BY CHLOE CHAIN IS DOWN TO TWO LOCATIONS — AND MORE RESTAURANT CLOSINGS

In this weekly column, Eater documents the city’s permanent restaurant and bar closures. If a restaurant or bar has closed in your neighborhood, let us know at [email protected].

March 29

Flatbush: Lords Bakery, a Brooklyn institution open for more than four decades, abruptly closed this week. The building’s landlord took possession of the building on Monday, according to a Marshall’s notice on the door. A hand-written sign says the old-school business is “permanently closed.” The bakery was one of the last holdouts on the heavily developed intersection of Flatbush and Nostrand avenues, known locally as the Junction. 2135 Nostrand Avenue, near Flatbush Avenue

Kensington: Moroccan restaurant and mezcaleria Cafe Fés has closed after three years. “Cafe Fés is permanently closed and a new restaurant will be replacing it,” the business shared on Instagram this week. Owner Raduone Eljaouhari served tagines and other Moroccan foods he grew up eating in northern Africa. As for the wide selection of mezcals behind the bar? He picked that up while consulting at Mayamezcal, a Mexican restaurant in the East Village. 709 Church Avenue, near East Seventh Street

Park Slope: Aunt Butchie’s, a Brooklyn offshoot of a Staten Island dessert shop that opened in 1994, has closed in Park Slope. The business has additional locations in Bay Ridge, Staten Island, and Marlboro, New Jersey. 383 Fifth Avenue, at Sixth Street

Soho: The restaurant chain formerly known as By Chloe is down to two locations in New York City. Beatnic has closed its Flatiron and Rockefeller Center restaurants. The small chain of vegan restaurants, started by founders Chloe Coscarelli and Samantha Wasser, changed its name from By Chloe to Beatnic in 2021 after it was purchased by new owners in a bankruptcy sale. The company had eight locations in the city at the time of the acquisition. Three years later, only storefronts in Soho and the Seaport District. 60 W 22nd Street, near Sixth Avenue; 1 Rockefeller Plaza, near Fifth Avenue

Williamsburg: A restaurant run by alums of Olmsted and Gramercy Tavern has closed after seven months. Neeloo, owned by Christophe Moser and Claudio Angelli, is finished on Grand Street, Greenpointers reports. No announcement was made ahead of the closure; Google also lists the business as permanently closed. The business opened at this address in September with food that was influenced by southern France. Brooklyn Magazine called the menu “high-end comfort food.” 284 Grand Street, near Roebling Street

March 22

Bushwick: The home of Abracadabra Magic Deli for the last six years has been shuttered by the New York Department of Buildings over conditions deemed “imminently perilous to life.” The Bushwick cafe announced the sudden news on Instagram this week, stating that the restaurant would be closed for at least six months — “or forever.” The Turkish cafe was known for its vegan and gluten-free pastries. The owners have a newer location, called Abracadabra Magic Diner, in Ridgewood. 190 Knickerbocker Avenue, near Jefferson Street

Greenwich Village: MacDougal Street’s Taco Village has closed, as listed on Google and Yelp. The small shop opened in 2022 serving birria tacos and California burritos with french fries. A “for lease” sign now hangs in the window. 106 MacDougal Street, near Bleecker Street

Hell’s Kitchen: Is nostalgia getting old? Peechy Keen, an American restaurant with a retro vibe, shuttered at the end of February. The business announced the decision on Instagram without providing a reason for the closure. The restaurant, designed by the same team as the popular Indian restaurant Dhamaka, opened in Hell’s Kitchen almost two years ago. 325 W. 44th Street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues

Koreatown: Joomak Banjum, a Michelin-starred restaurant known for bending the rules of Korean cooking, has closed. Chef and owner Jiho Kim attributed the closure to “skyrocketing” rent. At the beginning of 2023, the year’s lease jumped from $38,000 to $42,000, which equals 20 percent of the restaurant’s revenue. He says the math wasn’t sustainable for the fine dining establishment. The last day of operation was February 18, 2024. 312 Fifth Avenue, between West 31st and 32nd streets

Tribeca: The original location of Blue Spoon Coffee has closed after 18 years. Owner Heather Teegarden, who opened the shop in 2005, confirmed the closure to Tribeca Citizen, a neighborhood blog. “This location was severely impacted by Covid and has not been able to bounce back,” she said in a note on the door. “Remote work has negatively affected business and the shop can no longer sustain itself.” The shop has another location on William Street. 76 Chambers Street, near Broadway

March 15

Bed-Stuy: Haitian restaurant Grandchamps has shuttered after nine years. The business announced in January that it would be closed “until further notice.” This week, the owners clarified that Grandchamps would not be reopening and that they would repurpose the space. “The current condition of human beings, our society and our system can’t actually sustain businesses,” the business said on Instagram. Owners Shawn and Sabrina Brockman opened the restaurant in eastern Bed-Stuy in 2015. 197 Patchen Avenue, near Halsey Street

East Village: Ice cream chain the Dolly Llama is out on First Avenue. The California-based business opened in Manhattan a year ago. The shop has been closed since last summer when a note on the door told customers it was “temporarily closed for remodeling.” The business has since permanently closed and the 2,000-square-foot space is up for lease. 137 First Avenue, between St. Marks Place and Ninth Street

East Village: Perk Coffee has left the building. The five-year-old coffee shop is no longer listed on the company’s website, and workers were seen removing equipment from the building earlier this month. Perk has locations in Murray Hill and on the Upper East Side that remain open. 534 East 14th Street, between Avenues A and B

Long Island City: Casa Lola, a tapas restaurant from a chef who cooked at Noma, has closed after seven months. The restaurant, run by Valentina Salcedo, opened last May. Before that, the space was previously home to Bella Via, an Italian restaurant that was open for 20 years. The restaurant has been closed for service since December. 47-46 Vernon Boulevard, near 48th Avenue

Midtown: Mischa, the Manhattan restaurant that had New Yorkers talking about a $29 hot dog, has closed after less than a year. The restaurant from Alex Stupak, the chef and owner of Empellón and its four locations, announced the news over Instagram on Tuesday. “Mischa is an innovative concept with a meaningful goal,” the restaurant said in the post. “Maybe it will reopen elsewhere one day.” The 150-seat restaurant was located within the Hugh, the food court of Citicorp Center. 157 E. 53rd Street, near Lexington Avenue

Union Square: Plnt Burger, the vegan burger chain from Top Chef star Spike Mendelsohn, has closed its Union Square outpost after two years. “This decision follows the growth of our other Manhattan locations, leading us to consolidate our operations in New York,” the restaurant said in a statement online. The Maryland-based chain has over a dozen locations; the one Union Square location was its first restaurant in New York. There are now restaurants in Nomad and Bryant Park. 139 Fourth Avenue, near East 13th Street

Upper East Side: Sushi roll restaurant Atami Japanese Fusion has closed. The restaurant told Upper East Site in late February that it would be shutting down. 1167 Second Avenue, between East 61st and 62nd Streets

Upper East Side: A location of the Bareburger chain open for a decade has closed on the Upper East Side. It was one of seven stores in Manhattan; there are others in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Ohio. 1681 First Avenue, at East 87th Street

Upper East Side: Noodle Fun has closed, with a “for rent” sign now in the window. It first opened in 2014. “While it’s not clear why Noodle Fun closed, a new Chinese spot,” Upper East Site reports, “Dragon 88, recently opened up a few doors down on First Avenue between East 88th and 87th Streets.” 1744 First Avenue, at East 90th Street

March 8

Crown Heights: Joy & Snook, a longstanding Guyanese restaurant and bakery, has closed. The business, owned by Joy Smith, has been open at this address since 2011. The grates have been down in recent weeks and Google indicates that it has permanently closed. “Everybody was surprised that I was here for so long,” Smith once told Eater. The restaurant was located on a stretch of Nostrand Avenue crowded with Caribbean businesses. The detail that distinguished this one was the small Guyanese flag on its awning next to the words “GT Style,” for Georgetown, Guyana’s capital. There was no written menu, but the restaurant had many specialties, including long beans with chicken or swordfish, three-pointed pine tarts, split-pea fritters called pholourie, and pepperpots with beef and cow foot. 762 Nostrand Avenue, at Sterling Place

East Village: Koko Wings, a Korean fried chicken chain, has closed on First Avenue. The restaurant, which has another location on the Upper East Side, opened at this address at the end of 2019. The space is up for rent with a monthly rent of $13,500. 192 First Avenue, near East 12th Street

East Village: The space that’s housed Wild Rabbit Coffee is up for rent. The coffee shop with Hong Kong-style toasts opened at this address a year ago. According to a Marshall’s notice on the door, the building’s landlord took possession of the space in February. 110 E. Seventh St. between Avenue A and First Avenue

Greenwich Village: Manhattan wine bar Babs closed this week after five years. In an announcement on Instagram, the team attributed the decision to opening right before the pandemic, a “challenge that none of us expected.” Brothers Daniel and Evan Bennett, plus Louis Levy, opened Babs in 2019 as a follow-up to their critically acclaimed restaurant Mimi, which remains open. The space will soon become another location of the wine bar Parcelle from restaurateur, Grant Reynolds. 72 MacDougal Street, West Houston Street

West Village: Flip Sigi has closed its last location. “Times are changing and providing a place for cheap eats ... is becoming more and more difficult,” the owners wrote on Instagram. Michael Ryan and David Sewell opened their first Filipino taqueria in 2015. Over the years, they sold their spam breakfast burritos and longanisa tacos at locations on the Upper West Side, Jersey City, and even Chicago; they have since closed. The last remaining location, on Seventh Avenue, shuttered this week. The owners will continue to serve their food from a ghost kitchen starting on March 7. 131 Seventh Ave South, at West 10th Street

March 1

Astoria: A “secret” Thai restaurant is leaving Queens for Long Island. Vasinee Levy, co-owner of Secret Thai Street Food, closed her takeout counter on February 25 after a year in business. Levy was running the restaurant from a small counter at the back of a grocery store; when the owner tried to double her rent, she decided to move the business to Freeport, Long Island. 30-72 Steinway Street, between 30th and 31st avenues

Carroll Gardens: A Japanese restaurant known for its beef broth ramen has closed. Za-Ya Ramen closed on February 25 after seven years. Owner Iveelt Bayart opened the restaurant to showcase gyukotsu ramen, made from beef stock. “Our recipe, influenced by my Mongolian heritage, remains one of a kind,” he said in the closing announcement. There’s another location in Bushwick. 545 Court Street, between Centre and Garnet streets

Chelsea: An Italian restaurant backed by Shark Tank has closed after five years. Pasta by Hudson recently shuttered on Seventh Avenue, according to a note on the door. The restaurant opened in Turnstyle Market at Columbus Circle in 2018 and later expanded to Chelsea. In 2020, owner Brandon Fay appeared in an episode of Shark Tank, where he was offered a 50 percent stake in his company by the investor Barbara Corcoran. The episode aired in March, during the pandemic shutdown, so it never saw a boost in sales. 180 Seventh Avenue, at West 21st Street

East Village: Fish and Chips chain the Chippery has closed on Avenue A. The restaurant’s grates have been down in recent weeks, and Google marks the business as “permanently closed.” This was the first Manhattan location for a chain with three outposts in New Jersey. Eater has contacted the Chippery for more. 85 First Avenue, between Fifth and Sixth streets

Harlem: Lolo’s, a Manhattan seafood shack known for its seafood boils and conch fritters, has closed after a decade. Owners Leticia Skai Young-Mohan and Raymond Mohan announced the closure at the start of the year: Their lease was up and the building was being sold. Young-Mohan grew up a few blocks from the shop; she opened Lolo’s with her husband to serve their favorite foods from the Caribbean and Cape Cod. In a 2015 profile, the New York Times said its food was “the work of a thoughtful chef.” 303 W. 116th Street, near Frederick Douglass Boulevard

Midtown: In 1988, Charlie Palmer opened Aureole, first in an Upper East Side townhouse, then in Bryant Park. The acclaimed restaurant closed during the pandemic to become Charlie Palmer Steak. Now that’s closing, too. “The space has run its course,” Palmer says. Thursday was the last night of service for the Midtown steakhouse. The chef is turning his attention to opening a new restaurant at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Times Square. 135 W. 42nd Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues

Prospect Heights: Blue Marble closed its last remaining ice cream shop in December; the business is being replaced by a second location of Greenpoint’s Radio Bakery. Owners Alexis Miesen and Jennie Dundas opened 15 years ago on Underhill Avenue. The ice cream shop was their second brick-and-mortar location in Brooklyn; they built it with a $15,000 budget and leftover materials from a theater production Dundas starred in at the time. It was their last scoop shop after closing locations in Cobble Hill, Tribeca, the Upper West Side, and Governors Island. 186 Underhill Avenue, near Sterling Place

Upper East Side: Gray Hawk Grill, an American restaurant that opened at the height of the pandemic, has closed. Owner Steve Millan, a career restaurant manager, announced the closure earlier this month. Millan signed a lease a week before the pandemic shutdown; It he opened his restaurant in November 2020. “I wasn’t going to walk away from something that I’ve dreamt of doing for so many years,” he said at the time. The last day was February 24. 1556 Second Avenue, near East 81st Street

West Village: Manhattan’s nine-year-old bakery the Doughnut Project closed over the weekend. Owner Leslie Polizzotto attributed the closure to several factors, “including the approaching end of our lease.” Polizzotto opened on Morton Street in 2015. Her large doughnuts with unusual flavors — black pepper, everything seasoning — had fans beyond the West Village: The shop sold its doughnuts nationwide on Goldbelly, and the recipes will soon be available in a cookbook. 10 Morton Street, near Bleecker Street

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