Monday Opening Report Coda: Diamond’s Wine Bar

Lower East Side: It took just under two years for someone to make a go of it at 188 Allen Street, the sliver of space formerly occupied by Maradona Hookah Bar. Sometime in the last few weeks Diamond’s Wine Bar, a sleek-looking lounge that boasts a staff of scantily clad waitresses, opened up shop in a space half covered by scaffolding from the site of the Allen Street Hotel. The owner of the bar, a muscle-bound giant with a thick Russian accent who (brace yourselves) goes by the name of Diamond, tells locals he is the owner of The VIP Club - a strip club in Chelsea. That would explain the waitresses. Status: Certified Open. 188 Allen St., Lower East Side; 646-861-2195 [EaterWire]
— Chris Faherty