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Openings & Closings: Radio Amsterdam Bar, Solid State Coffee, Hunan Park, Sheer Beauty & Lashes

October 13, 2020 | 5:50 PM
in FOOD, NEWS, OPEN/CLOSED
57

Radio Amsterdam bar, which replaced Bourbon Street Bar at 407 Amsterdam Avenue near 79th, appears to have closed for good. The phone is disconnected and there are for rent signs on the window. Radio Amsterdam had opened in 2018. Thanks to Jenn for the tip.

Solid State Coffee has soft-opened at 104 West 71st Street, serving all the standard coffee shop varieties, as well as pastries from Colson Patisserie. They’re planning to do a more official opening “in the coming weeks,”  they tell us.

Hunan Park on the corner of Columbus and 95th Street appears to be permanently closed. There’s been no activity there for 6 months, Google lists it as closed, the number isn’t in service, and “we are told that they turned in their keys after over 35 years,” tipster Brenda tells us (her landlord owns the space). She says they’ve been there for more than 35 years.

Sheer Beauty & Lashes has leased the long-vacant space at 2659 Broadway at 101st Street. Thanks to Upper West Sider for the tip.

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RWC
RWC
4 years ago

Bye-bye Hunan Park you were a beloved local restaurant for so many years under the previous ownership . I noticed you were struggling for the past couple years the new ownership.

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UWSmaven
UWSmaven
4 years ago

Sad when anything closes, but actually, “Hunan Park” wasn’t there for 35 years; yes, it had once been Hunan Park II back in the 90s but the great original owners of that, Hunan Park on Columbus at 71st, and Hunan Balcony on Bway got out of the business years ago, and sold this place, and for a while it kept its name, then become “Big Apple” or something like that. They took the sign down to reveal the old Hunan Park underneath. It had really become awful; had not been the beloved neighborhood fixture in years!

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Lk
Lk
4 years ago
Reply to  UWSmaven

Hunan Balcony!!! Very very good. The Chinese food of my childhood

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Remembering when...
Remembering when...
4 years ago
Reply to  UWSmaven

Yes, Hunan Park was short-lived and the food was gross not to mention there menus all over your doorstep‘s….I never ate there. Personally, I miss the late 1960s and early 1970s Cuban Chinese restaurants here on the west side. A full dinner would go for $12.50.

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rteplow
rteplow
4 years ago
Reply to  Remembering when...

I believe that the Dominican places might help fill the gap left by Cuban Chinese places, though they don’t have the Chinese side of the menu. I like El Malecon (is it open?) on Amsterdam near 97th. Or either Flor de Mayo (are THEY open?) which does have some Chinese-by-way-of-Peru.

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geoff
geoff
4 years ago
Reply to  rteplow

you asked for it:
Elsa La Reina Del Chicharron, on St Nicholas (171/172) serves pork crackling, Dominican style, and is pretty impressive, if not wonderful.

‘A’ rated kitchen, a few stools and the best Chicharron i’ve ever tasted.

i think they also have an outlet somewhere in Jersey.

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UWSHebrew
UWSHebrew
4 years ago
Reply to  UWSmaven

I tried Hunan Park nine years ago. I never went back.

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John
John
4 years ago

Anyone hear anything about Shun Lee?

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FYI
FYI
4 years ago
Reply to  John

Yep, The Westside branch has been having problems here on the west side for sometime with Health department violations and closings and bad management…yes, they have officially closed after the coronavirus set in.

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Drew
Drew
4 years ago
Reply to  John

Is Shun Lee closed? They still appeared on seamless last week.

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lynn
lynn
4 years ago
Reply to  Drew

Did you try to order from Shun Lee West? The website shows ‘temporarily closed’ and when I hit the reorder button it also showed ‘restaurant closed.’ I think Shun Lee Palace is open though.

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Trudy Robbins
Trudy Robbins
4 years ago

Sforno just opened on west side of Broadway between 87 and 88 Streets in the old Hot&Crusty site. Sforno sells a variety of pizzas, pastas, and salads. We had a slice of the eggplant pizza–tasted like eggplant parmigiana on pizza–very good. Happy to see an opening in these tough times.

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JS
JS
4 years ago

Curious….have noticed several new nail salons have opened/will be opening.
Why nail salons?
What’s up?

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Steevie
Steevie
4 years ago
Reply to  JS

Nail salons and barbershops can never be on line businesses even in a hundred years.

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geoff
geoff
4 years ago
Reply to  JS

come on folks. read this old NYTimes article, put on your thinking caps and open your eyes.

it’s all about cash, cash and more cash.

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geoff
geoff
4 years ago
Reply to  geoff

and here is the missing link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/nyregion/at-nail-salons-in-nyc-manicurists-are-underpaid-and-unprotected.html

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Jo
Jo
4 years ago
Reply to  JS

A phenomenon I just don’t understand. Around here, I am floored by the number of cars outside the nearby nail salon. I suppose everyone figures all those chemicals kill anything even with the very close contact. But it’s also not cheap, and requires frequent visits. Completely escapes me.

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anonymous
anonymous
4 years ago
Reply to  JS

Believe it or not…. many owners of the nail salons used to have Chinese restaurants and laundromats. Try to understand the American Asians have a hard way of understanding the American commercial market and have limitations what they can do.

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Huh
Huh
4 years ago
Reply to  anonymous

“American Asians have a hard way of understanding the American commercial market and have limitations what they can do.”
Please explain this “statement” if you can

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Bruce Bernstein
Bruce Bernstein
4 years ago
Reply to  Huh

I can explain it. It’s racist. Why did WSR print it?

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rteplow
rteplow
4 years ago
Reply to  anonymous

I remember when there were many Korean-owned produce stores, of which only Han remains, on Broadway & 93rd.

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Garry
Garry
4 years ago

Too bad on Radio Amsterdam, but can’t say I’m surprised. I never saw many people in there. I used to go to Bourbon Street in my younger days, but never felt compelled to go to Radio Amsterdam.

Any loss right now is not good though.

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Truth and Reason
Truth and Reason
4 years ago
Reply to  Garry

Radio Amsterdam was creepy. As a woman, there are places where you instantly don’t feel safe the moment you walk in and that was one. The men all looked at you with this college Phi Delt fraternity basement creeper vibe and it simply wasn’t cool.

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FedUpPedestrian
FedUpPedestrian
4 years ago
Reply to  Truth and Reason

I loved Radio Amsterdam but it closed awhile ago. I’m a woman and I went there often and always felt safe. I loved the music and the bartenders became friends. It was more of an older crowd, which I liked because I’m NOT in my 20’s anymore. I never felt a creepy vibe at all. I will really miss that bar.

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Garry
Garry
4 years ago
Reply to  Truth and Reason

Yikes, sorry to hear that. I guess it won’t be missed then haha.

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SA_NYC
SA_NYC
4 years ago

Man I miss Bourbon Street!!

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Ha!
Ha!
4 years ago
Reply to  SA_NYC

Bourbon Street?
It was a drug store in there and busted many times.
The 20Th Precinct was always in that place busting up fights and always arresting someone for something.
That place was a disaster watering hole!

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UWS_lifer
UWS_lifer
4 years ago
Reply to  Ha!

Drug store, huh??

Wish I would have known back then. Could’ve saved a bunch of trips downtown.:)

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Ha Ha Ha!
Ha Ha Ha!
4 years ago
Reply to  UWS_lifer

To UWS_lifer…. You just step right into it!

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WombatNYC
WombatNYC
4 years ago
Reply to  UWS_lifer

+1

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Garry
Garry
4 years ago
Reply to  SA_NYC

Hear hear!

Always had great specials and just a cool place to hang with friends.

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Trish Anderton
Trish Anderton
4 years ago

Nooooo, not Hunan Park! They were a reliable source of cheap Chinese food, and they served real pancakes with their mu shu. If I ever go back to work at my office on a regular basis I will miss them.

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JC
JC
4 years ago

Get ready for a brand new building to be built on the Hunan Park corner.

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Mark Moore
Mark Moore
4 years ago

One time I walked into Hunan Park about 20 minutes before closing to get an order to go and the girl behind the counter said no, we’re closed when I knew they weren’t. So I went outside, called the phone number from the street and got someone else on the phone and placed my order. Then I walked in and smiled at the girl and paid her. That’s my Hunan Park story.

That being said, they had decent inexpensive sushi.

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The guy next door
The guy next door
4 years ago

FYI – Radio Amsterdam bar, which replaced Bourbon Street never got to open. The owner had financial problems from the beginning.

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Kat French
Kat French
4 years ago
Reply to  The guy next door

Radio Amsterdam was open for two years. It just didn’t have much going for it and, as one of the earlier commenters mentioned, it didn’t feel at all welcoming for women.

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Henry Topper
Henry Topper
4 years ago

Sirenetta is also closed, unfortunately. Confirmed on a call yesterday that got redirected to Mermaid Inn.

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Reply
keith
keith
4 years ago
Reply to  Henry Topper

Mermaid Inn is the same ownership as La Sirinetta. I imagine that is a business decision. Mermaid seems to have no difficulty filling their comparatively large outdoor seating capacity which includes the area in front of Sirinetta. They can serve all these tables from one streamlined strategy sourced from Mermaid, so it probably doesn’t make much overhead sense to try and include the Sirinetta menu into the equation. I suspect they have not given up on the space and concept of Sirinetta but are waiting until things get back to normal.

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Henry Topper
Henry Topper
4 years ago
Reply to  keith

This certainly makes sense. I hope they come back because I miss that epic roasted chicken!

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Tostonesfix
Tostonesfix
4 years ago

I will fully admit Hunan Park wasn’t great, but it was a block away from us and when we needed something quick and inexpensive, it served a purpose. We only carried out as the restaurant badly needed a makeover. Some of their dishes were actually pretty good. I found it much better than the pure carry-out places in the neighborhood.

By the way, is there good carry-out/delivery Chinese food on the UWS any more? I’m talking about the cheap places where the food is at your door in 20 minutes. Between 80th and 110th? Pearls I think is decent. Any better ones?

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Steevie
Steevie
4 years ago
Reply to  Tostonesfix

You have the Chinese take out place on the east side of Amsterdam between I guess 81st and 82nd. I know this is faint praise, but I have eaten their food a dozen times and never gotten sick.

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Juliette
Juliette
4 years ago
Reply to  Steevie

Legends 72’s has the best mapo tofu in town!

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George
George
4 years ago
Reply to  Tostonesfix

New Kam Lai at Amsterdam and 85th fits the bill for me. Everything is fairly inexpensive, the food is tasty, and delivery is quick.

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5678dance
5678dance
4 years ago
Reply to  Tostonesfix

@tostonesfix Our favorite neighborhood Asian restaurant is Malaysia Grill on 103rd. They are good and usually quick.

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ActfoolishJulia
ActfoolishJulia
4 years ago
Reply to  Tostonesfix

What about Han Dynasty on 85th? We’ve eaten there a couple of times and it was ok — maybe we just don’t know how to order there. Anyone else have thoughts about Han Dynasty?

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Tostonesfix
Tostonesfix
4 years ago
Reply to  ActfoolishJulia

Han Dynasty is great. But it’s a bit pricey. I’m asking about cheap, fast carry-out type places.

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UWSdr
UWSdr
4 years ago
Reply to  ActfoolishJulia

I should give them another try…had delivery from then over the summer and it was way too heavy on the garlic and kinda greasy. Its not classic Chinese-American food, a bit different, so I may have ordered wrong.

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Carlos
Carlos
4 years ago
Reply to  ActfoolishJulia

Han Dynasty is good. But you are paying a bit of a premium because it is slightly better, more interesting food. They don’t have the typical Chinese menu with all of the basics. So if you have very traditional Chinese food eaters who want an egg roll, lo mein, General Tso’s chicken and wonton soup, it might not be your best bet.

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Michele
Michele
4 years ago
Reply to  Tostonesfix

Empire garden is really good chinese take out!
106 and Columbus I believe

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UWSdr
UWSdr
4 years ago
Reply to  Tostonesfix

I know this sounds like a cliche or overly sensationalist, but I found a roach in a dish I ordered take-out from Hunan Park. You might try Happy Hot Hunan…they are a bit far away from 95 Street, but its pretty quick and quite tasty.

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Someguu
Someguu
4 years ago

I never went to Hunan Park. But I use to work as a cook and waiter in many Asian restaurants. I can tell that most Asian restaurants have hygiene problems. The list is too gross to post here. If you notice alot of the Asian restaurants have a B rating.

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Cyrus
Cyrus
4 years ago

I hate to kick dirt on the grave but…the food at Hunan Park was awful. Never trust an establishment that serves “all you can eat sushi” Yuck.

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Mark Moore
Mark Moore
4 years ago

That run-down standalone building that used to be a Chinese restaurant…..they’re going to be trying to find a tenant for that spot for YEARS, just like the run-down standalone building that used to be Food City. Nobody’s going to want to move into that dumpy building at that location.

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Old Stones
Old Stones
4 years ago

Hunan Park was just ok, then it went downhill. I’ll miss the convenience but not the food. Why is that part of the UWS such a food desert?

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Sunshine
Sunshine
4 years ago

Radio Amsterdam was a great addition to the neighborhood. Their landlord wanted 100% of the rent during the Pandemic. They wouldn’t negotiate so the bar owners closed for good.

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ParisianinNYC
ParisianinNYC
4 years ago

Paris Baguette on Broadway (between 70th and 71st) has also closed

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Adam Brundige
Adam Brundige
4 years ago

I am so excited about solid state coffee opening up! I’m sure they will do better than that disgrace of a coffee shop up the street. (Black Press Coffee)

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