A Running List of Restaurants That Closed in New York City

As New York City approaches the one-year anniversary of its first indoor dining shutdown, restaurants and bars continue to close their doors. At least 1,000 have closed since March due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Among them are newer neighborhood favorites like Uncle Boons and MeMe’s diner, along with decades-old institutions including 21 Club, Fedora, and Frank’s Cocktail Lounge.

In all likelihood, this is only the beginning of permanent closures in New York, as rent payments continue to mount and restaurants attempt to weather the winter months on takeout, delivery, and limited indoor dining. In September, a survey from the New York State Restaurant Association predicted that as many as two-thirds of the state’s restaurants could permanently close by the end of that year if they did not receive additional government aid. Due to the difficulty of tracking restaurant and bar closings right now, experts say that number could be even higher, and will likely take months or even years to assess.

Below, Eater is documenting the city’s permanent restaurant closures so far. If a restaurant or bar has closed in your neighborhood, let us know at tips@eater.com. This post will be updated regularly.

February 26

Chelsea: Avenue, the celebrity magnet nightclub from Tao Group, will not be reopening after the coronavirus pandemic. The hospitality group reportedly tried to save the venue by renegotiating a lease, according to the New York Post, but the landlord decided to sell the building, instead.

Chinatown: Dim sum favorite Jing Fong is permanently closing its iconic indoor dining room. The restaurant, which opened in 1978 but moved to its current location at 20 Elizabeth Street in 1992, has worked out a deal with its landlord to use the kitchen rent-free on a month-to-month basis for takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining.

East Village: Meyhane, a Mediterranean-style tapas restaurant on Second Avenue, has permanently closed. The restaurant opened under the name Medina’s Turkish Kitchen in August 2019 and, as noted by neighborhood blog EV Grieve, rebranded as Meyhane sometime during its one-and-a-half-year tenure.

Nolita: The second of two closings this week for Tao Group Hospitality, Vandal has permanently closed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The sprawling, 22,000-square-foot space with a restaurant and two separate lounges opened its doors in January 2016.

Upper East Side: Flora Bar, the upscale, critically acclaimed seafood-centric restaurant from chef Ignacio Mattos, is closing its doors after a four-year run. Mattos announced the news on his Instagram account on February 9, but did not disclose further details about the closure.

West Village: Nightlife veteran Richie Akiva of the Butter Group is permanently closing neighborhood hot spot Up & Down after seven years to focus on reopening his Meatpacking destination 1Oak.

February 19

Bed-Stuy: Seven years after its debut in a small storefront on Putnam Avenue, Calaca has closed its doors. The restaurant, known in the neighborhood for its regional Mexican specials, homemade flour tortillas, and mezcal margaritas, closed at the end of January. Co-owners David and Patti Hurtado are in the process of reopening the restaurant at a new location on the corner of Putnam and Nostrand Avenues. An ongoing GoFundMe campaign supports renovation costs.

East Village: One of the East Village’s newest delis, called Your Desire For Food, quietly closed its doors this winter. The corner grocer with sandwiches and salads opened on Avenue B last June, according to local blog EV Grieve.

Gowanus: Mission Dolores, a beloved neighborhood watering hole, has closed its doors after a decade. Located in an old garage, the Gowanus bar was “the kind of place where you could watch four quarters of a football game and then stick around for beers after, or you could show up for a Tinder date,” according to Grub Street. Mission Dolores has been temporarily closed since mid-December, when its owners announced that the bar would be temporarily hibernating for the winter season.

Hell’s Kitchen: The original New York City outpost of Ivan Ramen will not be reopening after the pandemic. Owner Ivan Orkin confirmed to Eater that his acclaimed Hell’s Kitchen Slurp Shop, which has long served as the anchor of the Gotham West Market food hall in Hell’s Kitchen since 2013, permanently closed on November 1, 2020.

Lower East Side: Well-liked Japanese restaurant Yopparai is leaving Rivington Street after nine years. The restaurant temporarily closed following the state-mandated shutdown of indoor dining last March. “We tried takeout, but our menu and style wasn’t well suited for that,” co-owners Christy and Gaku Shibata tell Bowery Boogie. blog Bowery Boogie. The duo is apparently planning to reopen the restaurant at a new location in the next month.