Snack Shop Bào Tea House Shutters Hell’s Kitchen Location — And More Closings

More than one year after New York’s first indoor dining shutdown, restaurants and bars continue to close their doors. At least 1,000 have closed since March 2020 due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 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.

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. 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.

June 11

East Village: Burger destination The Brindle Room has permanently closed its 11-year-old neighborhood shop, owner Jeremy Spector confirms to EVGrieve. Spector tells the site that he is currently trying to relocate the restaurant to a new space and hopes to reopen in the fall.

Hell’s Kitchen: Bun and tea favorite Bào Tea House has permanently shut down its two-year-old Hell’s Kitchen location. “We’ve fought till the very end to [do] absolutely everything we could to reopen this short-living location, but we didn’t succeed,” an Instagram post from the shop reads. The original Greenwich Village location remains open.

West Village: Meat-free restaurant Planted has permanently closed down after just six months of operation. Owner Elizabeth Green formerly ran casual seafood spot Seabird in the same location for four years and then reopened the restaurant as Planted last September after a pandemic hiatus. The vegetable-focused restaurant shut its doors shortly afterward in March.

June 4

Downtown Brooklyn: Harlem-based pan-African restaurant Teranga has permanently shut down its outpost in Brooklyn food hall Dekalb Market after six months. The restaurant will be transitioning into a larger space to open at a later date, according to a closing announcement posted to Instagram.

East Village: The 24-hour Ukrainian diner Odessa has officially shut down and the space is on the market, according to the real estate broker managing the sale. Previously, the restaurant’s former owners said that they planned to bring the space back to life this year after the diner ceased operations last July. The owners are now retired, according to the broker.

Lower East Side: The LES location of Blue Bottle Coffee, on the corner of Clinton Street and Rivington Street, has permanently shut down, Bowery Boogie reports. The chain still maintains 17 locations across NYC, according to its website.

Tribeca: Neighborhood hangout Tribeca Tavern has permanently closed, according to Tribeca Citizen. The bar was a longtime local favorite that regularly appeared on lists of Tribeca’s top bars during its 25-year run.