By Lisa Kava and Tracy Zwick
Brasserie Boulud, a new venture by legendary chef Daniel Boulud, will open this fall at 1900 Broadway (between West 63rd and 64th streets.) Brasserie Boulud will replace three Lincoln Center establishments backed by the chef: Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud, and Epicerie Boulud, which closed in June. “With over 10,000 square feet spanning two floors, the new restaurant will offer a multifaceted, modern take on a classic French brasserie,” a representative wrote to West Side Rag in an email. Designed by David Rockwell’s Rockwell Group (the designer of Nobu and Union Square Cafe), Brasserie Boulud will feature “a light and airy main dining room with an impressively large central bar but also an intimate speakeasy and elegant private dining rooms.” Brasserie Boulud will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and offer everything from morning coffee and croissants (dine in or take out) to late night cocktails. “Menus will reflect Boulud’s signature seasonal French cuisine showcasing the finest ingredients, with a bend towards casual everyday dining and a light twist on bistro favorites,” the representative wrote. There will be express menus catering to pre- and post-theater diners.
Variety Coffee is in a “soft opening” at 455 Amsterdam Avenue (at the southeast corner of West 82nd Street). It is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. until September 15th; after that, it’s open until 9 p.m. Variety was established in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood in 2008. Its first Manhattan location opened in 2016 in Chelsea. It now has six NYC locations and a stand-alone roasting facility in Brooklyn. “Our coffees are a direct reflection of what’s in season so our menu changes frequently throughout the year,” the website says. Variety also offers subscription services to customers who want to get its coffee blends delivered. The space was formerly Malin+Goetz, a skincare shop, which moved out of that space in 2023, consolidating with its store at West 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue.
Amsterdam Hardware Depot opened on September 3rd at 924 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 105th and 106th streets). It is a family-owned business run by Carlos Villar, the store manager, along with his brother-in-law. Amsterdam Hardware Depot carries hardware and housewares, including brands such as Pyrex and OXO. They also carry cleaning supplies, plumbing and electrical supplies, and provide services such as knife sharpening and key copying. The hardware store is “for the supers and for the average person,” Villar told West Side Rag on a phone call. The space used to be a convenience store called Deli & Grill. (Thanks to Erik for the tip.)
Adobo Mexican Grill is coming to 2675 Broadway (between West 101st and 102nd streets). In a message to West Side Rag, a representative said the restaurant would hold a grand opening by September 20th, with a soft opening sometime earlier. No specific dates have been announced, but plans call for the restaurant to open before the end of September. Adobo Mexican Grill serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, chips, and guacamole, among other Mexican dishes. The company has over 10 locations in New York, including Greenwich Village and midtown Manhattan and multiple locations in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, as well as one in the Bronx. Wolfnight’s, a restaurant serving wraps which closed in June, used to be in the space.
Pizza Hut, at 940 Columbus Avenue (at West 106th Street), appears to be closed. A representative from the location at 1980 Amsterdam Avenue told West Side Rag, “there have been a number of Pizza Hut closings. I believe that was one of them.” The company has not responded to West Side Rag’s outreach. (Thanks to Jose and Maxx for the tip.)
Field Trip, the rice-centric fast-casual restaurant at 2913 Broadway (between West 113th and 114th streets), appears to be closed. The signage has been taken down and the location has been removed from the bowl shop’s website. Field Trip has remaining outposts in Rockefeller Center and Harlem. Management has not responded to West Side Rag’s inquiries. (Thanks to Red for the tip.)
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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Oh no not Pizza Hut!
We were so thrilled that pizza hut closed, our family had a little celebration on the spot lol. That area has had such bad luck with pizza places, and pizza hut was just taking up space making it difficult for a new place to justify trying. I’m hoping we’ll eventually get a real pizza place again to fill the void that Sheshe’s left
I am a tad ticked. I like the meat lover’s pan pie and still occasionally do a mini pizza for lunch. I like real pizza too. A great local slice is a great slice, but Pizza Hut was my favorite place as a kid and it’s a nostalgia thing the panned pizza.
It was nice having one close though honestly the quality has not been the best with this PH Express. Even when you asked them to cook the pizza a bit more it would arrive not baked properly and I’d have to put the pizza slices in the toaster oven to finish them off.
PH in general has not been great for a long time. The Wings used to be decent but suck now and the desserts are nearly twice as much as they used to be. Everything is. You can’t hardly not spend $50 even with a box deal.
They also charge a small fortune to deliver anymore, so does Dominos, so that was probably part of it. Cheesy Pizza makes decent wings and a version of the meats pizza. I will live but I really miss the sit down Pizza Huts of my youth. I was never as much of a Domino’s fan…
You really know your Pizza Hut !
Next we’ll lose a Domino’s.
Cool
In New York City? How does a Pizza Hut or a Dominoes even open?
Who else but a huge corporation can pay the rent here? If you don’t like big box, choose to patronize a small local business instead.. Complaining doesn’t help but voting with your feet and dollar do.
There are small local pizza places on every block of Broadway, practically! Clearly they can pay the rent and stay in business.
It’s the pizza people ate in college. Also there’s a lot of bad pizza in NYC. The worst pizza I’ve ever had came from a place in Brooklyn.
Paul, out of curiosity I checked to see if there are still Sbarros in NYC and surprise surprise there are! One on West 33rd street in Manhattan, one in Brooklyn, and one in Bronx. Can you believe?!!
Dominoes is fast, reliable and you always know what you’re getting. I’ve had issues with pizza places sending wrong slices and missing items. If the kids are hangry, they get Dominoes
They’re cheap. A large Dominos pie with any toppings you want is $10 while a plain pie from Famiglia is like $25.
I ask myself the same thing! Even how Starbucks stays open?! My theory is that the only people who patron mediocre chain restaurants are the transplants. They grew up in a town where Pizza Hut and Dominoes were the only option and in a town where the only place to get an ‘exotic’ italian style coffee is Starbucks. So they come to NYC where we have thousands of better, independently owned establishments, and they default to what they know and love. It’s sad because the indie places are what makes each neighborhood unique. If we don’t patron the indie spots, NYC will continue to lose its uniqueness and look like any old suburb in the USA….😫
But when Starbucks entered the NYC market, it was one of few coffee bars where one could simply sit for a few hours. So people got used to it.
New Yorkers throw around “transplants” as a facile pejorative. Do they not bleed?
I’ve been here for 45 years…at what point did (or do) I qualify as an UWSer? I happen to like Starbucks (which, by the way, did not exist when I moved to Manhattan.)
I moved to NYC in ’74 & to the UWS in ’87, so I do kinda feel like a New Yorker nowz.
The first Starbucks on the UWS opened on the west side of 87th St & Broadway, in like ’88, ’89, ’90…
Forever.:) Those that talk about transplants have had their great-great-great^196- grandfather secure their personal deed on 86th St from the Argentinosaurus that gallivanted around some time ago.
Because sometimes you don’t want pizza, you want PIZZA HUT (or dominos). It’s different.
That’s right. Different product. Like pizza’s inbred cousins that dwell in the flyover states. They’re family, so you still love them anyway.
They are more popular than you would like to believe.
Urbanists, maybe.
Adobo won’t survive unless the scafolding is removed.
It cannot do worse than Wolfnight’s
The scaffolding just went up.
Their menu is misleading. Everything looks like it costs $10 but then it’s another 2 or 3 dollars for what goes inside. Like it’s $9.99 for a burrito but the chicken is another $3.
Remove the scaffolding? Why would we ever do that? We love blight, hurting small businesses, and killing workers. Oh and the buildings pay thousands of dollars for that privilege.
Raising Canes opened on Broadway and 112th.
I have seen the reviews and looked at the pics. It sounds and looks less than enticing, nothing special. Decent Chicken tenders are easy to find city wide. Probably for less.
I wish they’d open a Culver’s or a Sonic in Manhattan. I ate at those while driving back up here to live here again and I liked them. Most of the fast food places I used to really like have really gone downhill and the few I’d like to have around here they don’t exist except way up in Harlem.
I do like supporting local businesses but sometimes I just want something cheap that I’ve known since childhood too. The local places can be better priced sometimes but the opposite can be true depending upon what type of food you want. Nothing is really inexpensive anymore.
I used to be able to get a whole rotisserie chicken or half a slab of ribs with rice and beans for under $16 at a Latin place when I was living out in Brooklyn. Here the same meal is running me at least $25 and closer to $30 in some places.
I often wish I had a proper kitchen with a real oven and a real tub but alas I don’t and that’s just that. 😛
Surprised Field Trip didn’t survive near Columbia. Hope it is filled quickly.
The UWS could really use a shoe repair shop. They have all closed but one, between W90 & W91, (which happened to ruin a beautiful handbag of mine) and I understand that will be closing in the near future.
Then there will be none between W.85th and W.105th.
What? There’s Carmelo’s on Amsterdam between 73 and 74, and that’s just off the top of my head. Many more. Do a bit of homework before you post.
There’s one at 105th and another between 111th and 112th.
Rosy Shoe Repair @ 101 W. 84th, just west of Columbus, for shoes, boots, handbags, zippers… Always well done and quick turn around.
Zippers you say? Could these kinds of places repair/replace zippers on a backpack? I have an eagle creek pack that I love, it’s been on probably 400 flights with me, I have muscle memory for every nook and crannie of that bag… But the zipper is starting to fail and I very much want to figure out how to repair it without losing the bag!
There is a shoe repair on 84th (just west of Columbus), across from the main entrance to PS9/Sarah Anderson school.
What about the place on bway below 86?
Toscana, between Ernesto’s and Broadway Chemists. Bought an increasingly useful long-handled shoe horn there!
86th and Columbus
there is an excellent one on the east side of Broadway between 85th Street and 86th Street.
And they are SOOOO nice!
There is one on 86th between Columbus and Amsterdam
There is one on Columbus between 86th and 87th.
He is closing? I go there all the time for keys and last I heard, he wasn’t closing.
There’s one on Columbus and approximately 70th Street.
Also one on 72nd near west end
Unless it closed in the last 2 months, there’s one 85 b/w Ams & Bway. it’s below street level and easy to miss but it’s been there for a log time.
i think these openings around 113th St, 106th St, 101st St, and 105th St, are in neighborhoods that have their own, distinct name which is not the Upper West Side.
UWS goes to 110. I agree it’s a different feel, especially off Broadway, but ‘officially’ it’s still the UWS. We’re on 108 and if we say Manhattan valley no one knows what we’re talking about. I think the rag reports on stuff up into the teens because it still kinda affects the uws
LOL, and what do you think their distinct name is? Bloomingdale? Manhattan Valley? Morningside Heights? Something else?
I loved Field Trip and it’s such a shame to see it go. I can’t say i’m terribly surprised. It felt like they were scarcely open, closing in the evening at 7pm for no clear reason.
I enjoyed Field Trip during the ” Pandemic” – They had a seamless ordering, pick-up and delivery system – Food was yummy
Field Trip is closed. It was the best. Unfortunately, the riots killed it. Luckily, there is still one in Harlem and Rock Center
Riots??? What on earth are you talking about?
What’s with the dollar stores closing? A big one between 103rd and 104th closed, another at 94th. I’ve also seen many that have closed elsewhere in the city. Was there one chain (or place with franchises) that left NY or something? (I know there are still others around, but they are smaller, and those two were my main go-tos!)
The one next to the subway station you mean? I never saw that many people going in though.
They can’t afford the rent here in Manhattan. They still exist out in the boroughs where the rents are cheaper.
There’s a fairly big one on Amsterdam and 105
Chef Daniel Boulud’s “Brasserie Boulud” Looks very promising and just in time for Thanksgiving and the Christmas Holidays.
No idea how chains like Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Subway survive in NYC. You can do much better at any local pizza shop or bodega.
Sad that Boulud will reopen. They place all their waste on West 63 street instead of west 64 and there is a 4:30 am pick up to wake us up. Also food waste is spilled on the street on a regular basis. Of course they don’t care about folks that live here only concerned with tourists as they are over priced and food is of low quality.
Yummy yummy!
Their coq au vin and onglet (hanger steak) was better than anyone’s in the UWS by many degrees. Better than La Sirene, Nice Matin, Amelie, Cafe du Soleil, etc. Not even close. I realize you have a legitimate bone to pick about their behavior, but let’s not be unrealistic about the food.
Does any one know. What is going on with Chanson?. Supposed to be closed for construction on W70th?
I liked the PH at W.106th; convenient location, courteous people, reliable crust like homemade bread. Best local pizza (whole, generous pies) V&T, Amst. bet. W.110th & 111th. Much better when not a busy period; thicker crust, pleasantly chewy, not oily on the undersides; >flavorful and >thoroughly baked. Lisa is so nice!
Ciao Paisan on West 79th street also recently closed. Originally it was Coppola’s for at least 25-30 years. They sold it and it became Ciao Paisan with mainly the same menu. It was pretty good but they took forever to renovate the place. They made the best Alla Vodka. Was sad to see it closed up.