A Restaurant That Ushered in a ‘New Era’ of Vietnamese Fine Dining Is Done — And More Closings

Close to three years after New York’s first indoor dining shutdown, restaurants and bars continue to struggle. More than 4,500 have closed since the onset of the pandemic due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Since it’s difficult to track restaurant and bar closings, experts say that number is likely much higher and will take years to fully assess.

Below, Eater is documenting the city’s permanent restaurant closures, including a Brooklyn pizzeria that appeared in Saturday Night Fever, a concessions stand along the Jacob Riis Park boardwalk, a Greenpoint cafe with a speakeasy bar, and a restaurant that ushered in a new era for the city’s Vietnamese fine dining scene. If a restaurant or bar has closed in your neighborhood, let us know at ny@eater.com. This post will be updated regularly.

February 24

Bensonhurst: Lenny’s Pizzeria, a Brooklyn institution made famous by an appearance in Saturday Night Fever — in which John Travolta’s character, Tony Manero, double-decks two slices and struts down a street as he eats — closed after almost 70 years this week. Frank Giordano, who’s been running the pizzeria since 1983, is retiring, according to an announcement on social media. The restaurant served its last slices on February 19.

Carroll Gardens: Brick-oven pizzeria Pizza Moto is out on the edge of Carroll Gardens and Red Hook. The restaurant, which started as a mobile pizza operation, landed this permanent storefront almost a decade ago, replacing a location of Papa Johns. Its bubbly, wood-fired pies had a following, including at the New York Times, which handed the pizzeria a single star in a 2016 review. The last day was February 19.

Fort Greene: Lilly’s Pizza Bar, a wood-fired pizzeria from the team behind the Black Forest beer garden next door, has permanently closed. Owners Ayana and Tobias Holler announced the decision on Instagram this week and shared plans to reopen a new concept in the space in a couple of weeks.

Greenpoint: Cafe and cocktail bar 99 Franklin has closed. The daytime coffee shop opened in April 2021, following up with a speakeasy-style bar in its back room later that year. An outpost of Compton’s sandwich shop, which has two locations in Astoria, has since put signage up on the space.

Greenpoint: Bread Brothers, a small chain of bagel shops, has dropped its locations in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. The shops closed over staffing issues and disagreements with the buildings’ landlords, Greenpointers reports. Only one Bread Brothers location — at 220 Bushwick Avenue, at Meserole Street, in Bushwick — remains open.

Rockaway Beach: Jacob Riis Park staple the Dropout is calling it quits after six years. The concessions stand with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos burgers, chopped cheese fries, and buffalo chicken tenders announced the news over Instagram this week ahead of the upcoming beach season. “The times have been real, the vibes have been strong, but it’s time to go,” the post reads.

Williamsburg: A Vietnamese restaurant backed by fine dining alums from Blue Hill at Stone Barns and the Michelin-starred Benu in San Francisco is no more. Matt Le-Khac and Jimmy Tran announced the closure of Bolero over Instagram last week, writing that they were “humbled” to participate in “this new movement in Vietnamese cuisine.” The restaurant, which opened a month before the pandemic, ushered in a “new era for Vietnamese fine dining,” according to Eater critic Robert Sietsema. Its last day was February 19.

February 17

Greenpoint: Green Lane Coffee is out in Greenpoint after two years. Owner Dmitry Miroshnichenko attributed the closure to rising food costs and competition in the neighborhood, Greenpointers reports. “There are too many coffee shops that have been open recently in our neighborhood … and our location was just too far from the main foot traffic,” he said. A second location of Green Lane remains open on the Upper East Side.

Tribeca: Pakistan Tea House, a late-night Tribeca restaurant popular with taxi drivers and city government workers, is done after four decades. The restaurant was known for its affordable combo platters, which at one point consisted of two curries, raita, and rice or bread for $7. The deal made Pakistan Tea House one of the city’s classic cheap-eats restaurants, according to Eater critic Robert Sietsema. Google reviews claiming the restaurant had closed date back to last fall, and a “for rent” sign now hangs in its window.

Williamsburg: The Brooklyn outpost of the Meatball Shop has closed after more than a decade on Bedford Avenue. Owners Michael Chernow and Daniel Holzman opened this offshoot of their meatball-themed restaurant in 2011, a year after their first location took off on the Lower East Side, Greenpointers reports. Google now lists the restaurant as permanently closed and a “for rent” sign hangs in its window. At peak, there were eight Meatball Shops around the city, along with accompanying cocktail bar with the tone-deaf name, Sidepiece.

February 10

Greenpoint: Homecoming, a Greenpoint coffee shop with another location in Williamsburg, known for its plants and home goods, relocated from 107 Franklin Street down the street to 116 Franklin Street this month.

Little Italy: Gran Tivoli, the Italian tavern run by Australians Robert Marchetti and Jason Scott that first launched in 2019, is no more. The Instagram site is now private and Google and Yelp both note its closure.

Midtown: Random Access, the Thai-leaning restaurant from Hand Hospitality (Her Name is Han, Hakata TonTon) opened in 2021, with the aim of boosting the quality of food options near Penn Station. It served diner-y comforts like crab curry mac and cheese and mussel chowder. The restaurant has been shuttered since late January and Google marks it as permanently closed. The website has been converted to a private page. Eater has reached out to Hand Hospitality for more information.

Prospect Heights: Maison Yaki, a French Japanese skewer spot that was billed as a more affordable counterpart to sibling Olmsted, has closed in Prospect Heights after launching in 2019. The team has turned the space into Petite Patate, a pivot from chef and owner Greg Baxtrom, that features straightforward French casual fare in a restaurant named for his dog, Spud.

Soho: Open since 2003, Mooncake Foods is finished; it’s no longer serving dumplings, soups, and other Asian comfort foods. Gallic wine bar Bisou has taken its place.

Upper East Side: China Jade, a Chinese restaurant staple of the Yorkville section of the neighborhood, is done, according to the East Side Feed. A phone line has been disconnected on the business, which first opened in 2017.

Upper West Side: Ashoka, an Indian restaurant on the Upper West Side open since 2017, has closed, according to West Side Rag. The space has been emptied and a phone line was disconnected.

Upper West Side: Indie Food and Wine, an Italian restaurant, in the Film Society of Lincoln Center shuttered in late January, according to the West Side Rag. It had been in the space since 2011.

February 3

Chinatown: Ming’s Caffe, a restaurant along Canal Street that fell somewhere between a Hong Kong-style cafe and New York bodegas, is done. The restaurant was a gathering place for senior citizens, construction workers, taxi drivers, and younger artists types who shared an appreciation for the large and affordable menu. Yelp and Google now list Ming’s as permanently closed; calls to the business on Friday morning revealed that the phone line has been disconnected.

East Village: Cuban restaurant Cafe Cortadito is done after 18 years on East Third Street. Owners Ricardo Arias and Patricia Valencia attributed the closure to a rent hike — from $8,000 to $15,000 a month, according to EV Grieve. 210 E. Third Street, near Avenue B

East Village: Cedric Hernandez and Charles De La Cruz have closed the second location of their Essex Market juice shop Essex Squeeze, EV Grieve reports. The company started as a stall in the food hall in the summer of 2020, before expanding with this short-lived location a little under a year ago. 300 E. Fifth Street, near Second Avenue

East Williamsburg: Champs Diner announced its closing over social media last month: “After 12 years, two locations, and more pancakes than we’ll ever be able to count, we’ll be closing shop,” the post read. The vegan diner closed things out with a final service on January 29.

Greenwich Village: Brooklyn Kolache, a Bed-Stuy cafe that helped introduce New Yorkers to Texas-style kolaches over a decade ago, has closed its off-shoot location on MacDougal Street after a year and a half. The bakery had been hit by wire fraud last fall totaling some $15,000 in losses, says owner Autumn Stanford, a native Texan. Business at the second location had already been slow, and the outpost would likely have closed this spring regardless. The bakery’s last day was January 29.

Hoboken: Dom’s Bakery Grand, often cited as one of Frank Sinatra’s favorite bakeries, closed after 43 years at the end of January. The Hoboken institution announced the news on Facebook last month, writing that owners Dom and Flo Castelitto planned to retire.

Nomad: Sit-down pizzeria Waldy’s Wood Fired Pizza & Penne is out on Sixth Avenue. The restaurant announced the closure in a post on social media on Christmas.

Prospect Heights: Greg Baxtrom, the chef behind Prospect Heights restaurants Olmsted and Patti Ann’s, has shuttered his Japanese French skewer spot Maison Yaki to make way for Petite Patate, a French bistro opening in the space on February 10.

Soho: Niche Niche closed at the end of January after almost four years of operating as a dinner party-style restaurant. The MacDougal Street restaurant from Ariel Arce, who also runs Tokyo Record bar and Air’s Champagne Parlor, invited rotating “hosts” — as many as 300 each year — to take over the restaurant in daily stints, pulling professionals from Eleven Madison Park, Le Bernardin, and other fine dining institutions. In the spring, the space will become home to Rome institution Roscioli, with Arce as a partner.