By Gus Saltonstall
A popular Upper West Side restaurant is closing its doors at the end of the month after 45 years in the neighborhood.
Good Enough to Eat at 520 Columbus Avenue, between West 85th and 86th streets, will serve its final brunch on Sunday, August 30.
“After 45+ years, Good Enough to Eat is closing its doors,” reads a note to customers within the restaurant. “Come and say goodbye to us at our final brunch on Sunday, August 30.” (Thank you to Matthew and Nagyeom for the tip.)
Importantly, the note adds that “it’s not really goodbye.”
“Our sister restaurant Fred’s on Amsterdam Avenue & 83rd Street will serve the Good Enough to Eat breakfast menu,” reads the note.
Good Enough to Eat is owned by Jeremy Wladis, who also owns Fred’s, Harvest American Bistro, and Nina’s Great Burrito Bar, among other neighborhood eateries.
Fred’s will serve Good Enough to Eat’s breakfast menu Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fred’s will also open starting at 9 a.m. on the weekends, as opposed to its customary 11 a.m. Along with the breakfast items, Fred’s will add favorite items from Good Enough to Eat to its menu.
Wladis told I Love the Upper West Side that the closing decision came down to a drop-off in business and not being able to come to an agreement on a new lease.
Carrie Levin opened Good Enough to Eat in 1981 on Amsterdam Avenue and West 83rd Street. The eatery moved to its Columbus Avenue location in 2013 after Levin partnered with Wladis in an effort to keep the restaurant operating.
Levin died in 2023.
While the Good Enough to Eat menu items will continue on at Fred’s, the name of the eatery will not appear anywhere.
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After reading the “Monday Bulletin” I thought Gus was on vacation. Who is on vacation?
At night this year, Good Enough to Eat turned into Bar Manje, a Caribbean place that was very good and wasn’t like anything else on the UWS. A shame that’ll be gone too.
Agreed!! My meal at Bar Manje was genuinely one of the best I’ve had this year. Hope the chef finds a new place to set up shop, his food is really something special.
We call it Good Enough To Wait
Interesting. Never knew Fred’s was the same ownership. Hope they stick around as we can’t afford to lose many more solid brunch options!
Had a great brunch at the new Jacob’s Pickles yesterday.
Jacob’s is great…but puts you into a food coma haha
U read the Upper West Side article yesterday, and I was intrigued by his statements about tourists. I was thinking – the double decker buses haven’t returned since the pandemic, and I am pretty sure they were going right until the COzVID closures, and I wonder how that has affected restaurants
I mean, IS tourism down on the UWS?
Gosh, you are right! Where did all those Double D’s go??!
Would be a good story for the rag to take on either way!
Doesn’t feel like it is down on Sundays near the museum… I think maybe just a lot more people getting national brand/PE chain food they saw on TikTok like crumbl cookies and blank street matcha.
This is sad that GETE is closing this location but glad it is moving to Fred’s. I was very sad to hear that Bar Manje does not have a future location planned. The restaurant was a wonderful
addition to our neighborhood, especially since there are no other options for genuine Jamaican cuisine in the area. The food was delicious and the drinks were amazing. WSR, please keep us updated if there are any plans for a future location.
We need more all-u-can-eat buffets.
I have been eating there since about 1986. Was there about 5 weeks ago and was struck by how bad everything was. Quality of food especially has deteriorated dramatically. Yes, it’s sad, but yes, it’s time to say the final good-byes.
Interesting I’ve only been to Fred’s….I really like the whole dog decor and friendliness to dogs but the food was absolutely terrible. Had several people just not eat theirs and the waiter seemed unsurprised and didn’t even offer to take the dish off the bill.
Over the past few years, the portions have shrunk just like its taste.
Overrated.
The name says it all. Not great, just good _enough_. At least it was honest. 🙂
A loss for the neighborhood. Viand is terrible. The Consulate is hit or miss, but always overpriced. .
GETE was always mediocre at best. Good _enough_. Viand is excellent. Expensive, but always high quality.
Didn’t know or recall Levin had died. She made her mark. GETE was THE UWS brunch place well into the 90s and beyond. An excellent run in a tough resto town
The original location was on the west side of Amsterdam between 80th and 81st before it moved to the east side of Amsterdam between 83rd and 84th.
Oy, I understand the world continues to turn and things change, but I sure will miss GETE! One of my favorite places for many years, especially since they’d moved to Columbus Ave. Didn’t realize Fred is theirs, too, though I must admit Fred has very different ‘vibe’ (and is less accessible, which is an issue for a family member). Too bad they are closing – I’ll miss them!
“While the Good Enough to Eat menu items will continue on at Fred’s, the name of the eatery will not appear anywhere”
I wonder why not. GETE has a long legacy on the UWS and lots of us will remember it with affection, especially the Amsterdam Ave location, so why let its breakfast items disappear into Fred’s menu?
I always called it barely good enough to eat, but its still sad to see a local institution close its doors.
Unless we get commercial rent control, we will continue to lose beloved neighborhood establishments that can’t come to terms with their insatiable landlords.
Lease negotiations have always been a factor for any business. He also said that here was a drop-off in business which is far more of a deciding factor.
These rental prices up here! Driving all of our small and beloved family businesses out.
I ate there on Sunday…..just passable food. Even though hash is on the menu they didn’t have it so I ordered the sausage…..similar to hockey pucks. They didn’t have rye bread so I ordered an English Muffin. Had I known it was $7 I wouldn’t have.
As the saying goes, Good enough to eat, not good enough to wait in line.
Went to GETE Special Thanksgiving dinner last year with non-city family – we all enjoyed – food was excellent! Will miss it.
Fred’s ambience and menu never inspired me. Hope they stay true to cooking GETE menu items. And, yes, Bar Manje dinner was great surprise. We need more eclectic, ethnic, restaurants that serve good healthy original not high pricey meals. Wishing all well with the changes.
Carrie Levin had a concept for her place, as a country inn. Her specialty were muffins made by a propriety recipe. They ere delicious. Her breakfasts were wonderful, All this was lost when she sold the place, and the new one rode the brand but never delivered food even close to Carrie’s. I did not know she had died. Sad, She was a dedicated and demanding owner.
Will the Greek restaurant there close, too? (Telio Taverna)
It was a wonderful place when Carrie Levin opened it. Not so much later.
I shall be visiting NYC from Ireland next month as I have done since mid 1980s -maybe 18 trips now UWS was always my favourite part of the city -sad to see so many diners closing -my go to was The Pier /72nd st diner ..just loved it there and would be there every day on a week long trip. Nothing stays the same I suppose but still the best city in the world . Any good tips for a good corned beef hash,bacon and eggs would be gratefully received Enjoy your weekend.
Bar Manje created a warm, friendly, delicious experience. Chef Kingsley and manager Theresa were so welcoming and, oh, that corn soup! I hope Chef Kingsley will be cooking his special menu somewhere else soon. Bar Manje is the real loss here.