Loi, the high-end Greek restaurant on West 70th street run by charismatic chef Maria Loi, closed today. It had opened in 2011. The restaurant wasn’t able to come to an agreement with its landlord on a new lease. But Mel Wymore, who was a partner in the restaurant, says that Loi isn’t gone for good.
“With sadness, we announce the close of Loi Restaurant at 208 West 70th Street. After lease negotiations came to a stalemate, we realized the metrics were not conducive to continuing at this location.  However, from the moment Chef Loi arrived in New York, she became a treasured culinary addition to the Upper West Side and an esteemed colleague among her professional peers. We can be assured that her warm hospitality and excellent Greek cuisine  will soon again find its place among New York’s finest.”
I was lucky to celebrate a couple of special occasions at Loi and enjoyed myself. Maria’s a great hostess and the food was excellent.
That location has an arguably high turnover rate. I’m thinking of the places that were in that spot since Mendy’s closed ~ten years ago.
It opened in 2011 and closed today? How could the owners renovate the place, build a new kitchen with only a few years on the lease? Sounds very strange to me.
It appeared that Ms. Loi knew how to run a restaurant but had no ideas about running a bar. Bar area was large and beautiful but never had anyone there unless it was for a private party. No happy hour/specials and no one in bar = lost money/revenue.
she had no idea how to run a restaurant, how to actually cook in a restaurant environment or how to deal with staff. I remember hearing her literally screaming at wait staff five minutes before opening, threatening to fire everybody because she was “MARIA LOI” Impossible woman, I must say it puts a smile on my face to see her fail
Ms. Loi was a most personable hostess. Along with the cuisine and setting, Loi’s was deliciously memorable. Come back soon Maria.
A friend and I often dined at the counter when it was Compass, and the bar area was nearly always full. The food was delicious. Never quite warmed up to Loi or its proprietress. She’s lovely and friendly but rather aggressively so. We didn’t like the food as well and stopped going a couple of years ago.
Can just imagine the One-Percent’ers reading this and thinking,
“No more Loi? OY!!”
It is a great space and Loi had excellent, authentic food…But it’s a shame “neighborhood” restaurants (with ample bar space) neglect to offer Happy Hour. It’s the kiss of death! Look at a place like Tolani…they are packing the bar every day for Happy Hour. Hopefully a newcomer will make the best of the location and welcome neighborhood residents.
Some places are doomed and this place from the days of The Grand Finale is one of this group.
Marika, Compass, Loi in the past 10 years prove this.
Michael, this is one more peg knocked into the holes of a web of landlord greed (similar to that of dentists) & space shortage. It’s repeated in today’s NY Times, about the coming demise of Union Square Cafe after about 30 years. Mayor de Blasio, State Legislators & City Council, don’t we need rent regulations for commercial ground space, at last?
What do you mean by “moderation”?
Wasn’t the 70th st space also a NY Mets themed place ?
I am thinking Keith Hernandez, Rusty Staub, or something like that…..
Yup. Lee Mazzilli’s bar/restaurant . . . about 20 years ago. It is a very doomed location. Good restaurants with nice bars need happy hours.
That’s too bad. The food was delicious.
But have to say I’m not surprised regarding the lease situation. As someone who lived in the building as a market rate tenant, the landlord and management company seems inhospitable to keeping long-term tenants. Makes me wonder if an additional objective is turnover in order to generate broker commissions.
On the flip-side, the space was quite large, so maybe the restaurant would make more sense in a less grandiose setting.
Don’t go far! Have enjoyed some delicious and memorable meals at Loi.
the food was very solid but I thought the space was three times what was needed. hopefully they can find a more appropriate sized space – such a dearth of good greek spots on the UWS.
Such a loss – hope Maria Loi IS back soon!!
She made an ethereal Greek yogurt! And she is both a great chef and a wonderful person/community member. Very generous – put extra goodies on our Passover takeout platter for an unwell family member!
Hoping to see her again soon in our Lincoln Square community.
Very saddened. This is one of our favorite restaurants and have considered Maria a friend. We look forward to experiencing her exceptional culinary expertise in another location. Please keep us in the loop about where and when!
Karina Costantino and Robert Corso
It was “ok”, nothing to write home about. Same with Compass and the place before that. The space was heartless and dark. Every day it seems more and more crap was taped to the window – not very classy. The location would seem great for a restaurant but for some reason it does not seem to work (Cafe Lux next door does very well). Perhaps a restaurant group will take it over – Mario Batali, Danny Meyer, Keith McNally, Michael White, Andrew Carmellini…
hope West Side Market moves in!
I am devastated! First of all we only discovered the restaurant recently through friends. Maria made the most delicious chicken dish I have eaten in the entire city of Manhattan. I can;t help it I LOVE chicken and her chicken dish was unbelievable! Never dry and much better than the competition next door (Cafe Lexington). I’m not a yogurt fan. As a matter of fact I never eat yogurt.I don;t know what she does to this particular version of it but I could not put it down.
Folks this is not your typical Greek food. The next time Maria opens run don’t walk. Maria has cooked for several of our Presidents and it’s no wonder why.I bet if the Landlord had tried the food there is no way we would be having this conversation right now.
We loved this restaurant and ate here often. We were so sad to see the closed sign when we were on our way to eat there last night. The menu had something for every palette. The food was always delicious. The service always very attentive, and, of course, Maria was always gracious and warm. We are hopeful to see Loi re-emerge somewhere on the Upper West Side very soon!
That is because it is doubtful that she is closing due to lease issues. Overall reviews as of late had turned overwhelmingly bad,(look at Yelp) comments about food portions and quality had gone down etc, Also Maria sweet as many people think she is was impossible to work with/for evidenced by the extremely high personnel turnover. Her focus was always her self promotion by any and all means! Don’t expect to see her in another place anytime soon.
This was never a “real” restaurant, but a cheap imitation of a “celebrity chef.” Hype all the way. Food was mediocre, service was poor, but ” the chef came to our table!” A Kardashion poser.