Four more tipsters tell us Bed, Bath & Beyond is opening in the former home of Food Emporium on 90th and Broadway. Construction workers told three of our tipsters about the opening, and a fourth called the construction hotline. It’s not clear if it will be a traditional Bed, Bath or a store called Harmon Face Values, a health and beauty business that is owned by Bed Bath. The company never got back to us the last time we asked for confirmation on this tip. A sign says it will be completed in September, Rachel notes. Thanks to Rachel for the photo and Alan, Terry and Gordon for the tips.
A dim sum restaurant called Jing Fong plans to open in the former home of Planet Sushi on 78th and Amsterdam. Jing Fong’s Chinatown location holds 800 people, but the new spot will be much more modest, with 60 seats inside and 40 outside, according to the Times. It’s set to open in about two months. Here are some images of the food they serve.
There’s been quite a Chinese for revival on the UWS in recent years, with Red Farm, Han Dynasty, and Xian Famous Foods also opening locations. Thanks to Jackie, Matthew and several tipsters for sending in the info.
Hooray for BB&B! Now if we can just get some decent Chinese north of 86th Street. The old Hunan Balcony/Szechuan 98/Saigon 98/Szechuan 98 Again space is available…again.
Walk a few blocks north of 98th Street to 105th off Broadway, to Szechuan Garden. Their food is excellent and they’re very popular with Asians in the neighborhood. (SG was behind the most recent incarnation of the unlucky 98th Street location.) And though not quite above 86th Street, Han Dynasty at 85th off Broadway is quite good as well.
Thanks Rich, I agree Szechuan Garden 105 is great and I was bummed when their short-lived sister restaurant on 98th folded. In general there’s a dearth of really good Chinese between SG and below 86th Street. And I’m smack in the middle on 96th!
I saw the plywood barrier yesterday afternoon and wondered what was going in there. BB&B is not my first choice – nor my second – nor my third.
Young Sally,
What are your first three choices for that space?
Gosh — I hadn’t really considered my first three – but knew that BB&B was not one of the top.
Already got a sweetgreen coming in at 91st, which is nice.
Unrealistic wishes include an independent bookstore, perhaps some sort of food coop or a space that could rotate for local startups. I do miss the Food Emporium for household items.
You may want to move to Park Slope.
Your wish for an independent bookstore isn’t that unrealistic. Just check out Book Culture! I hear it’s wonderful.
We’ve got a Trader Joe coming in at 93rd & Columbus, which will effectively kill off D’Agostino, Mani Market and the Mani Cafe across the street. It has also been said Trader Joe will have an impact on Whole Foods, 5 blocks away.
My choice would be you take Trader Joe for Broadway and we get BB&B for Columbus
Book Culture on Columbus in the low 80’s is a great bookstore, and we should shop there rather than Amazon or Barnes & Noble. We should support our local businesses, as they’re disappearing at an alarming rate.
But… but…but… That’s a couple of blocks away! It takes as long to wait for the Uber as it does for the Uber to drive there. Clearly there needs to be an independent bookstore much closer.
What would be your first 3 choices?
Nor my fourth, fifth or sixth.
I love Jin Fong!!! So excited for decent dim sum on the UWS. And BBB is better than another gym or bank, I’ll take it. I hope they don’t kill Basics plus.
I thought retail chains like that are dying off? It’s better than having a vacant storefront but not by much.
That’s two BB&B within a mile of each other. To this real estate and marketing amateur that seems excessive.
My understanding from people who live in the building is it’s not a BB&B. It’s solely going to be a Harmon Face Values store.
Great, another drug store basically. :/
That makes a lot more sense – the space is way too small for a Bed Bath & Beyond.
Forty seats outside…just what the neighborhood needs, more public sidewalks being closed off for private use.
Well, the public uses it, right?
I know some people don’t like it, and I’m sorry that it is not a positive for you, but I actually love the sidewalk cafes. For me, it is one of my favorite things about NYC in warm weather.
After 9/11, when I came home to the UWS, the restaurants were full. It was as though no one knew quite what to do, but no one wanted to be alone. Everyone was in the sidewalk cafes, and in the restaurants, and there was a lot of support and community. I have had an even warmer feeling about these restaurants ever since that time.
Anyway, I hope this isn’t near you so it won’t be a direct pain in the neck for you.
When you become a senior citizen and have to get around in a walker on already crowded sidewalks that were laid out by the city and should be open for public use you will feel differently.
You may be right. I am genuinely sorry if it is difficult for you to get around. In the streets nearest me, where I see these most, there are still wide spaces on the sidewalks, and my mom (elderly, with Parkinsons, on a walker) got around until she couldn’t walk at all. Now she is pretty well trapped, unfortunately, but by the bad curb cuts more than anything else. But that is another story.
Glenn, that particular building was built in 1974, and the Building Codes were revamped by then to allow for much wider sidewalks. It won’t be a problem , , , site of the Old Copper Hatch for us true UWS’ers.
“After 9/11, when I came home to the UWS, the restaurants were full. It was as though no one knew quite what to do, but no one wanted to be alone.”
That could be the first sentence of a book…
Dim Sum – YAY!
The new Pizza place with Roman style pizza, opened on Wednesday on 72nd Street, it looks very good.
Which avenue is the pizza place on? I’ve seen several mentions about not having Chinese above 86th street, but where are the good places in the 70’s?
What’s opening on 67 st and Amsterdam Ave.??
Jimbo,
A year ago the store at Amsterdam and 67th applied for a liquor licence.
https://www.westsiderag.com/2016/04/05/liquor-license-applications-give-first-hints-at-new-uws-bars-restaurants
I live on 89 street & just passed 90 st & Broadway
which is all boarded up The construction worker said
they’re building a Bed Bath & Beyond which I think is
great so just now 5 pm I called the 800 # and said
that I live in NY & I usually go to your Lincoln Center
store Is it true that you’ll be opening a new store on
90 st & Broadway the address is 2431 Broadway and
the answer is Yes Great News
I think many people were hoping for a supermarket. Except for Key Food on Amsterdam and 85/86 – which is a good little market with good prices and is almost always packed – we really don’t have one. Nobody ever seems to go into the Gristede’s on 86th, primarily because of the high prices and the D’Astigno’s on Columbus is limping along with skimpy stock and high prices. So it appears we’ll have to put up with the crowds and be thankful for Key –
My favorite is Associated on Amsterdam between 96 and 97. Only place I ever go (for generics, staples, basics etc) where my bill is less than I expected.
The food emporium was pretty much a ghost town whenever I went in it. There needs to be a lot of foot traffic for these stores to be able to afford to stay in business, especially in the bigger stores
So when the Food Emporium on 68th & Broadway closed, I was part of a group called CARTS which tried to bring another supermarket in and we were unsuccessful. If someone had tried to bring another supermarket to the location on 90th & Broadway, they probably would have been unsuccessful as well. Sad but true. It seems these days we all have to rely on companies like Fresh Direct or the one I like, Peapod by Stop & Shop. :/
Also the Gristedes on 86th is disgusting. They renovated the ones on the east side and they’re bright, clean, and well stocked. We really needed a grocery store in the old food emporium space. Sigh.
More than likely Harmon Face…too close for another BBB
I live around the corner from what was Food Emporium and have been really hoping for a new, medium sized grocery store! I’ve been here for 9 years and being able to stop in for quick groceries on the way home was so convenient. Now I do Barzini’s a block up. I like supporting a small business but their space is so crowded, the produce isn’t great and everything is pretty over priced. We do NOT need another bed, bath and beyond or drug store like Harmon’s.
I spoke with a manager at bbb at 64 st. It will not be a traditional bbb but just a beauty and health place. To
Me that means another drug store with more beauty products, a combo of Ricky’s and Duane Reade. The neighborhood doesn’t need this, we need a grocery store/ supermarket.
Is Jim Fong the restaurant you wrote about months ago that has the fabulous fried chicken? Been watching the space for at least 3 or 4 months and going quite slowly. Looking forward to its opening
That’s Boka: https://www.westsiderag.com/2016/10/27/thrilling-boka-korean-restaurant-set-to-open-on-the-uws
Ordering Chinese food is such a classic cliche!
Wow Jing Fong!…I hope it is as good as the one in Chinatown..I do not consider any chinese food edible outside of chinatown..hahah
I love Jing Fong and really hope it works out but what seems to make the original work is the economies of scale of having hundreds of people and all the carts moving around. Without all the choices it won’t be as good, though I will still support it.
I cannot wait for Jing Fong. Sooooo good!
I sure hope it’s authentic dim sum. Having a Chinese-American wife of Cantonese ethnicity (we also lived 19yrs in Asia – including Hong Kong- before returning to Manhattan), we normally have to go down to Chinatown to get “good” dim sum in Manhattan.
Harmon is on the lower floor of the BBB at Lincoln Center. The prices are amazing, a good 30-40% lower than Duane Reade, Rite Aid, or any other chain store. And there are always discount coupons which means the prices are even lower.
We need better places to purchase our food, not more junk!
Clarification: referring to BB&B about junk, NOT Jing Fong!
I would love to see a big Mitsuwa-style Asian/American supermarket on the UWS.
I would love a Mitsuwa as well, but I am very excited about the rumor of H Mart (a Korean version of Mitsuwa) coming to Broadway and 110th Street!
Looks like Birdbath on Columbus between 72nd and 73rd has closed.