A four-alarm fire that broke out in the Upper West Side last month has shut down popular neighborhood restaurant Jacob’s Pickles indefinitely. The fire broke out in the building next door to Jacob’s, and at the time, a spokesman with the restaurant at 509 Amsterdam Ave. estimated that it would reopen in about a week.
But the damage, which injured six firefighters and one civilian, seems to be worse than initially predicted. An employee at Maison Pickle, Jacob’s new sister restaurant around the corner at 2315 Amsterdam Ave., says the team is not yet sure when Jacob’s will reopen.
During the closure, Maison Pickle is serving Jacob’s popular Southern comfort food brunch menu, starting at 9 a.m. on the weekend and 10 a.m. on weekdays. Maison Pickle’s regular menu of French dip sandwiches, Tomahawk steak for two, and dumplings will be served again starting at 4 p.m. every day.
Don't worry, Gatsby. We'll be open again soon!
Posted by Jacob's Pickles on Monday, March 6, 2017
Meanwhile, the building where the fire occurred has a bar called E’s Bar on the ground floor, and that bar estimates a reopening near the end of March.
Owner Erin Bellard initially planned to host a fundraiser in the bar for the 19 displaced families in the building, and since she can’t reopen yet, she is raising money through GoFundMe for the tenants. “Nobody was hurt, but our neighbors lives have been completely upended,” the page says. They have raised more than $1,500 so far.
E’s Bar employees are also being heralded as heroes of the fire. Three of them rushed upstairs and rescued a little boy before firefighters were able to get to the building.