All Signs Point to Empire State Building’s Heartland Brewery Closing

Heartland Brewery may soon be a memory

Heartland Brewery — a beloved NYC institution for New Yorkers and tourists alike — may be shutting down its Empire State Building location for good, Grub Street has learned. The Jon Bloostein-led chain currently has three locations in the city: one in the Empire State Building, and two in Times Square — the Brewery and Chophouse, and the HB Burger. Rumor has it that all three could get the axe soon, but paperwork filed with the city’s Department of Labor indicates that the Empire State Building location would be the first one to go — it states a closing date of January 15. What’s more, Heartland doesn’t have the Empire State Building location listed on its website either. Eater has reached out to Heartland for a comment and will update this post accordingly.

It’s the latest setback for Heartland, which closed its Port Authority location earlier this year, and its Union Square flagship closed in 2014 due to rapidly escalating rents. The massive Empire State location seats 450 people, and the closure will cost 96 people their jobs. Heartland began serving its craft beer in 1995 at its Union Square flagship, and rapidly expanded over the subsequent decade, employing 600 people at its height. Rising costs have forced Bloostein to reevaluate, and the end may be near for one of the city’s original brewpubs. With Empire State’s $165 million renovation underfoot, it wouldn’t be surprising if the building goes for a splashier replacement for Heartland, similar to what’s going on at the Rockefeller Center.

In other news

— New York-born coffee chain Joe’s Coffee is the latest entry at the iconic former Coffee Shop space, in Union Square, which closed in October 2018. Chase Bank is the main occupant of the space, but aside from the newly opened Joe’s, there’s also a By Chloe outpost in there.

— The Times profiled Jimmy Neary, the 90-year-old owner and founder of the Upper East Side’s Neary’s, one of the city’s poshest Irish pubs that’s been in business since 1967.

— Popular Southeast Asian restaurant Laut’s new avatar Laut Singapura is now doing cocktails — it finally acquired a liquor license — and brunch. Items on the menu include Kaya toast, chicken and waffles, and a Singapore Sling.

— The Market Line’s seafood restaurant, Essex Pearl, is offering up seafood meal kits starting with the Feast of the Seven Fishes holiday box. Chef Bun Cheam will pack a selection of fish, some spices, and suggested recipes to prepare meals at home. Pickup is at the Lower East Side store.

— Sick burn: