Nostrand Avenue Restaurant Row - Updates

A Brief History of the Travails of Restaurant Row

Restaurant Row was an idea that Kevin Walters and I came up with in the summer of 2023.  It was to define an area as a place to come for food, drinks and entertainment.  It was thought the united appeal of these places would draw crowds to an area of just three blocks.  Together they would be stronger than they would be apart.  It was to be symbolized by a mural on the wall of Key Food to be painted by an artist supplied by Tsipi Ben-Aim, the director of CITYarts.  This mural was to contain logos of twelve restaurants in the area.  Ari the owner of Key Food decided against the mural in favor of doing a large-sacle renovation of his building.  At the time we had in mind the twelve restaurants to be founding members of Restaurant Row listed below:

1)Savvy, 2) SoulBK, 3)Cielito Lindo, 4)Suite, 5)Oistin's, 6)The Ryerson, 7)Bleu Fin, 8)Nostrand Avenue Pub, 9)Rosalia, 10)La Napa, 11)Uotora, and 12)Chris

SoulBk with Kevin Walters and two partners

SoulBk

We had already seen the first sign of weakness in the area when Sonia's Crab and Fin closed down.  The notion that this area needed help became clear in the seasons that followed.  Fall, winter and spring came and went and during their passing one piece of bad news followed another.  First The Ryerson closed, already struggling during Covid with no space for a shed outside.  Then we noticed that Oistin's did not open.  There was flooding in the basement, and it still has not opened. They report they are struggling on, but it is now nine months since they were supposed to start doing business.  The next casualty was Cielito Lindo. A sign in the window announced they could not come to an agreement with the landlord about a lease.  The place came up for rent and has been taken over by the The Smoke Shop.  Next the Suite went under.  It was followed by a new Chinese Restaurant – Hing Hung.  The owners flooded the neighborhood with menus and then very soon afterward closed their doors.  And then came a big surprise – Blue Fin was closed down by the sheriff and returned to its landlord.  In total, five restaurants failed in a short time, and a sixth, Oistin's, seems to be in trouble.

Oistin's Coming Soon

Oistin's

The result is that less than a year after we began to pursue the idea of Restaurant Row the twelve restaurants are still there, but there have been quite a few substitutions.  The twelve are now as follows:

1)Savvy, 2) SoulBk, 3) No. 1 Chinese Kitchen, 4) Love Lane, 5) Nostrand Avenue Pub. 6) Rosalia

7) La Napa, 8) Cotton Bean, 9) Uotora, 10) Akara House, 11) Chris, 12) King Tai

Five restaurants have disappeared from the initial list, and a sixth closed just before that list was formed.  Running a restaurant is not easy; there are so many factors that determine success or a lack of it.  One thing we do know is that there is a need to improve the situation, to make an environment where what goes wrong is not fatal, and one can wait and hold on until everything falls into place.  That is our goal, to make the chances better by providing the best possible environment.

–  John DeWind

Book Ball

Two members of Restaurant Row, SoulBK and Akara House, have sponsored the Book Ball on July 19 at the Children's Museum. The leaflet below gives more details. Victor Solano will lead a jazz quartet that will perform at the event.