OPENINGS & CLOSINGS: B. CAFE, LOKAL, BABETTE, SUBWAY, WEST SIDE BARBER, THE WRITER’S ROCK, MORE
A Belgian restaurant goes away, as a new Mediterranean spot opens.
Belgian restaurant B. Cafe on Amsterdam between 87th and 88th has closed. “With the end of our lease has come the end of our B. Cafe West location,” they wrote in a note. It now appears clear that B. Cafe won’t be moving into the former home of Key Fresh & Natural on 90th and Amsterdam either. Hopefully they’ll land somewhere else in the neighborhood. (In the meantime, commenters should feel free to give some suggestions for where else to get good mussels in the neighborhood.) Thanks to Daniel, Amanda, Oren, Claire and others for tips.
Lokal Mediterranean Kitchen is now open at 473 Columbus Avenue (83rd Street), replacing Bistro Citron. We haven’t been able to find a menu online, but the stuff they’re posting on Facebook (Mediterranean dips and spreads, baked bread) looks good. Thanks to Kevin for the photo.
Babette women’s clothing store at 353 Columbus Avenue has closed. Thanks to Becka Slade for the photo.
The Subway sandwich shop on Amsterdam between 75th and 76th was seized by marshals for failure to pay taxes. Thanks to Stuart, Bob and several other tipsters.
West Side Barber at 2414 Broadway (88th-89th) has closed. Marsha tells us the owner moved to Florida. They say in a note that they’ve moved to Elite Barber Shop at 662B Amsterdam Avenue (92nd-93rd). Thanks to @afordNYC and Kevin for photos.
There’s a For Rent sign up at Yogurt and Candy World on Columbus and 81st Street. Were they another victim of scaffolding, wonders Terry, who sent in the photo above.
Tip Top Stores on Broadway between 100th and 101st had 60% off signs on its windows that say “Last Call”, though they’ve been saying they’ll close since at least October.
The Writer’s Rock, a creative writing program for adults, just opened at 486 Amsterdam Avenue (83rd-84th Street), sharing space with Writopia Lab and West Side Commons. They teach fiction, memoir, musical improv, manuscript consultation, science-fiction, food writing, and more. More here.
Please send all openings and closings tips to westsiderag at gmail dot com.
Loved b cafe. Really sad they closed down
Cafe du Soleil has great mussels and a Mussels night special on Mondays. Three kinds of mussels every night and several more on Mondays. Spectacular garlic fries .
Truffle fries also rock!
For great mussels try Cafe du Soleil on Broadway at 104th Street. Monday is mussels night!
Re West Side Barber: the owner is moving to Florida; the one remaining employee is moving to Elite Barber Shop.
Sorry to ask but do you know which barber went to the new shop? There were a couple of folks working there that I have gone to for a couple of years.
Do you and/or anybody else know where the others went, besides the owner to FL?
Thanks
I’m assuming it was Marilyn, the third chair. The middle guy (whose name I don’t recall) left last Fall.
I’d been going there for years and thought something was up when the long-time second chair guy left suddenly last Fall (and was not replaced). He must have known the end was near — I’m guessing that the lease expired December 31 and the owner decided that that was it for him.
It was little known about the place, except to regulars, but they served some awesome mussels while you were getting your hair cut.
The lease was not up. Lyova is the American immigrant story made good — he worked his butt off and made enough to retire and spend time with his family. The timing was right for him.
The business was initially in the Belnord’s Broadway retail space and moved up a few blocks in the 90s sometime as I recall.
Cibo Y Vino has nice mussels. That barber shop has been there for decades. Sorry to see it go. Another one of the old-time shops gone.
Terrific mussels deal at dive bar at 96 and Amsterdam: $14 gets you big pot of mussels, mound of fries and a Stella or leffe beer.
North, there’s LE MONDE on Broadway at 112th; south, there’s BISTRO CASSIS on Columbus at 70th. Both lovely and reliable.
Lokal is great! Delicious very fresh food!
great mussels at Crave Fish Bar Amsterdam 80/81 St. on Monday only. $1.00 oysters from 5-7PM Mon/Fri.
Tip Top has been going out of business since whenever I started going there–three years?
I’m guessing it’s a month-to-month lease. Has more variety of stuff than your basic 99 cent store.
I wonder how many people remember the old Tip Top, on the East side of Broadway.
How much are the two related to each other?
Missing the mussels at B Cafe?
Excellent mussels can be found at Cafe du Soleil, Broadway between 104-105 Sts. In fact, the whole menu is terrific and worth the trip a little further uptown. Nice French resto!
Good to know that they have French resto too. But … what’s that?
Resto is the Americanized version of what a French person would say; they often truncate “restaurant” (said with your best French accent) to “restau”.
And for those of you for whom that was obvious, what can I tell you?
Anyone know how long West Side Barber Shop was there? I got a few cuts there over the years. At least 20 years I think. Its a loss think it added to our community and was a regular spot for many.
He originally bought the classic barber shop in the Belnord, in the early 1980s. I started going around 1986. He then moved it to the location we all knew, as I recall in the mid/late 90s.
We spoke with the staff at B café the day before they closed; several are likely going to wind up at the sister bar Belgian Beer Bar near Madison Park.
Tip Top has had those signs up since mid April 2016 for sure- I know because we moved to an apartment around the block on April 15 and thought we’d totally lucked out and could get all the extra hangers and hand soap and other random things we needed for cheap during our first few days on the block. They still have good deals on random household stuff.
The B Cafe had great food but the menu wore thin over time, as the wait staff became down right nasty! I stopped dining there some time ago…. There are too many good restaurants with great waiters in the neighborhood to go to!!!