A Running List of Restaurants That Closed in New York City, February 2021

As New York City approaches the one-year anniversary of its first indoor dining shutdown, restaurants and bars continue to close their doors. At least 1,000 have closed since March due to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. 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.

In all likelihood, this is only the beginning of permanent closures in New York, as rent payments continue to mount and restaurants attempt to weather the winter months on takeout, delivery, and limited indoor dining. In September, a survey from the New York State Restaurant Association predicted that as many as two-thirds of the state’s restaurants could permanently close by the end of that year if they did not receive additional government aid. 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.

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 [email protected]. This post will be updated regularly.

February 19

Bed-Stuy: Seven years after its debut in a small storefront on Putnam Avenue, Calaca has closed its doors. The restaurant, known in the neighborhood for its regional Mexican specials, homemade flour tortillas, and mezcal margaritas, closed at the end of January. Co-owners David and Patti Hurtado are in the process of reopening the restaurant at a new location on the corner of Putnam and Nostrand Avenues. An ongoing GoFundMe campaign supports renovation costs.

East Village: One of the East Village’s newest delis, called Your Desire For Food, quietly closed its doors this winter. The corner grocer with sandwiches and salads opened on Avenue B last June, according to local blog EV Grieve.

Gowanus: Mission Dolores, a beloved neighborhood watering hole, has closed its doors after a decade. Located in an old garage, the Gowanus bar was “the kind of place where you could watch four quarters of a football game and then stick around for beers after, or you could show up for a Tinder date,” according to Grub Street. Mission Dolores has been temporarily closed since mid-December, when its owners announced that the bar would be temporarily hibernating for the winter season.

Hell’s Kitchen: The original New York City outpost of Ivan Ramen will not be reopening after the pandemic. Owner Ivan Orkin confirmed to Eater that his acclaimed Hell’s Kitchen Slurp Shop, which has long served as the anchor of the Gotham West Market food hall in Hell’s Kitchen since 2013, permanently closed on November 1, 2020.

Lower East Side: Well-liked Japanese restaurant Yopparai is leaving Rivington Street after nine years. The restaurant temporarily closed following the state-mandated shutdown of indoor dining last March. “We tried takeout, but our menu and style wasn’t well suited for that,” co-owners Christy and Gaku Shibata tell Bowery Boogie. blog Bowery Boogie. The duo is apparently planning to reopen the restaurant at a new location in the next month.