Photo by Carol.
Taco joint Tacombi is opening on Friday, May 31 at 11 a.m., after a closed preview on the 29th and 30th. Tacombi is at 377 Amsterdam Avenue (78th), the former home of Sugar & Plumm. See the menu here.
Bar and restaurant Nobody Told Me from Chef Nick Pfannerstill opened earlier this month at 951 Amsterdam Avenue (107th). The bar is having a preview month where it’s open from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. The kitchen is open until 1:30 a.m. Nobody Told Me sold 36 quarts of a carbonated cosmo at last weekend’s Taste of the UWS food festival! The menu is below.
Harvest Kitchen is replacing Flying Fisherman on Columbus between 72nd and 73rd Streets. The style of the food will be “American California” said owner Jeremy Wladis. Wladis is part of The Restaurant Group, which also owned Flying Fisherman.
That old Sugar & Plumm space is huuuuuuuge. I wonder how much business Tacombi will have to do to stay afloat.
As a SoCal transplant, Tacombi is the second best tacos in NYC (Los Tacos no 1 tops) with horchata too boot. This is their 5th location and the others are packed. This will put the horrendous Playa Betty out of business
Now I’m really looking forward to Tacombi. I think Playa will stay in business because of its location next to the JCC: it’s always packed with the nursery school toddlers and their parents who go for the convenience, if not the food, which I’ve only sampled once, without being impressed.
Considering how packed a large space like Playa Betty’s is just a few blocks down (and it’s tacos are pretty mediocre, to be honest), I imagine Tacombi wont have a hard time filling up most nights of the week. And it’s more affordable than the competition over on Columbus Ave like Cafe Frida, Santa Fe, and Cilantro.
If it’s family friendly and has good Margaritas it should do fine. People are fed up with Playa Betty’s shrinking their taco size 50 percent and are looking for an alternative.
I wonder too, especially with the wildly popular Playa Bettys just down Amsterdam. Well, good luck to them; never too many tacos.
I still wonder that about Oath Pizza. Love their pizza. If eaten THERE. It does not travel well. But I never see that many people in there.
Also how is Cocomat still in business????
I’ll look forward to trying some of these new places.
Just looked at Tacombi’s menu. Many of the items look to be available “online only” Maybe the space isn’t huuuuuuuge enough!
I pass Oath twice a day (every day). The most amount of customers sitting down at a table is four….the avarage is one or two…. there are more people leaving with those little pizza boxes. I cannot imagine that Oath will last a long time. Enjoy your Pizza!
More excellent Pizza advice. To ensure that you are getting fresh pizza, look for high volume.
Watch out for reheaters. That Business Model is sloppy seconds.
MANHATTAN mark has your back!
This is genuine ‘neighborly’ advice:
“Love their pizza. If eaten THERE. It does not travel well.”
this general rule will serve anyone well for a lifetime of pizza eating.
Bring City Grill back (to the location soon to be Harvest Kitchen).
Harvest Kitchen sounds awesome!
Kaz, you said it! How much will they charge just to keep afloat. Good Luck to them!
Another taco place on UWS? What is going on, and more to the point how many tacos do owners of these establishments believe UWS residents are going to consume on a daily basis.
I think the UWS could use another taco place (there are really only a handful). And I’ll take anything that isn’t another Mediterranean spot with $25-$30+ entrees, or Italian restaurant with pastas over $20.
It’s why I’m not only eagerly awaiting Tacombi, but also Harvest Kitchen, Boka, Tri Dim Shanghai, Don Pedro’s, Rancho Tequileria, Tiki Chick, and Daily Provisions.
Too right! Restaurateurs repeatedly fail to realize that the UWS generally operates on repeat business, which means people want affordable food they can eat frequently at places they can become regulars. And that’s why Celeste on Amsterdam is still packing them in after all these years
while those pricey Mediterraneans come and go interchangeably.
I hope the staff’s knowledge of their menu and the ingredients at Harvest Kitchen is better than the staff at Flying Fisherman. My husband is allergic to shell fish and we notified the waiter at FF when we sat down. His fish was served with a shell fish sauce. When we questioned the waiter what the sauce was he didn’t know, went back and asked the kitchen and 10 minutes later told us there was shellfish in the sauce. Agter calling over the”manager” and explained the situatio , he told us we shouldn’t eat at the restaurant because they hadn’t figured out how to separate the shellfish from the other fish. So many people have this allergy and I found it amazing that the restaurant didn’t handle this before opening. So I will be hesitant to eat at Harvest Kitchen.
Bring back The Bagel Nosh, Teacher’s One and Two, and Marvin Gardens, along with Broadway Bay.
Wouldn’t that be great! However, I think this is a just a lovely dream. Sigh … I loved all of those places. The food was good and the price, reasonable.
…and Anita’s Chili Parlor !
My favorite restaurant of all time.
Anita’s Chili Parlor was one block up between 73 and 74 when I had a flower shop right across the street.
The Copper Crock too.
Call Professor Peabody and have him set the Way-back Machine for the early 1980s.
60’s
Was just at Tacombi in Nolita a few days ago. Very casual and the tacos are great! Much better than Playa Betty…
In the future, when Chinatown has engulfed Little Italy, will it be called NoChina?
Dannyboy…two great cultures with great food…when they merge we can eat our pasta with chopsticks, thanks to Marco Polo then we can go next door and get italian ices for desert.
…also i do eat my spaghetti with chopsticks.
(sound of ramen noodles slurping in background)
…and why does spell checker highlight “ramen”? (I am getting annoyed with this parochialism, and I don’t annoy easily.)
How did the Italians get credit for inventing spaghetti?
also Marco Polo?
“A closed two-day preview of Tacombi before the opening.” The preview is a free party for the downtown crowd and is closed to the UWS people who are expected to keep them in business once they open. Not very neighborly. Not very smart either. Cafe Tallulah did the same thing and it remains stuck-up and mostly empty. And a crowded Playa Betty is proof that New Yorkers don’t know food as well as they think they know food.
They’re also offering free tacos and beer for neighbors in the building and their guests. I’m looking forward to being there Tuesday!
Free beer, I’m in!
Mostly because I love meeting new neighbors and welcoming new restaurants to the neighborhood, and wishing them all good luck (and beer).
Cafe tallulah has been closed for a while
The Cafe Talullah space has housed a Tom Valenti restaurant for several months new — Oxbow Tavern.
Evan – this upper west Sider received an invite. In fact, the invite was promoted on another “I love upper west side” blog. Your conspiracy – although hilariously funny – is incorrect.
I live in the neighborhood and received an invitation also. That comment was illogical, and yes, funny. Just because a person doesn’t know anyone attending, it must be SO exclusive, lol. And nobody claimed Playa Betty’s was a Michelin quality restaurant. ???? Silly
Excellent. That makes one. Represent well.
Six of us ate tonight at the Harvest Kitchen, a day after it opened. I had the grilled prawns/seafood risotto which was excellent – very tasty and moist; very fresh. The others were very happy with their mains and their desserts. A decent well priced wine list. There are a few teething issues to sort out, such as no finger bowls with the prawns, water not replenished as quickly as most good N.Y. restaurants. Good luck to Jeremy.
Tacombi has had their coming soon signs on the window for well over 6 months now, if not longer. Not sure why it’s taken so long but was giving up hope. Hopefully it’s worth the wait.
Bring back Ernie’s and The Saloon. Bring back Nanny Rose and Dobson’s.
Stopped by harvest for happy hour, but they don’t have one yet. No worries, probably will start next week, they say. Meanwhile corn chowder was very tasty, but it a smooth soup, not chowder that you’d expect to be chunky. And I had to pay extra to get bread to go with my soup.
Bread used to be a courtesy.