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After 12 rowdy years in the East Village, dive bar 13th Step is done, or at least in its current iteration. The team took to Instagram yesterday to thank patrons of the bar for years of support at their “cathedral of tomfoolery,” popular with SantaCon revelers, sports fans, and neighborhood bros, while brown paper now covers the bar’s facade. EV Grieve reports that a name change appeared to be underway at the bar, which for years has been criticized as problematic, with a sign hinting at more news coming later this week.
The Don Angie team has a West Village restaurant in the works
It’s looking like a big year for Quality Branded, behind one of West Village’s most popular restaurants. In addition to Bad Roman, an uptown Italian restaurant opening in early 2023, as well as Don’s Next Door, a Don Angie private dining room, the hospitality group is expanding again. A spokesperson confirms a new Italian restaurant is in the works at 113 Greenwich Avenue, the former home of Mexican spot, Benny’s Burritos. According to a sample menu supplied at a community board meeting, dishes might include grilled pork shoulder, lobster for two, and garganelli giganti. The name of the new venture is still TBD.
A new seafood spot will replace the former Pearl Oyster Bar
The folks behind Silver Apricot are opening a Greenwich Village restaurant, Figure Eight, “that will celebrate the culturally and culinarily rich Lower-Atlantic coast through a Chinese-American lens.” The team tells Eater that Figure Eight might include dishes like prawns in a blanket, turnip cake tater tots, crab toast on milk bread, and fried green tomatoes. Figure Eight is set to open at 18 Cornelia Street, near Sixth Avenue, by end of 2023; it replaces the beloved Pearl Oyster Bar, which closed at the end of 2022, after 25 years.
Essex Pearl sets up shop at Manhattan West
Food hall the Market Line’s subterranean seafood restaurant, Essex Pearl has opened a satellite location at Midnight Cafe, a performance venue at complex Manhattan West. The menu has more of a lunch focus: Expect seafood rolls, provided by Aquabest, the seafood wholesaler Essex Pearl works in tandem with. The concept is still in the works but should be in residency for at least a couple of months, according to a representative.
