Openings & Reopenings: Wolfnights, Variazioni, Sweetgreen, West Side Restaurant, Owl’s Tail
Wolfnights Wraps is opening a new location at 2675 Broadway near the corner of 102nd Street, and will hopefully be serving by May. This appears to be the former home of Xi’an Famous Foods, which closed a few months ago. Wolfnights is a sandwich spot that serves wraps and bowls, as well as desserts. Check out the menu here.
Variazioni has opened in the former Sandro space at 181 Columbus Avenue between 68th and 69th Streets. They’re already having a winter sale. Thanks to Upper West Sider for the tip.
Sweetgreen now has its new spot at 159 Columbus Ave at 67th Street up on its store map, though it hasn’t released the opening date. Thanks to Steven for the tip.
West Side Restaurant at 69th and Broadway has reopened after a hiatus. It’s serving indoors and offering free delivery. Thanks to Susala for the tip.
Owl’s Tail has also reopened at 215 West 75th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam. Thanks to Keith for the tip.
Variazioni- They should just start putting the sale/going out of business signs in the window already. Isn’t that their business model at the other locations?
what is Variazioni? It strikes me as a front for someone? In my somewhat limited view, I never see anyone in any of the store fronts…
rent cannot be cheap, so whats the deal?
Have thought the same thing. At this point, there are more Variazionis than Chase branches or Duane Reades in the neighborhood.
I’ve long wondered about this because of their frequent “liquidation” sales and a noticeable lack of clientele inside their stores whenever I walk by. How are they both surviving and opening new stores, while neighborhood mainstays with plenty of customers go under? It doesn’t add up.
It would seem they set up wherever they can secure a month to month lease and with nothing more than merchandise and pipe racks to move they can literally change locations overnight, “Liquidation Sale” sign in hand! At Broadway and 88th Street the sign was up for
several years before they finally moved.
So glad West Side Restaurant is back–love their Greek salad with real anchovies! Love live the Greek diner in NYC!
I just love diners. West Side Restaurant satisfies my husband’s craving for “drugstore chicken salad” and mine for breakfast whenever I want it. So happy to know it’s back and open.
Dear WombatNYC: Variazioni already has “Liquidation Sale” signs in the window.
At this point, Variazioni is just a money laundering business… It’s always empty, they have a few stores, sell brands no one wants. Why would they go into that new space?
Sad we’ve lost Xi’an Famous Foods. There are other locations (I think they’re still open?) but this one was convenient.
Not sad about them, they made price increases every six months. $10 for spinach dumplings and another $2 – $3 to add broth was the last straw.
Simply inaccurate
I miss having a UWS location for Xi’an. If I recall, there was really just one major pricing shift that pushed most of the items into the $9-$13 range. But I still found it to be a solid deal for some incredibly delicious food.
They sell meal kits – pulling the noodles is difficult to do well but inexpertly pulled noodles can still be quite delicious.
https://xiankits.com/collections/meal-kits
I have a colleague in Chicago who pretends to be a foodie who orders from Xi’an via GoldBelly – he pays a huge premium for it. I think it is fine but wouldn’t pay a small fortune for it.
Those wraps are great. They make the wrap part fresh to order.
Great to have West Side Restaurant back!
It has always been a convenient go-to place for us in the ‘Lower-Upper-West-Side’…and, once the oft-dreaded 200 Amsterdam (cover thy children’s eyes!) opens nearby, the restaurant should have a more affluent clientele.
And-1, for trivia buffs, some scenes of 1975’s charming “Little Manhattan” (available on Amazon) were shot in that restaurant.
And-2, for street-photographers, a window-side table offers endless chances to capture the passing street scene.
What’s with all the hating on Variazioni? They open up nice clean storefronts, they hire and pay employees, pay rent and are otherwise good neighbors.
Maybe you don’t like their business model but it seems to be successful.
If it’s so successful, why are they constantly telling us they’re going out of business?
That’s how they stay successful!
Agree; my daughter and I have enjoyed shopping there and have made some very successful purchases. Not sure what the complaining is about; would people rather see empty desolate storefronts?
Agree.
By the way is the UWS the capital of Kvetch Nation?
You must be new here. Yes, yes, it is. You’ll soon recognize the individuals who dump on every single story here. They have a gift for being insufferable.