It looks like Dojo has called it quits here on West Fourth Street and Mercer.
As I reported last month, the Department of Health closed the restaurant following an inspection on Sept. 13. (You can read the previous post here.) The inspection turned up 62 violation points, which appeared to be correctable items before any follow-up visit.
However, Dojo has sat empty with the yellow DOH sticked affixed to the front door these past four weeks.
Now, workers have removed everything that wasn't bolted down in the dining room...
... and the bar is packed up...
Yelp and Google both list the restaurant as closed.
Attempts to reach anyone at Dojo (via email, Facebook Messenger and the phone) were unsuccessful.
Perhaps there is some renovation afoot. There were rumors in 2013 that this place had closed, though there were renovation signs for customers then.
Dojo began in the East Village... first with the Ice Cream Connection on St. Mark's Place between Second Avenue and Third Avenue in March 1970. Tony Yoshida's Japanese-inspired vegetarian cuisine came along in 1974. And via the Dojo website:
In 1982, Dojo took over the space next door and expanded even more. Then in 1991, Dojo in the West Village was created – both Dojo East and Dojo West were favorite local gems. Unfortunately in 2007, Dojo East was closed down due to high rent. BUT Dojo West is still going strong!
Previously on EV Grieve:
Concern for Dojo, which has now been closed for 2 weeks