Alouette, a French bistro on 97th Street and Broadway, will close its doors for good on August 30, because the owners couldn’t keep up with high taxes and rent. The writing was on the wall last month, as the restaurant sold more than 880 Groupon discounts, selling $92 meals for $39.
Alouette had been around for 16 years. Our tipster Gail tells us that they are moving to New Jersey, “where the rents are much cheaper.” In fact, anyone who bought the Groupon deal and isn’t planning to use it be August 30 may have to trek out to Hoboken, where the restaurant will reopen in October, according to the Groupon page. The owners posted a goodbye on the Alouette website:
Due to an overwhelming increase in real estate taxes, high rent and operation costs Alouette will be closing its doors in the Upper West Side.
August 30th, 2012 will be our final night.
We are truly grateful for the friends we’ve made and for the wonderful community support we’ve had these past years. We look forward to seeing you all again in the near future.
Stay tuned to our website for updates.
Merci beaucoup!
Jon, Mayra and the entire Alouette Team
Oh. No. What will take its place? Another bank? Such a sad story for the neighborhood.
And somehow we keep hoping for ‘mom-and-pop’ stores (who can’t afford the sky-high rents either). Does the entie UWS need to become another urban blight before the rents come down?
And, thanks to the indispensible Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alouette_(song), here is the meaning of that annoying ear-worm of the song “Alouette”:
Alouette, gentille Alouette (Lark, nice lark ) /
Alouette, je te plumerai / (Lark, I will pluck you) /
Je te plumerai la tête / (I will pluck your head) /
…
Je te plumerai le bec / (I will pluck your beak ) /
et cetera / (et cetera)
YUP…THAT RESTAURANT SURE GOT … PLUCKED!!
does anyone know what the commercial rent rate was?
closing August 30th? They currently have a Groupon offer that is good until November 30th?
Ugh!! Why the hell did I move up here if EVERYTHING is closing? So sick of this…