By Scott Etkin and Lisa Kava
Super Nice Pizza opened two weeks ago at 975 Amsterdam Avenue (southeast corner of West 108th Street) in the space that used to be Spice, a Thai restaurant. If the name sounds familiar, it might be because Dan Cohen, the proprietor, also runs Super Nice Coffee and Bakery, a doughnut shop around the corner that he opened in 2022. The new restaurant is the first foray into savory cuisine for Cohen, who was also known for Danny Macaroons, which had a fan-favorite booth at Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg market. Super Nice Pizza’s menu features 12-inch individual pies, salads, and other entrées. The desserts at Super Nice Pizza are “kind of ridiculous at the moment,” he said on a call with the Rag, including an “enormous” chocolate cake, tiramisu, and affogatos (gelato soaked in coffee). There is also a full bar with cocktails.
Currently Super Nice is open for dinner from Tuesday to Saturday, though hours of operation will expand in the near future and Cohen expects to add lunch service in the spring. Reservations are available on Tock. “We tried really, really hard to make wonderful things in the same way that we do the [doughnut] shops, but we have a bigger canvas to work with in the restaurant and people have been responding to it,” said Cohen. “It’s been really incredible to watch actually.”
Baya Bar, an açai bowl chain, has signage up at 516 Columbus Avenue (between West 84th and 85th streets). The first Baya Bar opened in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn in 2016. It now has more than two dozen franchise locations, including near Columbus Circle and at West 97th Street and Columbus. Baya means berry in Spanish and in addition to açai, the menu also includes pitaya bowls (made with dragon fruit), coconut bowls, smoothies, juices, coffee, and avocado toast. It is replacing Big Gay Ice Cream, which closed in January. (Thanks to Shoshana, Ben, Michael, and Peter for the tips.)
Mangetsu Sushi opened on February 28th at 150 Manhattan Avenue (between West 106th and 107th streets). Its kitchen is led by Chef Geronimo Perez, who began working as a Sushi chef in 2005 at various golf and private clubs, according to the restaurant’s website. He then helped open Tanoshi Bentot on the Upper East Side. The restaurant is under the same ownership as Claire’s Kitchen Café, which opened on the same block last September serving breakfast and lunch during the day. It becomes a wine bar at night known as Claire’s After Dark. Mangetsu serves classic rolls, specialty rolls, combination rolls, miso soup, and salads. They are open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Blasina Hair Salon was previously in the space.
Shanghai Dumplings Fusion, a Chinese restaurant, is in its soft opening at 158 West 72nd Street (between Columbus and Amsterdam). The menu includes Shanghai-style wonton soup dumplings. The space used to be Seven Hills Mediterranean Grill, which closed at the end of 2023. (Thanks to Jean, Freda, Jeremy, Mike, and Sue for the tips.)
72nd Eatery, the deli at 261 Columbus Avenue (between West 72nd and 73rd Streets), has reopened after being temporarily shut down on March 3rd by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 72nd Eatery opened in December 2022, replacing Columbus Gourmet Foods, which had been at that spot from 1995 until September 2022. It is under the same ownership.
ICYMI: Silver Moon Bakery, the longtime favorite at 2740 Broadway (near the corner of West 105th Street) is closing on March 23rd. The reason is a dispute with the landlord over the business’s lease and unpaid rent. The bakery opened in 2000. “Silver Moon will always be grateful for its 24 years of community support in its effort to create and sustain the highest standards of artisanal breads, pastries and cakes in a warm and friendly environment,” the owners, Judith Norell and Georgia Stamoulis, wrote in a message to the Rag. “It is a sad day for Silver Moon and for the neighborhood.”
The Openings & Closings column wouldn’t be possible without our many tipsters: thank you! Anyone can send tips about openings and closings in the neighborhood to info@westsiderag.com.
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I think 72nd is where I went for a quick roll before Soul to Soul. Lovely to know it was shut down less than two months later.
Super Nice Pizza wants $18 for a slice of tiramisu. I don’t imagine it’ll last long. Hopefully their coffee shop will stay though because they’re great!
What is the rent? Always ask. The space next to Silver Moon was $10,000 a month. There is no penalty for keeping a space vacant- in fact there are benefits for a landlord to jack the price and then keep empty. VOTE FOR A VACANCY TAX IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A DENT IN EMPTY STOREFRONTS.
had one of their croissants today…well worth six bucks!
some businesses become neighborhood institutions and others just come and go —well goodbye Silver Moon a neighborhood anchor—I was happy when you opened on my block and saw you as a big upgrade over the store that was there before—had many years of running in for something for a holiday or seeing bakers prepping in the window while walking by—sad sad sad to see you go
that landlord is a really really bad person. I bet the pizza joint will take over that space as well, somehow. Nothing beats a good bakery though.
Nope– Frankie of Mamas Too will not expand. Already has a spot downtown.
Re Mangetsu. So rare we have some good news about retail and commercial options in Manhattan Valley where I have lived for over 48 years. The business is just one block from my house. Placed a very big take out order yesterday. Delicious and very fresh. Emailed a couple of dozen neighbors to promote the business. A few responded they had already tried it and thought it was great. So help support dining options in Manhattan Valley. Looking forward to checking out their sister wine bar Claires. Buy some sushi and have a Central Park picnic. It is literally just one block away. Also just a dozen feet from the M7 and M116 pus stop on Manhattan Avenue between 106th. And 107th.
We’re a block away too… We haven’t gotten to try it yet but it’s great to hear it’s good! Claire’s is an incredible addition to the neighborhood! Make sure to stop in there, it’s such a nice place to sit with plenty of tables, chairs, and even couch things with a whole upstairs portion! And all the food we’ve tried there has been fantastic as well and totally reasonably priced for what you get
I will miss Silver Moon. Great breads, good pastries.
Everyone will miss silver Moon. Another landlord ousted business. Sad.
Abigail’s is closing too 🙁
Really?!
Really? We just ate there last night. Too bad.
Already?! Goodness, that was quick.
Looks good. Does anyone have any knowledge as to when Frame is opening?
I was wondering where I could get a fancy bakery/birthday cake when Silver Moon closes. Then I happened to walk by Omonia Cafe at Broadway and 108 and saw very pretty cakes in their window. I don’t know how good they are, but I’ll give them a try now that Silver Moon is closing 🙁
Is that the place the health dept doesn’t like?
Nothing can hold a candle to a real baked-on-premises-every-day place like Silver Moon.
I had two slices of cake from Omonia and both were dry and overly sweet 🙁
Brooklyn branch is very popular,
It should be noted that Silver Moon Bakery WAS paying their rent, the landlord refused it to claim they weren’t paying it. Typical landlord thing.
isn’t the landlord FAMILY? he owns the whole block
Yeah he’s a real super crook and that’s an insult to crooks, he is so evil
I am not okay with this!
There are tons of spaces available maybe they will find something with seating as well in the hood
Not sure if I missed this in a previous Openings & Closings, but Spectrum seems to have shuttered its 83rd & Broadway outpost in the last few weeks also.
Closing in this small block radius:
1. Absolute Bagel
2. Garden of Eden
3. Silver Moon
4. Abigails
5. The health food store on bway b/w 107 and 108
Not to mention Shakespere and Co which never had a chance.
Always ask owners what their rent is.
Where are the politicians? The streets are gross and storefronts closing. What to NYC politicians in these kinds of neighborhoods think their job is? Keeping the commerical life . . . alive is the part of the urban ecosystem that has to work. It is like letting a beach community have its beach destroyed.
ACKK!!?