By Scott Etkin and Lisa Kava
Carrot Express, a fast casual restaurant serving healthy meals, has signage up at 2169 Broadway (between West 76th and 77th streets). Carrot Express was founded in Miami Beach in 1993 and now has nearly 30 locations across South Florida and New York City. The menu includes all-day breakfast (including carrot waffles, avocado toast, and overnight oats), salads, wraps, açaí bowls, loaded sweet potatoes, and more. The space has been vacant for several years but it used to be a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf cafe, which closed in 2016. The company did not get back to the Rag about an opening date for the new location, but we’ll provide an update when we learn more. (Thanks to Jackie for the tip.)
Nuts Factory, a candy and snack shop, is opening its third Upper West Side location at the northeast corner of West 92nd Street and Broadway. It sells a wide variety of nuts, chocolate, granola, dried fruit, halva, and more. Nuts Factory, a family-owned business, has 11 stores in New York City (as well as in New Jersey and Massachusetts). Its existing UWS outposts opened in 2022 at West 80th Street and Broadway and in 2023 on Columbus Ave. between 73rd and 74th streets. The space used to be a Vitamin Shoppe, which closed in 2021, and has been vacant since then. (Thanks to Michael for the tip.)
Raising Cane’s, a fried chicken chain, is planning to open on September 4th at 2850 Broadway (between West 110th and 111th streets), a representative confirmed with the Rag. The first Raising Cane’s opened in 1996 in Louisiana and the chain has grown rapidly since then, recently surpassing KFC in sales. There are nearly 1,000 Raising Cane’s locations across the U.S., including four in Manhattan. Construction on this space began earlier this year. It used to be home to Mel’s Burger Bar, which closed in late 2023.
Summer for the City, Lincoln Center’s annual outdoor concert and performance series, concludes on August 9th. The free shows taking place on Lincoln Center’s campus (Broadway and West 66th Street) in the final days of this year’s program include: a Korean pop group, a string quartet, a silent disco, and other musical and spoken-word acts. (The calendar with event details is available – HERE.) Food trucks representing a wide range of cuisines are also making an appearance during Summer for the City, primarily located in the evenings at Damrosch Park on the southwest side of Lincoln Center’s campus. Over the remaining days of the event, food options include chef Kwame Onwuachi’s Patty Palace (Jamaican patties), Bordertown (flour tortillas and guisados tacos), Sunday in Brooklyn (American fare), and more.
Delacorte Theatre, the performance space in Central Park (closest to the West 81st Street entrance), is reopening on August 7th after a nearly two-year renovation. Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night,” starring Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Peter Dinklage, and Lupita Nyong’o, will mark the return. This staging of Free Shakespeare in the Park runs through September 14th. The renovation includes infrastructure upgrades (permanent wiring, rebuilt lighting towers), a new facade made from repurposed wood from New York City water towers, an exterior canopy, new flooring, dressing rooms, and more. Information on how to get free tickets for this season’s performances is available – HERE.
ICYMI: The city’s Department of Education (DOE) is opening an Early Childhood Learning center this fall at 1972 Broadway (between West 66th and 67th streets). The elementary program, known as District 75, will be geared toward students with special needs such as autism, cognitive delays, emotional disabilities, and sensory impairments. The space used to be a Century 21 department store, which closed in December 2020. Starting next year, a DOE representative confirmed that there are plans to expand the site by adding early childhood classes alongside the District 75 program.
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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There is also a branch of Raising Cane’s under construction on West Side of Broadway, (71st & 72nd) right next to the entrance to Trader Joe’s. No opening date, but they are working on it.
I am their target audience and have been to the one near NYU – not a fan of their sauce. Not sure if there is any alternative.
I wish In N Out would finally come east – it would be a gold mine. Also love CookOut, which is good and very reasonably priced. And we need more Arby’s. And the return of Blimpie’s.
I just got back from the gym so I’m allowed to fantasize about all of this unhealthy food!
If you think the world needs more chicken nuggets and french fries then you’ll love Raising Canes because that’s all they sell.
When I first moved to NYC 10+ years ago, Raising Cane’s was the one thing I missed the most. The 71st/72nd street location can’t come soon enough!
Their chicken fingers are the best around.
Chick Chick is far superior.
OH, I’m sure they’re much better than KFC, Wingstop, McDonald’s, Shake Shack, Taco Bell, Chik-Fil-A, Popeye’s, Zaxby’s, Wendys, Burger King and all the local places that make them like Chick Chick and Chirping Chicken and Blondie’s and Dive Bar and 5 Napkin Burger. No doubt.
Hmm, don’t forget the AMNH where they serve dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets. Couldn’t have survived a trip to the museum without them.
And its delicious
Good reporting as always, WSR!
I passed by the theater this weekend, and the Parks Department restrooms next to the Delacorte were still being renovated. I think those are the only restrooms in the immediate area.
That is not good news for the people who will be in line for hours for the tickets.
I’m surprised how many Nuts Factory locations they seem to think the UWS can sustain
Also if anyone is interested, they lost their kosher certification several months ago which is kind of a big deal
FWIW, their prices are through the roof. That probably explains how they can survive and grow. Read the fine print. You’ll see “Chocolate covered peanuts – $9.99” , but underneath (in small font) it says “per half pound”!
Many dollars need laundering.
That’s what I was thinking.
Does the UWS really need a third nut and dried fruit emporium? Are we really sucking down that many cashews and yogurt-covered raisins? I guess the market will decide, but I don’t have high hopes for the new location. The neighborhood changes noticeably once you go north of 86th, and not in a good way.
Well, what do you have to say about all the coffee places? Seems there will never be enough of them!
Non sequitur alert: What does the third sentence in your comment have to do with the first three, which do raise a valid question.
I don’t know but I can say that literally on the north side of West,86th, you still have the empty Gristedes space, the empty Gap space, and most of where the Banana Republic had been, that is still empty. From 89to to 90th, on the west side of the street, there are 2 open businesses. 3 shuttered, one since before the pandemic, one for a few years at least. Across the street, there is another empty space. I could go on
There are way more empty street fronts above 86th, though I personally think a business opening is a good thing.
I took the 86th st crosstown home from work every day for years and found it so disturbing to watch that entire area shut down. I still don’t understand why everything has remained empty. It seems like it would be a prime area for a business next to the bus and subway lines.
It seems like the absence of the bigger stores (the ones who replaced the smaller stores), which often took up an entire half block and apparently which some landlords thought was a fantastic idea at the time, is now responsible for quite a few of these deserted blocks. What a surprise.
Tell us more.
(From 92nd)
How are there two posts related to the number of Nuts Factory locations and no nut-related puns in them???
I understand that sometimes it’s nut worth the hassle, but come on!!
Nutin to say about it,
If I cashew doing that again I’ll have you aroasted for a-salt.
Oh, you should serve peanuts for that!
I agree, 2 Nuts are plenty…. 🙂
I have enjoyed meals from Carrot Express many times in Miami Beach and am so excited that we’re getting one here. Hurrah! 🙂
Raising Cane’s is some suburban food-court chow…and not even in the good way like Chipotle.
Miss Mel’s Burgers. We need another burger joint near Columbia.
The last thing we need is more nuts.