A new cafe is opening as another one closes, and a beloved local restaurant called Buster’s shuts its doors.
A new spot called Cafe Bee is coming soon to 239 West 72nd street on the North side of the street between Broadway and West End Avenue. Thanks to Jill for the photo.
Oren’s Daily Roast on Broadway between 83rd and 84th street is closing on May 22 after being in business for about two and a half years. The high rent did them in, an employee told us. The chain’s other locations, including one on 112th street, will remain open.
Al Dente on Amsterdam between 79th and 80th is getting a “refresh” after 20 years, the owner Mona tells us. They changed the name to Pretto, upgraded the interior, and added some new items to the menu, including six kinds of bruschetta. They also now have an aperitivo bar. Many of the staples on the menu remain and the kitchen staff is the same. “After 20 years you want something fresh,” Mona said. Pretto means “pure.” Thanks to Holly for the photo.
Midtown News & Smoke on Broadway near 97th street has closed. The guys at Earth Cafe tell Paul the spot will be replaced by a new bodega.
Busters NYC, a small, well-regarded local restaurant on Amsterdam between 103rd and 104th street, has closed. “Farm-fresh ingredients, lively flavored & properly seasoned food, with delicious homemade dessert,” said one reviewer on Yelp, where the restaurant averaged 4.5 stars. “Bar-none, the best meal I’ve eaten in quite some time. A five-star meal in an unassuming & quiet neighborhood.” The answering machine tells customers they’re “focusing solely on our catering and our classes.”
The owners wrote thanked their customers on Facebook: “For the past eleven years, Busters has been striving to do a good job for all of our customers. Our commitment to you was always first, but never would we have thought that we were able to touch so many people, in so many ways.”
Ollie’s, Sun-Chan and Aangan on 103rd street and Broadway have been closed for a month because of a gas problem in the building they share. Ollie’s had barely been open two weeks when it happened, and an employee there told us she didn’t know when exactly they’d be reopening. They’re still waiting on Con Ed to fix everything. Unfortunately, as we saw with Kefi, gas problems can seem to last forever. Good luck to the restaurant owners. Thanks to Terence for the photo.
Prime Ko (Prime West?) on W.85 between B’way & Amsterdam is closed. The space was seized by the city marshal and there is now a “for rent” sign in the window. There are two other stores on the same block but around the corner on Amsterdam where the furniture store and card shop used to be, they too have the city marshal notice posted, which I thought odd since both places had been empty for awhile.
Buster’s was the rare BYOB zero-corkage restaurant on UWS. Hosts Glenn and Fidel prepared delicious food and were happy to open and pour the wines we brought. They will be missed.
Besides A Cafe at 108/Columbus, please share any other UWS BYOB’s you know of.
Alachi Masala, on Amsterdam between 83rd & 84th, is a fabulous BYOB Indian restaurant. They also have a $19.99 dinner special. It’s one of the best deals in the neighborhood.
I’ll second the Alachi Masala recommendation as an excellent BYOB destination.
Very sad about Buster’s. Does anyone know if they will be moving elsewhere and/or keeping their catering business alive?
They will be based in Jersey City (where they live) and hope to open a food truck there. I believe they are planning to focus on education. Keep up with them on Facebook to see next steps.
Saddened to learn about Buster’s. Fidel and Glenn were always welcoming and personable and their food delicious and super-fresh. I will miss them sorely.
Alachi Masala, on Amsterdam between 83rd & 84th, is a fabulous BYOB Indian restaurant. They also have a $19.99 dinner special. It’s one of the best deals in the neighborhood.
Service at Oren’s was horrible, glad they are closing.
Sorry to hear about the Oren’s, although I wonder if they also hurt themselves. I used to go the one at 112th St. daily but haven’t been in since last autumn after they imposed a 15% price increase and the cost of my daily latte went from around $4.30 to $5.00. Have others stopped visiting their shops due to high prices?
I always thought the signage at Oren’s was awful. Maybe it wasn’t the signage exactly – but it always look to me like they were closed when in fact they were open
The situation with Aangan and Ollies is very strange. Con Ed spent a couple of days digging up the street then disappeared. It has now been about a month. Meantime two important restaurants for our neighborhood have been left hanging. Can someone find out what is going on? I have to believe that it has to do with the building they are located in, not the gas lines. Nothing in the street should take a month to repair. This is a terrible way to treat valuable businesses.
The situation at Aangan and Ollie’s seems to have spread. I noticed on Thursday evening that the adjacent Sun-Chan Japanese restaurant and the pizza joint are now also closed, with signs in the window blaming it on the gas work. Are the Mexican Deli and Jerusalem Gyro next to get burned?
Noooooo not the pizza too.
Maybe we shouldn’t walk around that block. I don’t trust gas problems.
So, that’s my building where the supposed gas leak is, and our gas has been off in the building for the past month as well. I just called Con Ed (I’ve been meaning to do that, and this article reminded me). The woman I spoke to said there’s no ticket in her system for this problem, that their construction division’s work on this doesn’t generate a ticket, so it sounds like they just forgot about it! There’s a ticket in now for the construction division to come back and fix it/fill in the hole. Unbelievable. I can’t believe the restaurants haven’t been calling them daily, I would.
Update: as of tonight Sun Chan Japanese restaurant is also closed because of the gas shut off.
Yeah, I can thank ConEd for the construction messes that they leave behind (and unmarked) after falling into a ditch in the middle of a crosswalk on Broadway that went unfixed and without caution cones/paint or any indication of the drop that ended up in a nasty sprain. And just as soon as the road was re-paved they were back to digging again.
PRETTO is not a word in any language I know. Why chose such a name???
It means ‘pure’ or ‘truthful’ in Italian.
Ciao!
Pretto is pure in Italian
Just an FYI: Italian: a nickname from pretto, a reduced form of puretto, a derivative of puro ‘pure’. You should have researched it a bit more before commenting. Good luck with your new space.
Hum…. I am Italian born and raised and I have never heard the word “pretto”, especially with the accent on the ‘e’. Go figure.
Oren’s is a big loss. What a shame. Best latte on the UWS, friendly staff and great vibe in there. I’ll make a point to go to the other location. We need more Oren’s not fewer in this neighborhood. Wonder what small revenue increase will come by charging a higher rent. My guess is that it’s below 5% and negligible after taxes and management fees. What a shame.
Does anyone know what is going into the old laundry mat on Columbus between 85 and 86?
The new H&H: https://www.westsiderag.com/2015/07/30/new-hh-bagels-set-to-open-on-the-upper-west-side
Prime KO, the kosher steak house on West 85th, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue has also closed. It was closed by the city marshall and their is a for rent sign in the window.
Anyone know what’s coming on Amsterdam between 66 and 70? There’s so many empty spaces now and so many more high rises. Where’s the food?