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The original Queens location of critically-acclaimed Northern Thai restaurant Zabb Elee is now closed. The owners sold the Jackson Heights restaurant about six months ago, but they still operate a location in the East Village at 75 2nd Avenue, according to Nine Ramanya, an employee who transferred from Queens to Manhattan. The Queens restaurant’s new owners kept the Zabb Elee name for some time but will soon be reopening it under a new name. The new owners did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Zabb Elee was one of the few restaurants in Queens to receive a Michelin Star in 2015, but a reduction in the menu over the year pushed it back onto the Michelin Bib Gourmand list of recommended neighborhood restaurants in 2016. When the East Village location opened in 2011, dishes like larb with duck and papaya salad earned the restaurant positive reviews for bringing traditional northern Thailand cuisine to Manhattan’s dining scene.
