35-Year-Old Great Jones Cafe Has No Plans to Reopen in Wake of Owner’s Death

Following owner Jim Moffett’s recent death, Great Jones Cafe confirms there are no plans to reopen the longtime Noho Cajun joint.

The lively restaurant — knows for its strong drinks and Cajun-Creole fare at 54 Great Jones St. A, near Bowery — has been shuttered and padlocked since July 10, and while the website remains up, the phone is disconnected and an employee confirmed on Instagram that reopening is not on the horizon.

Great Jones Cafe opened in 1983, and Moffett became a regular right away. He bought it from the original owners Rich Kresberg and Phil Hartman — who now owns the Two Boots empire — in 1989 and co-owned the restaurant with general manager Bill Judkins.

Last summer, the restaurant closed for a week due to a Moffett being hospitalized for a severe injury. But Great Jones Cafe bounced back despite permanent closure rumors. At the time, Moffett told Gothamist that despite pressure to make the place fancier, he wanted to keep Great Jones Cafe the same and reopened it with no changes to the menu or prices.

Eater senior critic Robert Sietsema once praised the restaurant as an icon in the neighborhood, writing: “It made me nostalgic for an era in downtown New York when real estate pressures didn’t dominate everything, when food didn’t always have to be the best and most expensive it could be, when a meal was simply a meal, best consumed among friends.”

• Great Jones Cafe Owner Reopens Under Pressure To ‘Make It Fancier’ [Gothamist]
• All coverage of Great Jones Cafe [ENY]