By Lisa Kava and Natalie Demaree
The Granola Bar, a restaurant serving elevated comfort food, at 551 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 86th and West 87th streets), closed on January 18th. The Granola Bar was founded in Connecticut and has multiple locations there and in Westchester. The Upper West Side location opened in January 2024. Menu items included eggs, hearty grain bowls, sandwiches, salads and more. It offered homemade granola in a variety of flavors which could also be purchased in packages. Recently, the Amsterdam Avenue location “faced issues with the building after a management change,” a representative from The Granola Bar wrote to West Side Rag in an email. “It became too difficult to continue delivering the brand experience they wanted to.” An Instagram post and a sign on the window thanks the Upper West Side for “an incredible journey” and “for welcoming us into the neighborhood and showing us so much love.” An Upper East Side location on Madison Avenue is coming soon, the representative confirmed to the Rag. “As of now, there are no plans to open elsewhere on the Upper West Side but as the brand grows that could change,” the representative wrote. (Thanks to Sue and Mike for the tip.)
Luckin Coffee, a popular coffee shop chain founded in China, is opening at 2799 Broadway (at West 108th Street.) Luckin, which was founded in Beijing in 2017, now has more than 20,000 stores across 300 cities, and nine stores in New York City (including Midtown, NoMad and Greenwich Village), according to the company’s website. This will be the first Upper West Side location for the coffee chain. Luckin Coffee serves coffee, cappuccino, espresso, lattes, matcha, and iced “fruity americano” drinks. They also serve pastries and bakery items. All orders are placed through the Luckin App and picked up at the store. Cascabel Taqueria, which closed in 2020, was previously in the space which has since been empty.
Effy Hair Boutique at 2790 Broadway (at West 108th Street), closed that location on December 28th, and moved to 2664 Broadway (between West 101st and West 102nd streets). The salon is operating out of another salon called Albanian Universe Hair Salon, owner Effy told West Side Rag on a phone call. “We are still our own salon and clients can call me directly at 212-222-2286 to schedule,” he said. The move was due to “high rent,” Effy told the Rag. Effy Hair Boutique opened in January 2017. (Thanks to Erika for the tip.)
Tablet, a “modern pharmacy” is opening its flagship location soon at 888 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 103rd and West 104th streets). They are completing the credentialing process and expect to open in the spring, the company’s CEO, Oren Y. wrote to West Side Rag in an email. Tablet offers telehealth services along with an in-person pharmacy experience. “We are building Tablet to be a fast, service-driven, neighborhood pharmacy focused on making healthcare easier and more human, whether patients visit us on the Upper West Side, or manage their needs digitally,” Oren wrote. Tablet’s expected hours of operation are: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday; closed Saturday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday. Tablet has plans to open three locations in Queens and one in Oceanside, Long Island. A bike shop was previously in the space. (Thanks to Gary for the photo and the tip.)
NaiSnow, a Chinese bakery and tea shop, will open on January 22nd at 971 Amsterdam Avenue (between West 107th and West 108th streets). It has a Flushing, Queens location, and a Long Island City location. NaiSnow serves tea, fruit tea, tea with milk, green juices, and fresh baked goods. There will be a “grand opening” from January 22nd through January 25th with special deals on menu items, a NaiSnow employee told West Side Rag on a visit to the bakery. The Upper West Side location will be open every day from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to the employee and their website.
Shinbashi 72, a Japanese grocery store and market at 218 West 72nd Street ( between Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues), is temporarily closed while the owners are on vacation. It will reopen with normal business hours on Tuesday February 3rd, a representative wrote to the Rag. ( Thanks to Emily 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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NaiSnow’s doors have been open to the public for several days now.
Sad to see Granola Bar gone. The space was lovely and it was a good reliable spot.
The Granola Bar was one of the most disappointing additions to the area. It always felt like it belonged in CT or Westchester instead of the UWS. The food was meh. The service seemed confused. While we all mourn the long departed Popover’s, can’t we get a decent restaurant to take its place? Is the space too big to support something that would succeed.
I was criticized here two years ago when I pointed out that the company is a mercenary private equity venture. Of course they weren’t going to spend any extra money on little things like service and food.
Agreed. A very busy restaurant corridor begins just a block down. They should have been able to draw significant business, but then again they removed dinner from their schedule and having “granola” in the restaurant name probably didn’t help either. Hopefully another restaurant will move in soon. They did a nice job outfitting the space at least!
The Popover Cafe, July 1981–Jan. 5, 2014 — R.I.P.
100% agreed. Bad mgt. Bad marketing of space. Didn’t have their act together that is for sure. Look at GREENGRASS next door. Gee What a difference. I know really can’t compare but just the overflow on w/e should have kept them in business.
The name helped kill it. Words matter. “Granola Bar” sounded like a 1970s breakfast takeout.. The languid service didn’t help either, though the salads weren’t bad. I miss Popover and I also miss the seeded sourdough loaf that was the star of Kirsch’s Bakery, which succeeded Popopver.
Do you know how many focus groups they had to pay to come up with that name?
Money poorly spent, obviously.
The number of Asian chain restaurants and shops in the 100s is remarkable. I thought the administration had sent a chill through foreign enrollment in American universities, but it doesn’t seem to be having an effect on Columbia — yet. Meanwhile, I’ve only been to Sauerkraut Fish so far, which was quite good.
There was a stretch there when there was no Chinese food in the area. The pendulum swings.
Phew I was scared the Shinbashi closure was permanent, they are such a wonderful store
Cannot wait for Shinbashi’s return.
Yes, that photo made my heart sink for a moment… whew!
So many vacant store fronts on the upper UWS.
Off topic but when people edit their own comments — how do they do that?
After you post your comment you’ll see “Waiting for Approval” at the top of the post. At the bottom you’ll see a little gear-shaped icon. Click on that and you’ll see an instruction to edit. But do it quickly — the opportunity to edit doesn’t last long.
Ah, thanks.
And it worked!
😀
If you are getting prescriptions from a pharmacy check out one of the on line versions. I wanted to get a prescription filled without the insurance. I usually pay a few bucks with insurance. Without the insurance they wanted $250. I didn’t get it. Sometime ago I discovered Amazon Pharmacy. They charge $8 without insurance and they deliver anywhere. You can also apply your insurance.
Please use our mom-and-pop stores and pharmacies. this is the reason why there are so many vacancies due to everyone shopping online and making Bezos more billions.
This is where I implore my neighbors to support our small local pharmacies over Amazon. These places are important to the community. Ivan, Westside, Park West, Broadway Chemists, Apthorp to name a few. Most deliver, so you can still have that convenience.
Agreed. I switched to Joseph’s and couldn’t be happier.
Thank you, Cyrus. Broadway, my default pharmacy, just delivered a prescription that my doctor ordered two hours ago. The total cost: about $2, plus I instructed them to add a tip for the deliverer. When I (or my doctor) calls them, either George or Lukas answers, and they know who I am. You can’t get that kind of service from Amazon. Besides, I’m not eager to make Jeff Bezos any richer than he already is.
It sounds good in theory buts I’d be concerned about not getting my delivery. Are prescriptions hand delivered to your door or just dumped on the pile of Amazon deliveries for the building?
Handled just like any regular Amazon delivery, tossed outside the building door, left in the open lobby — treated with all Amazon’s predictable care.
That’s a shame. Thank you so much for the info! I normally use Joseph’s but I was just curious about other options because insurance doesn’t cover a lot of my prescriptions.
The area south of Columbia (especially south of 110th street) has become “little Asia”. I guess the population of Asian students at Columbia are a really good target audience (and numerous as well) that some clever merchants have found their market. No issue here except that the transformation that is happening here is interesting to see.
Chinese students are likely not on scholarship and are paying full tuition, so not just a target audience, but a target audience with cash in hand.
While there are a number of new Asian shops in that area they don’t appear to be very busy. I was the only customer in Teso lite this afternoon and one of only a couple of people in the Hashi market in the times I’ve been there.
There are still many vacancies. I hope they all fill. I love the variety.
I had seen a comment elsewhere suggesting that Luckin was going in across Broadway, in the former spot of 108 dry hot pot. Anyone know what is going there? The exterior update is far along.
Not shockingly….a Chinese fast casual restaurant! They say they are going to be build around healthy Chinese fast casual. There is a very real Asian food/drink/market bubble from 106th-110th. No way can all these places be supported, especially bc there is 3 of each thing.
Is a place like Luckin attractive enough for people to download their app to order a coffee? I walked into one of their downtown locations a while back and was virtually scolded for trying to order an iced tea at the counter.
I’m not downloading a single purpose app, that does who knows what with my information, when I can just walk to a different place a block away.
The app is an attractive option. You can order your drink when you’re 5 minutes away and it will be ready by the time you arrive. They also offer big discounts on your first couple of drinks to incentivize the download. Apps take seconds to download and you can hide it in a folder.
Given my conspiracy theory tendencies, I wouldn’t do business with any business that doesn’t accept cash, it only pushes us one step closer digital currency, digital ID – more control for the govt….
Yes, agree. Also – don’t NYC businesses have to accept cash ?
Across the street from that Luckin Coffee…
The old Cannon’s location will become “Auntie Jenny”, per notices in the windows on 1/21. I found a couple job ad postings on-line about the place that say “Chinese fast food”. But I wonder if there’s an intentional collision of the name with “Auntea Jenny”, which is a really (really) big Chinese milk tea chain.
Why aren’t you including Broadway Farm, which closes on the 31st? It’s one of my favorite grocery stores, along with the Trader Joe’s near 72nd Street!