event, there have been rumblings that the restaurant that has anchored the southwest corner of Avenue A and East Seventh Street since the mid-1980s had been going downhill of late, that staff moral was waning.
Per our tipster: "The saddest part, other than the loss of an institution in the community, is that many of the employees have worked there for a decade at least."
No
official word just yet on what will take 7A's place.
Updated 1 p.m.
7A confirmed the closure on the restaurant's
Facebook page, noting simply: "7A will be closing for good by the end of the month."
Updated 2:22 p.m.
Are Serge Becker and Josh Pickard taking over 7A?