By Scott Etkin and Lisa Kava
The Throwback, a sports bar, opened at 710 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 94th and 95th streets) on August 14th, replacing The Chelsea House, a restaurant and bar that closed last year. Owned by husband and wife team Alex and Brittni Bryant, The Throwback showcases an extensive memorabilia collection that Alex inherited from his grandfather. “His hobby was to collect everything sports related that he could,” Alex Bryant told West Side Rag on a phone call – including photos signed by Derek Jeter and Walt Frazier, early Sports Illustrated magazines, and a pin from the 1923 World Series.
The Throwback is a family business; Alex Bryant’s mother, an accountant and partial owner, will keep the books. Brittni and Alex met in college and worked together at Brother Jimmy’s, the Upper West Side bar that closed in 2015. Alex subsequently worked in the corporate world and Brittni is currently a teacher for children with special needs. “Owning a bar was always Alex’s dream,” Brittni told the Rag. “The timing was finally right.”
They currently serve flatbreads, sandwiches and salads, but they plan to expand to a gastropub menu featuring burgers, chips and salsa, grilled cheese and charcuterie boards. They are working with Regal Wines to create an extensive wine list.
In addition to weekday happy hours, The Throwback is also hosting ”family hours” on weekdays from 2 to 4 p.m. “We have a 20-month-old daughter, and when we became parents we wanted to connect with other parents,” Brittini said. “Family Happy Hour will have family entertainment such as story time, a puppeteer, and will allow children to play while parents can chat and make new friends.” (Thanks to John for the tip.)
When Harry’s Table opened in 2022, The New York Times called it “[w]hat might be the city’s most luxurious food hall.” In addition to stocking imported goods from Italy, Harry’s Table also has brunch and all-day dining options, including antipasti, salads, pasta, pizza, paninis, and more. The venture is backed by Cipriani, the hospitality company that runs many restaurants, hotels, and event spaces globally. (Thanks to Gretchen for the tip.)
Volta, a Greek and Mediterranean restaurant, is “opening soon” at 2672 Broadway (between West 101st and 102nd streets). The 3,000-square-foot space used to be Abigail’s, a Southern California-inspired restaurant that closed in March. There isn’t information available about Volta at the moment, but we will provide an update. (Thanks to Arden and Stacy for the tips.)
ICYMI: Harry’s Shoes, the shop that has been at 2299 Broadway (southwest corner of West 83rd Street) for the past 50 years, reopened on August 15th after a five-month renovation. It is now operating under the ownership of Sole Provisions, which runs 22 other shoe stores around the country. “When I first got into the shoe business I was 21, and Harry’s was by far the most important independent shoe store in the country,” Holden Nagelberg, who co-founded and leads Sole Provisions, told WSR. “[Aquiring Harry’s is] literally the most important thing I’ve done in my professional career.” To read the Rag’s full interview with Nagelberg, click – HERE.
Update: It appears that Ciao Paisan, the Italian bistro at 206 West 79th Street (near Amsterdam Avenue) is closed permanently. WSR wrote in July about how the restaurant was listed as “temporarily closed” on Google. This status is still up online, but “for rent” signs now appear in the storefront windows. The restaurant has not responded to the Rag’s outreach. Ciao Paisan opened in 2023, replacing the longtime restaurant Coppolla’s. (Thanks to Bill and Billy for the tips.)
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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Bummer about Harry’s Table, was a really nice space and easy to get seating for a group… apparently too easy!
Yeah, it was a really nice place to get a coffee and hang out on the computer. Plus really fancy rest rooms! Much too expensive to get anything else there beyond coffee and maybe pastry. Given that, and the absolutely enormous size of the place, I’m surprised it even survived this long.
Yes! I love empty restaurants. Unfortunately they never seem to stay around. I guess “empty” is not a good business model.
For sure, the high rents that NYC restaurants pay basically dictate they have to be fully booked at all times or they risk going under. It’s a tough business.
Loved Harry’s Table. The breakfast assortment of pastries and coffees was the best.
Glad to hear that after what seems like forever Mexican restaurants will be Greek Mediterranean. The UWS above 96th street is void of restaurant choices. I only hope it’s great, priced right and survives.
The Throwback sounds great! I love the Family Hour concept.
Coppolla’s was a neighborhood gem…Ciao Paisan never really got its act together. Hoping for another good one.
Ciao Paisan was awful. Ordered once and never again. Not surprised it closed
I still miss Tony’s Italian Kitchen
If you haven’t tried Haven yet at 226 West 79th, it’s great. Another neighborhood gem.
Such a great vibe in there… always feel good there, really good spot to meet a group of friends.
The food looks good but those prices! Where can a normal family sit down for dinner nowadays?
At home, I think. Cooking for ourselves is always more affordable.
Curious about new meal service Feast and Fettle now in Manhattan including Upper West Side?
Meals delivered by van.
Seems like there are already multiple meal services and of course ubiquitous restaurant/food delivery..
No saturation?
And interesting that despite City’s efforts to reduce vehicles, a new company is premised on van delivery to individuals.
That spot on 102 & Broadway is doomed.
Mama Mexico was in that spot for years and was rocking. Packed every night.
The W 100’s need to be cleaned up and lower crime.
How does the crime in that area compare the the rest of the UWS?
Why is it doomed?
Mama Mexico thrived there for years, then they extended the restaurant out to be able to have more year-round dining instead of the outdoor seating they had only in the summer. That made the footprint too large to be financially sustainable. They fell behind on payments and there hasn’t been a restaurant since then that can make a profit on such a large space. They should have never tried to expand.
That said, Greek food is some of the best and that location sits nicely between Symposium to the north and Elea’s to the south. If any type of restaurant is going to make a success of that space, I’d put my money on a Greek place.
Because the neighborhood gets noticeably worse the very moment you go north of 86th St. It’s a clear cut-off that’s evident even to outsiders.
I have lived north of 86th street since 1992 and raised my children up here and no offense but you have no idea what you are talking about
Agreed! Thank you Aab!
You’ve become immune to your surroundings. Accept reality like the rest of us and move on.
Absolute rubbish. We have some great restaurants above 86 street and we apparently all survive the danger. You should try living dangerously
you mean 96?
Anyone know what is happening with the old Key Food space on 97/Amsterdam? The fake foliage on the facade is so strange. Looks like it is going to be a cannabis emporium or something
It has been turned into a sukkah a few times before so perhaps that’s what the foliage is for
Harry’s Table could have been a nice neighborhood spot. Sadly, it was overpriced and the service was always terrible. It was easy to get a table because no one wanted to eat there. It wasn’t always this way. When they first opened, service was good and the Hall was always busy. It was expensive, but worth it. There was a selection of groceries and fresh meats and flowers in addition to various food options, a lovely open grill, and a nice restaurant in the back. Then, in December of 2022, a water pipe in Waterline Square building two burst and flooded the food hall. (Don’t move to Waterline Square if you value your sanity, by the way.) This forced the whole food hall to close for months. When it reopened, the food quality was worse, the staff much worse, and the grocery options completely gone.
Curious if you could say more about waterline square as I always, from the outside, thought it looked like a wonderful place (or I should say, building(s) to live in!)
Once the meats and fish counters weren’t reopened and the fresh fruits and vegetables disappeared, I knew what was coming. I will sorely miss my latte and croissant and gazing outside watching the dogs play in the park.
Sad for the employees
Despite the awful service at the rear of Harry’s, I loved the place. The pastry /coffee area was great and I was able to just come in, grab a sandwich and coffee and get some work done. I live right across the street and now need to find an alternate place. I will miss Harry’s.
Glad Harry’s Shoes is revived! I have been waiting. And glad to hear about Volta. I hope they have tylikta! Opa!!
Thanks for the updates! Any word on what’s happening with the old Cafe 71 spot on 71st and Broadway? If I’m not mistaken they shut down just before Covid.
Harry’s Table is the epicenter of Waterline Square. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks and desserts. It’s an astonishingly bad decision by Cipiani to close this location.. There is nothing even remotely like it and yet they choose to break up the commujity to pursue other projects. Shame on Cipriani.
Maybe if Harry’s were one third the size, they could have survived. The place is absurdly huge! And for the most part really expensive. Affordable for a coffee and pastry in the morning, and a lovely place to hang out at any time of the year, but that’s sure not going to keep them in business. I’m bummed that they are closing, but they would never make it on customers like me.
Sorry to sound like a capitalist, but even a large company like Cipriani needs to make a profit. If the community didn’t support it enough to make the business profitable why should they continue to operate it at a loss? That line in their message to the Rag, “our focus is now fully on the other projects we are developing in New York, U.S. and internationally” is corporatese for “this place was a loser.” It’s sad to lose a nice cafe, but it sounds like a good business decision.
It’s very sad but evidently it wasn’t making enough to sustain itself. Cipriani is not going to continue to operate an unprofitable business for “the community”
You must have the inside scoop on their books, to know how “astonishingly bad” the decision is.
No? Yeah, didn’t think so.
I wish the Throwback well but I also wish this blog and UWS bars in general would stop abusing the word “gastropub”. Maybe if they served food that was more inspired than burgers we wouldn’t have so many failed “gastropubs”.
It’s Walt Frazier.
I said the same thing and also added a really nice comment about Coppola’s but apparently got censored? And they didn’t even bother to fix the spelling of Frazier.
WSR editors are usually top notch, but, to paraphrase Clyde (that’s Walt Frazier’s nickname – this should be required knowledge for all New Yorkers), today they seem to be fumbling and bumbling.
Fixed. Thanks.
Throwback needs to get their website operational.
The Italian market and food counters at Harry’s Table are a true loss. Really sad. Ciao Paisan on the other hand…well…I’m surprised that red-sauce atrocity was able to mambo Italiano for as long as it did. Their food was all kinds of wrong.
Had never visited Ciao but after having looked at the pix on Yelp ( I only use Yelp for pix), the menu looked pretty good. However, most of the dishes looked grossly over-sauced, from the pastas to the baked dishes to the clams. Also, they put peas and cream in their carbonara. It’s not a wonder to me that they folded and closed up shop.
The food might’ve not been the most gourmet/authentic Italian, but it was great for weeknight takeout. The meatballs were excellent, relatively affordable for the neighborhood, and I could easily get two meals out of it. Sad to see them go. I think it was partially the ambiance that did them in, awful harsh LED lighting and weird gray decor. I’d never sit down there.
We lose a Harry’s (Table) and we gain a Harry’s (Shoes). Conservation of matter.
I’m just wild about Harry’s
Fun about the new Throwback Sports place. Sounds fun as well as kid friendly. Wishing them success!