The Upper West Side dining scene is about to see a lot of fresh eating, with new restaurants from a Dovetail alum and the Maison Pickle team planned for later this year.
Lucky Pickle Dumpling Co., a new venture from Jacob Hadigeorgis of neighborhood favorites Jacob’s Pickles and Maison Pickle is set to open in May at 513 Amsterdam Ave. and West 85th Street. It will feature a short menu of dumplings, like the shrimp pillow dumplings on the menu at Maison Pickle, and soft-serve for dessert. The restaurant will be previewed at the 11th annual Taste of the Upper West Side.
In July, Nick Pfannerstill — who was previously at Michelin-starred Dovetail — will open Nobody Told Me at 951 Amsterdam Ave., near West 107th Street. West Side Rag reports that the new restaurant generated buzz among board members at a Community Board 7 committee for liquor licenses. Pfannerstill described the restaurant as “fast cuisine.”
And as previously reported by Eater NY, Tom Valenti is also hitting the UWS with a new restaurant. Valenti’s Oxbow Tavern is set to take over the space formerly occupied by French bistro Cafe Tallulah at 240 Columbus Ave., between West 71st and 72nd streets.
Also getting previews at the Taste of the Upper West Side event, Harlem bakery Make My Cake is moving to UWS after closing its 22-year-old shop in Harlem due to rising rents. Make My Cake is scheduled to open in June at 805 Columbus Ave., near West 100th Street. Elea — from Joe Ragonese, formerly of shuttered Long Island restaurant Kenta in Melville — is also set to open in June at 213 West 85th St., between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue. And Twin Palms from chef Ryan Turner of Burke & Wills is set to open the same month at 200 West 84th St., near Amsterdam Avenue.
According to West Side Rag, the Cibo E Vino and Marlow Bistro owners are opening a yet-to-be-named restaurant at 1012 Amsterdam Ave., between West 109th and 110th streets, as well. Thai restaurant Ruadee is opening at 307 Amsterdam Ave. The 60-seat Ruadee is slated to open in April. Akimoto Sushi Inc. is opening a sushi joint at 146 West 72nd St., between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues. There is also an Akimoto Sushi in Tribeca. And serving small plates and only open for lunch, Owl Café is opening at 215 West 75th St., near Broadway.
And it wouldn’t be a restaurant proliferation without a poke expansion. Pokebab in Williamsburg is opening a new location at 2047A Broadway, between West 70th and 71st streets next week. The space formerly housed Maoz.
The neighborhood has experienced several closures recently, including the long-running Big Nick’s Burger & Pizza Joint Too, seafood restaurant Ed’s Chowder House, and the 11-year-old South Indian restaurant Hampton Chutney.
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Routine, unannounced restaurant inspections ensure food retail establishments are in compliance with sanitation and food safety procedures in each state. These are the top ten violations inspectors found between 2015-16 in Florida restaurant kitchens. Nicole L. Cvetnic / McClatchy and Janelle O’Dea / The Bradenton Herald
Routine, unannounced restaurant inspections ensure food retail establishments are in compliance with sanitation and food safety procedures in each state. These are the top ten violations inspectors found between 2015-16 in Florida restaurant kitchens. Nicole L. Cvetnic / McClatchy and Janelle O’Dea / The Bradenton Herald
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CLOSE Provence Breads & Cafe is the latest Nashville restaurant to close in 2018. Karen Grigsby / The Tennessean
Buy Photo Lulu closed recently after less than a year in Germantown. (Photo: Nancy Vienneau for The Tennessean)Buy Photo
The New Year beckoned a rash of high-profile restaurant closings in Nashville, leaving diners and operators asking the same question: Has the bubble burst?
There’s no doubt Music City’s dining scene has mushroomed to unprecedented levels over the last several years. Out-of-town chefs have brought big names and big money, new hotels are anchored by trendy eateries and entire dining communities have sprung up where hardly anything existed before.
But industry experts say all that growth isn’t sustainable, even in booming Nashville.
“Restaurants in total are not growing because we’ve got more supply than we’ve got demand,” said Bonnie Riggs, a restaurant industry analyst with The NPD Group. “We’ve had a lot of the larger chains curtail their unit expansion, we have independent operators closing left and right because they can’t compete with the marketing clout of the chains and we’ve seen more bankruptcies.”
Nashville’s total restaurant count grew steadily from fall 2011 to fall 2016 when it hit a peak of 5,671 restaurants, according to data from The NPD Group.
That number fell close to 2 percent from fall 2016 to fall 2017, with independent restaurants — classified as those with one or two locations — taking the biggest hit and declining by 5 percent. At the same time, the number of chains with three or more locations grew close to 2 percent.
Riggs said the Nashville data is indicative of a larger national trend as restaurateurs struggle with increased competition, labor shortages, growing labor costs and declining profit margins. In some cities, including Nashville, rising property values and rental rates are squeezing independent operators out of the market.
And those independent operators, Riggs said, simply don’t have the marketing dollars to compete with national chains.
On the ground, we’re seeing the trend play out in Nashville’s dining scene. Just in the last six months, the city has lost both longtime favorites and trendy newcomers. The list of high-profile closures includes Nashville institution The Gerst Haus, significant wholesale supplier Provence Breads & Café, out-of-town favorite Cochon Butcher, Germantown newcomer Lulu and popular East Nashville spot Holland House Bar & Refuge.
Buy Photo Provence Breads & Cafe has signs posted on the door of its Hillsboro Village location announcing a temporary closure. (Photo: Lizzy Alfs / The Tennessean)
Rick Bolsom, owner of Tin Angel and an early pioneer in Nashville’s dining scene alongside people like Deb Paquette and Randy Rayburn, believes the growing number of restaurant closures is a sign the industry has reached a saturation point.
“(The growth) has gone on long enough now that we’re starting to see the cumulative effect of the changes and we may see an acceleration this year of restaurants either closing or remaking themselves or turning over in some way, shape or form,” Bolsom said.
To be sure, Nashville is still abuzz with new restaurant activity. The city has become a noted culinary destination with the accolades to back it up, including spots on countless “best of” lists and Tandy Wilson’s James Beard win in 2016.
The city has seen successful expansions lately, with powerhouses such as Max and Ben Goldberg growing their Strategic Hospitality dining empire and restaurateur Austin Ray adding new concepts to his A. Ray Hospitality group.
And downtown is still a red-hot restaurant market, with 51 newcomers opened or scheduled to open just this year, according to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. That’s nearly six times as many restaurants opened downtown in 2015.
But Bob Bernstein, Nashville’s king of coffee who helped shaped the coffeehouse and casual dining scene, worries Nashville is losing its flavor as some local restaurants become mini-chains with multiple locations throughout the city and smaller operators get priced out of the market.
“I had barely any money behind me when I opened my first store, but at the time, there were spaces available and landlords were willing to take a chance on somebody. Now landlords have their choice,” Bernstein said.
Over the years, Bernstein had the foresight to purchase some of his real estate. He’s not sure his businesses would survive in today’s market if he weren’t his own landlord.
“Anybody who has a lease that expires in the next five years, I would consider them somebody who is in danger of not being here for the long haul,” Bernstein said.
Margot McCormack, a pillar of the East Nashville dining community, fears the biggest loss will be Nashville’s longtime favorites.
“There are many reasons for all the closures, but it in the end it comes down to money," McCormack said. "The underlying issue here is that with all the growth, all the newness outshines or overshadows the old standbys, the places we have come to love and hold dear. So if we don’t frequent these old friends, they too, will go by the way side. Some people call it competition, some call it growth and change, but I just call it sad.”
By the numbers: Nashville's restaurant industry
5,582: Number of restaurants in Music City as of fall 2017
3,067: Number of chain restaurants with three or more locations
2,515: Number of independent restaurants with one or two locations
51: Number of new restaurants already opened or planning to open downtown this year
Source: The NPD Group and Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.
CLOSE The Nashville area has gained hundreds of restaurants since 2010. But how much is too much? Jon Garcia and Lizzy Alfs/USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee
Reach Lizzy Alfs at lalfs@tennessean.com or 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.
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