A combination Dunkin Donuts-Baskin Robbins appears to be opening in the home of Manchester Diner at 2800 Broadway on the corner of 108th Street. “A chain is replacing the Manchester Diner. “Shame,” wrote William. “Coffee and donuts for the kids at Mott Hall and Ascension, a bland storefront for the neighborhood. Years ago (mid-70s) there was a donut shop there – Happy Donuts – where they made fresh donuts and not from a frozen mix. It was also part diner and as the years went by the donuts took a back seat to the diner experience.” Thanks to William and Johanna for the tips.
Le Pif, a wine bar at 2058 Broadway (70th-71st), has closed its doors for good. A notice on the website says “permanently closed due to Covid-19.” It’s now on the market for rent, all 693 square feet of it. Thanks to Upper West Sider for the tip.
Sforno Pizzeria says it will open at 2393 Broadway near 88th Street (the former home of Hot & Crusty) on Monday, October 12. The restaurant posted an image of its menu on Instagram, with pies ranging from the medium regular cheese for $17 to the large chicken bacon ranch for $25. They’ll eventually have hero sandwiches and pasta too.
A ramen place is replacing Coffee Berry on the southwest corner of 90th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, Rachel tells us, after talking to a construction worker at the site.
Send all your openings & closings tips to westsiderag at gmail!
What’s with the hating with your comment “all 693 square feet of it” ?
That 693 square feet may seem small to you but was plenty of room for the owner to make a profit and still be able to pay salaries for several great employees and pay for the ancillary services that all restaurants/bars require. Place was always well filled with customers before everyone was forced to close down.
The big problem is that the 693 sq ft is actually less than 200 sq feet because Le Pif can only operate at 25% capacity and there is no way to pay bills at that level.
Considering how busy the place was before March I’m pretty sure the business would still be thriving were it not for our overreacting pandering politicians.
Hopefully someone else will fill 100% of the 693 square feet and be as successful as Le Pif.
One of the best places in Tokyo for yakitori I’ve been to is about that size. You have to turn sideways to get to your table. In this case, size does not matter.
You’re reading an awful lot into six words, Your Neighbor. Many, many, many businesses have closed. Don’t take it personally out on the reporter.
so this place was doing good before the lockdown, you mean when 100’s of people were dying a day from covid? The City is slowly opening so we don’t have another 20k people die. What would your plan be?
…and I’m sure all of them caught it at Le Pif, and it’s evil, evil 693 square feet.
Those bastards!
I’m always excited to try new Ramen, especially as we head into colder weather
Hopefully Sforno will have fresh pizza and not be another place where heat up slices from 10 pies that sit out on the counter for hours.
For me, almost every donut I’ve had not from Dunkin Donuts has been better than Dunkin Donuts. I see this as a step backward for the neighborhood.
The coffee at Dunkin Donuts will be better than the coffee at the Manchester
Okay so Dunkin isn’t exciting, but I can always go for some Baskin Robbins!
The BR flavor Jamoca Almond Fudge is one of the greatest ice cream tastes I’ve ever had. But if you look at the BR ingredients, it’s frightening. I limit myself to one BR pint a year, usually in July.
UWSHebrew: I often disagree with your politics, but we are soulmates when it comes to food!
Lebanese. My absolute favorite place in Manhattan is the Lebanese establishment “Balade Your Way” by Penn Station. I miss it terribly, as since Covid-19, I rarely go anywhere I cannot walk to. A small compensation is that I have been a weekly customer at Samad’s Gourmet, as his tabouli is almost as good as Balade, as it’s made the Lebanese way: very little bulgur wheat. Samad’s offers the best tabouli on the UWS.
Lebanese! I wish I knew enough to differentiate Lebanese from Syrian from Jordanian… I’m a big fan of Turkish. Does Lebanese have any traces of French cuisine?
Meeting of taste buds works for me. However I doubt anyone reading WSR matches or could even guess what my favorite cuisine is. Hint: it’s overall very healthy and just delicious across the board, from appetizers to desserts.
French influence? Not that I’m aware of. Syrian is almost the same as Lebanese. The ingenious use of vegetables, both cooked and raw, is the root of my Lebanese addiction. So much is perfectly balanced with lemon juice, pickled onions and all sorts of herbs. You have not lived until you’ve had freshly made, hot out of the oven bread smothered in Za’atar. Perfectly grilled meats and fish. As for desserts, don’t even get me started, as all Arabic desserts drive me crazy.
Tough one: very healthy AND delicious from apps to dessert! Is Indian healthy? Do Mediterranean or Japanese have good desserts (I love green tea ice cream)? Thai or Vietnamese? French or Italian can be healthy.
I give up!
What is a “frozen mix”? Shouldn’t it be one or the other?
What we need in the hood, is a good roman pizzeria or a tuscan focaccieria.
Try Fumo, right across the street from the new Dunkin’
The Bianca pie at Fumo is fantastic.
Be glad that things are actually opening and filling vacancies in the current climate.
Also, the pumpkin donut from Dunkin Donuts is an underrated gem.
Filling a vacancy is a better way to describe it than replacing.
Manchester Diner closed long enough ago that I can’t even recall when it happened. (New Year’s maybe?) So it’s not like Dunkin/BR was hanging around like a vulture to grab the space as soon as Manchester keeled over.
Frankly my biggest issue with Dunkin is that there are so many of them. I have long wondered if the company just doesn’t give a flip about close together franchises are located.
Just to be clear, when a business says “closed due to COVID-19” they really mean closed due to government mandated restrictions. The virus isn’t closing any restaurants.
JohnW80,
How about “closed due to a lack of customers who don’t care about getting sick or dying”. (To be clear,)
Sorry to hear about Hot& Crusty. It was always there when I needed a bite or something to keep me going while I did my overnight shift in yellow cab. Good luck to the Sforno
Hot and Crusty closed a year ago.
Yes, Hot & Crusty closed a year ago and is still missed. Nothing against Sforno, but we have good pizza already in the neighborhood (Perfecto!). Remember when there were deli’s and grocery stores on the upper west side? That’s what we need! But good luck to Sforno- anything is better than another empty storefront on Broadway.