A Popular Local Brooklyn Bakery Shutters Its Scoop Shop — and More Closings

Nearly two years 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, experts say that number could be even higher, and will likely take months or even years to assess.

Among them are the short-lived bubble tea shop Unedited by Solely Tea as well as a Dominican favorite El Gran Castillo de Jagua. 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.

January 28

Chelsea: Wine bar the Drunken Horse has taken its last gallop. The spot was known for its flatbreads and Mediterranean bar snacks. A tipster shared the news with Eater earlier this month and now the business’s website is no longer in operation; Google marks it as permanently closed as well.

Clinton Hill: Neighborhood favorite the Good Batch has closed down its ice cream shop, the Good Batch Creamery. The scoop shop, which was in operation for a little more than a year and was located directly across the street from Anna Gordon’s bakery on bustling Fulton Street, served a rotating selection of flavors, some inspired by popular cookies like a caramel brownie swirl. A for-rent sign was recently spotted on the storefront, and Eater confirmed the closing via social media.

Lower East Side: Earlier this month, Eater shared that Crab Du Jour had shuttered in the neighborhood. Now, Bowery Boogie reports that Juicy King Crab Express is no more, after less than a year in operation.

Jackson Heights: A White Castle that had been in Queens for more than 80 years has permanently closed down. The family-run operation first opened in 1935 had been under the same ownership ever since.

Prospect Heights: Beloved Thai spot Look by Plant Love House has closed in Brooklyn. Manadsanan Sutipayakul’s last remaining restaurant is Noods n’ Chill in Williamsburg, which she opened with her daughters and son in January 2020. The Look by Plant Love House team tells Eater they have no plans to open another restaurant.

January 21

Bay Terrace: After 50 years in business, Jack’s Pizza and Pasta is out at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center. The pizzeria’s lease expired last September and Cord-Meyer Development Company, which owns the shopping center, did not renew it. According to local publication Patch, Jack’s and Cord-Meyer entered an agreement that the restaurant could operate out of its longtime home on 26th Avenue until January 15, when it permanently closed.

East Village: Tatsu Ramen appears to be permanently closed at 167 First Avenue, between 10th Street and 11th Street. Neighborhood blog EV Grieve noted in November that the three-year-old ramen shop had been temporarily closed for more than a month. The First Avenue space is now advertised on real estate website RIPCO.

Lower East Side: Following a year of rapid expansion in the five boroughs, Cajun seafood boil chain Crab Du Jour has shuttered its storefront at 384 Grand Street, at Suffolk Street, according to Bowery Boogie. The closure leaves the chain with just under 20 locations in New York state.

Lower East Side: Uchū, the 10-seat sushi counter helmed by chef Eiji Ichimura, closed after four years on December 30, according to a note on its website. The restaurant from owner Derek Feldman, who also runs the popular Sushi On Jones restaurant chain, piled on extravagant ingredients like caviar, truffle, and wagyu, but lacked in flavor, according to an early review from Eater critic Ryan Sutton.

Meatpacking District: Intersect by Lexus, the well-reviewed #sponcon restaurant from the luxury car brand, is no more. As Eater previously reported, the restaurant managed by Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group closed after three years due to reasons unrelated to the pandemic. A representative for Intersect declined to provide a reason for the closure, calling the restaurant “a great success.”

Union Square: Restaurateur Simon Oren has closed the Union Square location of his 5 Napkin Burger restaurant chain, which also has locations in Hell’s Kitchen, the Upper East Side, and the Upper West Side. The burger restaurant shuttered less than a month after the year-old Tamam Falafel, located next door and also owned by Oren.

Upper East Side: Corner bistro Eats Restaurant and Bar permanently closed on December 30. The restaurant, known for its martinis and raw bar happy hours, hopes to reopen at another location “very soon,” according to a note announcing the closure on its website.

January 14

East Village: Downtown restaurant Virginia’s, known for its burger, closed down for the New Year at East 11th Street, on Avenue C. The team tells Eater that its lease was up for renewal and they will instead look elsewhere for a bigger space. The restaurant, which first opened in 2015, had faced both the challenges of a fire and the pandemic.

Greenpoint: Charming, book-filled neighborhood restaurant Milk & Roses, has closed at 1110 Manhattan Avenue, near Clay Street. But fear not, according to its Instagram post, the team has plans to move just one block away, at 1140 Manhattan Avenue, at Box Street, in the coming days — the book stacks are coming along for the move.

Upper West Side: My Most Favorite Food, a kosher restaurant that had been an uptown fixture for over 40 years, says goodbye. According to the West Side Rag, the closure was related to issues related to a lease renewal. The publication also reports the business will look to relocate its restaurant elsewhere.

January 7

Chinatown: Unedited by Solely Tea, a smaller spinoff of Chinatown’s sneaker and boba shop Solely Tea, has permanently closed after a brief five-month run. The storefront focused on curated, high-value shoes run by siblings Amy and Kenney Zhang. It first opened last August but now a grocer has since opened in its place.

East Village: The seemingly always busy, retro-themed cocktail Boilermaker has called it quits after seven years in the neighborhood. Earlier this week, the team announced a last call for wings and drinks on its Instagram account. Owner Greg Boehm’s other businesses, including the Cabinet and acclaimed bar Mace, will continue operating.

Hell’s Kitchen: Down the Road Pub, a bar that opened on Ninth Avenue in 2019, closed its doors just before New Year’s. The bar faced several challenges, including reports of gas line issues and a fire on the roof of the building, combined with difficulties stemming from the pandemic.

Midtown: Greek spot Molyvos — which had been open in Manhattan for 25 years — has shut down. The team announced the closure on its website, stating that the restaurant inside the Wellington Hotel is allegedly undergoing renovations and that ownership will be looking for a new location. The Livanos Restaurant Group also owns Oceana and Hudson West, as well as Westchester ventures City Limits Diner and Moderne Barn that remain open.

Nomad: Chef Jonathan Benno’s namesake restaurant Benno had just earned a 2021 Michelin star, but that didn’t prove to be enough to keep the chef from closing down the fine-dining destination in the Evelyn Hotel. The restaurant, which received a rare, three-star review from restaurant critic Pete Wells back in 2019, had been closed the majority of the pandemic. In September of last year, Benno briefly reopened only to close again at the tail end of the year. According to the New York Times, Benno is also leaving Leonelli Bakery and Bar Benno, his two other projects at the hotel, operated by the Bastion Collection and Triumph Hotels; the bar will be renamed Evelyn Bar and Leonelli Bakery will keep its name under its new direction. Benno also shared in a statement to the Times, “[COVID-19] tested our wits, strengthened our bonds and forced a serious re-evaluation.”

Prospect Heights: Neighborhood staple El Gran Castillo de Jagua announced its permanent closure last week, concluding a 34-year run in Prospect Heights. “We are sad to inform you that after thirty-four years, El Gran Castillo de Jagua will be closing its doors after losing our lease,” owner Sergio Olivio shared in a post on Facebook. The beloved Dominican restaurant closed once before in 2013, after losing its lease at its previous location on the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Park Place. In a comment on Facebook, the restaurant shared that it has no plans to reopen at another location.

Union Square: The Union Square location of Tamam Falafel, owned by Simon Oren of next door 5 Napkin Burger, has closed its doors at 150 East 14th Street, after a year in business. In January 2021, the vegan falafel spot opened its doors in Oren’s former 5 Napkin Burger Express location. According to EV Grieve, the Upper East Side outpost of Tamam will remain open, and Oren has plans to open at a new, undisclosed location soon.