Southern Food Bar Shutters in East Village — and More Closings

March 29

— East Village Southern comfort food spot Double Wide has ended its seven-year tenure of serving classics like chicken fried steak, brisket, and frito pie in the neighborhood, announcing the closure on Facebook. The space is being taken over by Cocktail Kingdom founder Greg Boehm, who is also a partner in Boilermaker and cocktail bar Mace.

— Benny’s Burritos & Empanadas is permanently closed according to its owner.

— Baci e Vendetta on Avenue A has shuttered for not being “sustainable.”

— Mandolino pizzeria has closed at 137 East 13th St. in East Village after just over a year in the neighborhood.

— Birdbath Bakery has closed its Upper West Side location at 518 Columbus Ave., but its other UWS, Midtown, and Soho locations remain open.

— Fitness-driven fast-casual chain Muscle Maker Grill has closed its UWS location.

March 22

— Matisse, a French restaurant in Midtown East that featured live “French cafe music” every Saturday, is closed. It’s been open since 2009.

— A note posted on the window of Resette announced that the Midtown West Italian restaurant has permanently closed. According to an Instagram post, it had been on 45th Street for 15 years; the owners left for Miami.

— Midtown East bi-level Irish pub Eamonn’s Bar and Grill, open since 2002, has closed.

— In the wake of Brasserie Seoul’s reopening, chef Sung Park’s Bistro Petit in Williamsburg has closed.

March 15

— Cozy, cabin-esque Williamsburg bar and restaurant Lodge has closed at Grand and Havemeyer after over 14 years in the neighborhood. In a post on Instagram, the owners wrote that they “can no longer compete with the astronomical cost of rent in Williamsburg.” A few blocks down the street, Post Office whiskey bar in Williamsburg has also closed after eight years in business. The bar served oysters, bar snacks, small plates, and sandwiches. The closure was announced on Instagram, but a reason was not provided. Both bars join Rye in a series of shutters on and around Havemeyer.

— Garden Grill, a greasy spoon staple in Williamsburg, has closed after 21 years in business.

— West Village’s Ellary’s Greens has closed after five years of serving veggie-centric food in the neighborhood. A location on Randall’s Island remains open, and a farewell letter posted by the owner notes that they “are looking to move in other directions too.”

— Italian restaurant Giovanni Rana Pastificio & Cucina is the latest Chelsea Market shutter.

— Alice’s Arbor, a Clinton Hill neighborhood bar and restaurant serving farm-to-table American fare, has closed.

March 8

— Poke Village in East Village shut its doors. It opened in December 2016, and EV Grieve calls this the neighborhood’s first poke restaurant closure since the rapid influx of poke restaurants in 2016. The space is now for rent.

— In Prospect Heights, 14-year-old Bar Sepia had its final night on Thursday. Owner Delissa Reynolds had announced in January that the landlord was looking to sell the property, resulting in the neighborhood bar’s closure.

— Nom Wah Tu of the Chinatown Nom Wah empire suddenly shuttered after just about six months on the Lower East Side.

March 1

— Boubouki in LES’s Essex Street Market has closed. The Greek food stall was open for seven years and specialized in Greek baked goods like spanakopita and baklava. According to Instagram, owner Rona Economou is pursuing an “exciting new opportunity.”

— Ditch Plains has closed after 12 years in West Village. A farewell note posted on the restaurant’s website cites rising rents as a reason for the closure. It also notes that the restaurant is actively looking for a new space.

— Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery has shut down pizzeria Co. after nearly a decade in Chelsea.

— Italian restaurant Luce has closed.

— Juice & Java on Carmine has closed. Three locations remain open in Florida.

— All-organic restaurant Siggy’s Good Food in East Village has closed. A sign posted on the restaurant’s social media accounts cites “bureaucratic” reasons and the economy as the causes for closure and also notes that the restaurant is moving to Charlotte, North Carolina.

— Bushwick coffee shop Routine has closed its doors after less than three years in the neighborhood.

— Cafe-restaurant Factory Cafe has closed.

— Both locations of Jr. Bella’s Pizza, at 760 Coney Island Ave. and 1955 Flatbush Ave., have closed.

— Four-year-old Bowery brewery Paulaner has closed for unknown reasons.

— Williamsburg’s Umami Burger is down for the count. Locations remain open in Brookfield Place and Hudson Hotel.

February 22

— Elmhurst’s Thai cafe Sugar Club is closed. The cafe specialized in desserts like sugar-dusted rotis, fruit filled puddings, waffles stacked with toppings, and honey toasts, as well as sweet tea drinks.

— French bistro Cafe Tallulah closed. The two-level space featured velvet curtains, a fireplace, and an antique pool table. The restaurant served French-Mediterranean tapas and featured a cocktail lounge with a cocktail program from the owner of Employees Only. The restaurant closed to make way for Tom Valenti’s forthcoming Oxbow Tavern.

— Popular Williamsburg neighborhood restaurant and cocktail bar Rye closed after nearly a decade.

— UES Latin-influenced restaurant and bar Ola Vivabar has closed. Signs on the building suggest a placed called Hero Burger is moving in.

— Hell’s Kitchen gastropub serving American comfort food Matts Grill has closed.

— Ariel’s Latin Bistro in LES has closed, and a leasing sign is in the window.

— Chain pizzeria Two Boots has closed its Tribeca location.

— The Harlem location of pizza chain Custom Fuel Pizza closed.

— Bareburger has closed its East Village location on Second Avenue and will instead open at 173 Orchard St. on the Lower East Side.

— Wildly popular Times Square Korean nightclub Circle, which has been a nightlife mainstay for Asians and Asian Americans in NYC for a decade, closed for good. Circle’s owners also run fast-casual chain Sweetcatch Poke, the St. Marks Place location of Mamoun’s, and NYC’s Kang Ho Dong Baekjong.

— Ha’s Chinese Bar & Eatery in Astoria is closed. According to its website and Instagram bio, the restaurant has been closed since February 12th, but a reason for the closure has not been announced. The restaurant recently opened in December 2017 by the team behind The Queens Kickshaw, Ben Sandler and Jennifer Lim.

February 15

— After 19 years in the neighborhood, South African restaurant Madiba closed in Fort Greene. Chef-owner Mark Henegan posted a farewell on Madiba’s website, announcing that the long-running restaurant would shutter on February 11th, 2018. The farewell includes a reflection on when President Barack Obama was elected as well as a note about the fact that Donald Trump was banned from the restaurant, which served dishes like ostrich tartare, oxtail crostini, and Cape seafood soup. In December 2015, Henegan launched an IndieGoGo campaign in order to help pay off the restaurant’s massive debt. He successfully raised $20,000 and renegotiated his lease with his landlord, keeping Madiba alive for another couple years.

— American restaurant Friend of a Farmer in Brooklyn Heights is now closed, though the Gramercy location remains open.

— Gourmet popcorn shop Pop Karma has closed in the East Village due to low sales.

— CoCo Bubble Tea’s Delancey Street shop has closed due to infrastructure issues at the location.

— Sunset Park coffee shop Parkette closed at the end of January after two years in the neighborhood.

— The Carroll Gardens outpost of Toby’s Public House closed after less than a year because owner Christine Lu was unable to pay a contractor for work done on the pub.

— The Umami Burger in Greenwich Village is closed.

February 8

— Longtime diner-esque Big Nick’s Burger & Pizza Joint Too has closed. Open for over 30 years, the restaurant known for its burgers and pizza was a rare late-night spot on the Upper West Side, open until 4 a.m. The restaurant lost a lawsuit to employees suing for unpaid overtime in November, resulting in a $2 million payout. Now, the landlord has put up a “for rent” sign on the window at 70 West 71st St. and Columbus Avenue.

— Sichuan restaurant Legend has closed on the Upper West Side.

— Tasty Dumpling in East Village has shuttered, with the windows papered over and phone disconnected.

February 1

— Krust Pizzeria, a pizza spot offering $1 slices that opened in East Village in 2011, has closed. The building has an eviction notice and for rent sign. Last summer, the pizzeria was closed for weeks while eviction proceedings were underway, but it bounced back for a short time.

— The Meatpacking location of Bill’s Bar & Burgers has closed. The chain, which serves shakes, salads, sandwiches, soups that include a “pepperoni pizza soup,” and snacks like nachos and wings in addition to its burgers, still has locations open downtown and in Rockefeller Center. The Meatpacking location has been removed from its website.

— One of Chelsea Market’s first tenants, Chelsea Thai, has departed the food hall.

— Acclaimed Queens Chinese noodle shop Uncle Zhou has shuttered its Elmhurst location with plans to re-open sometime this year.

— The 14-year-old Red Hook dive bar Red Hook Bait and Tackle closed due to what the owner described as the neighborhood’s “different financial demographics.”

— The West Village’s 23-year-old Hudson Diner is the latest diner to shutter in the city.

— After nine years on the Upper West Side, seafood spot Ed’s Chowder House in the Empire Hotel has closed.

— Iceland import Icelandic Fish & Chips lasted just six months in West Village before calling it quits.

— 17-year-old Ciao For Now has stopped serving food to the public, though it will continue as a catering business and the space will be used for community events.

— All-you-can-eat sushi spot Oishi Village Sushi went out of business.

January 25

— After losing its liquor license as the result of a raid, LES Hell Square’s Delilah has shuttered for good, Bowery Boogie reports. The year-old restaurant received 63 violations related to recent violence and rowdy crowds, including a knife-fight at the end of the year. An auction of Delilah’s furnishings is set for later today.

— P.S. Burgers has closed in Greenwich Village. Its Long Island outpost remains open.

— After 25 years in Times Square, Irish pub Langan’s is now closed.

— Ramen restaurant Sapporo, izakaya Sake Bar Hagi, and sushi spot Iroha have all closed in the Midtown building they shared.

— Gastronomie 491, an upscale grocery market that also had a restaurant serving breakfast, salads, paninis, burgers, and small plates, has closed but is looking into the possibility of reopening.

— Saikai, a Japanese fine dining restaurant in West Village, has posted a sign saying that it’s closed and will be relocating.

— Georgian restaurant-turned-French restaurant Ciala has closed after about six months in East Village.

— East Village Japanese restaurant Robataya has closed after eight years in the neighborhood.

— Underwear model-chef-restaurateur Franco Noriega has closed his Lower East Side location of Baby Brasa due to electrical issues but will soon be opening a new, bigger location in Hell’s Kitchen.

— Payard Patisserie, the bakery originally opened by pastry chef François Payard, closed all three of its NYC locations.

— David Chang’s delivery-only restaurant experiment Ando and its accompanying app have closed. Ando’s team is integrating with Uber Eats.

— Mason Jar in Gotham Market at the Ashland has closed.

January 18

— The Brazilian, Peruvian, and Japanese sushi bar Sushisamba has closed its iconic West Village location, made popular on the show Sex And The City. The clubby sushi spot lived on Seventh Avenue for 17 years and became more of a tourist destination after its initial SATC glamour. While locations remain open in London, Miami Beach, Las Vegas, and Amsterdam, there are no longer any Sushisambas left in New York, as the original Gramercy location closed in 2014.

— TFOR, an Italian trattoria that focused on raw foods, has shuttered in Greenwich Village.

— San Francisco import Sushirrito has closed its Flatiron location. “We could have easily switched to cheaper fish and ingredients, but we would rather close than sacrifice our quality since we exist for a deeper purpose other than solely to generate profits. Unfortunately, because of the lack of sufficient traction in this area, combined with the high rents, we are holding true to our values and are therefore closing this store,” a statement from management posted in the window of the space reads.

— West Side Rag reports that tapas restaurant Barcibo Mediterraneo has closed.

— Fifty-year-old Upper West Side diner Broadway Restaurant has been closed ever since a fire earlier in the year.

— East Village cheesesteak restaurant The Joint closed, and the space is now for rent.

— New York Sushi Ko served its last omakase after more than four years on the Lower East Side.

— After 23 years, Flatiron’s Italian restaurant Via Emilia closed.

— New Yorkers can no longer feast on a $300 Grand Slam. The luxury Denny’s in FiDi is closed.

— Bobby Flay’s Bar Americain served its last Kentucky hot brown on January 17.

January 11

— Nonna’s, a popular pizzeria that has been on the Lower East Side for almost a decade, closed. Owner Leon Leandru tells The Lo Down that he’s trying to work out a new lease as well as potential renovations in hopes of reopening after January.

— Red58, a lounge offering food and cocktails in the Park Savoy Hotel in Midtown West, closed. An employee at the hotel confirmed that Red58 is permanently closed but declined to offer a reason for the closure.

— Less than two months after opening its doors, Harold Moore’s Greenwich Grille in West Village has closed.

— Top Chef alum Sam Talbot quietly closed Pretty Southern, his 22-seat Southern comfort food restaurant with an emphasis on vegan- and allergy-friendly food options, after less than a year in Greenpoint.

— TGI Fridays’ Union Square location closed after years of low sales. Six TGI Fridays locations remain open in Manhattan.

— Popular Latin restaurant Yerba Buena’s East Village location closed. Owner-chef Julian Medina — who was accused of sexual misconduct last year — plans to turn his West Village restaurant Toloache into a new Yerba Buena outpost this summer.

— South Indian restaurant Hampton Chutney closed after 11 years on the Upper West Side. The Soho location remains open.

— Amsterdam Cafe also closed on the Upper West Side and, according to West Side Rag, is auctioning off its leftover items.

— Long Island City’s Crabhouse closed and re-opened as The Loft, now serving Latin food instead of seafood.

— A little over a year after opening its doors, Greek restaurant Ayios at 2 St. Mark’s Place has closed for unknown reasons.

January 3

— Portland-based Sizzle Pie closed its two Williamsburg locations. Known for its heavy metal aesthetic and extensive vegan and vegetarian offerings, the pizza place garnered a cult following on the West Coast before expanding to Brooklyn. Co-founder Matt Jacobson cited “immense travel costs, a challenging labor pool and extremely high staff turnover in New York” as reasons for the closure in a statement. The chain still has locations in Portland; Eugene, Oregon; and Seattle.

— Heavy metal bar and live music venue Bar Matchless closed after its building on Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint was sold. The bar opened in 2003.

— Atlantic Grill East Side, part of the hospitality giant BR Guest, has closed. An employee at the seafood restaurant confirmed that the restaurant, located at 1341 3rd Avenue closed due to a Lenox Hill Hospital expansion. The Lincoln Center location remains open.

— NYC’s first cider bar Wassail finally closed after more than a year of speculation.

— After more than eight years in Midtown East, the Latin-Indian fusion restaurant Vermillion — once declared one of New York’s ultimate “shitshow” restaurants — has closed.

— Celebrity chef Cat Cora’s Southern restaurant Fatbird closed a mere seven months since opening in the Meatpacking District.

— Guy’s American Kitchen & Bar, the popular yet oft-panned restaurant from reality star Guy Fieri, has closed five years after debuting in Times Square.