While most note-worthy closings have their own dedicated post in this blog section, a lot of restaurants lately have been come and go. Below is a list of restaurants that opened and closed less than a year after opening, maybe they never got wings to fly or simply lost interest in the business, whatever the case – here is the list!
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- New China No.1 – Premium Take on Chinese Take Out located at the Lincoln Ave & Hylan Blvd intersection, this restaurant shuttered it’s doors approximately 2 months ago
- 3 Brothers on Forest Avenue – A Turkish Deli, Market and Restaurant which lasted just 2 months after official opening it’s doors next to the Cheesesteak Sandwich Shop
- Paradise Brisk – The “Satellite” location to the original Paradise (which btw, is now also closed) has took over the PK’s Express but stayed open for just a little while before going south
- Garden Tea House – a quick run that doesn’t seem to have ever official opened with a focus of serving Tea Time European Style with snacks and healthy dishes never seemed to pan out
- Sonny’s Sandwich Shop – the location is now Project Brunch has also never really found it’s wings, a Gourmet Sandwich Shop across from the bus depot
- Asian House – A little Chinese restaurant which took over the Panda Express restaurant didn’t make too much noise in a hidden location
- Jimmy Johns – All of Jimmy Johns (3) locations on Staten Island have suddenly closed without an explanation
- Burger Heaven – which some believed was using logo and copyright of a franchise – the Restaurant/Diner also didn’t last a long time in Castleton Corners – between the Staten Island Diner, Island Diner and Neighborhood Diner
- Oishi – The Asian Restaurant (Which is now Arirang Tokyo), the original spot of Sushi Excellent is actually very unbelievable to us as just 3 – 4 years ago the place was a Staten Island Hot Spot! Also closed business.
- El Petra (Now Blvd Juice Bar and Grill), an affordable Mediterranean restaurant was up for sale about a week after they opened
- Bay Sweet Cafe on Bay Street was located with the Ice Cream shop
- Christine’s of Great Kills with great prices and a cozy environment, Christine’s is no longer with us but will soon be Michael Anthony’s Restaurant
- Dimitri’s Gyro Joint hasn’t really closed but instead relocated into a succesful operation at How Greek It is on Hylan Blvd in Midland Beach
- A and J Pizza on Delafield Avenue has been through about 15 different places since WYE has been around, it’s a location on a one way street – the only way to know about it, if you live within 10 houses down
- Ciminna Cafe, Italian Restaurant and Bakery closed as well (This is the spot replaced by How Greek it is, mentioned above)
- El Indio Nunca Muere – Maybe just a month or two, this Mexican restaurant was quickly replaced by SI Fish and More!
- Lotus Garden – Originally Sunny Palace, the restaurant became Lotus Garden but also never really panned out, a huge location with large rent but this will soon be Puglia of Hester Street!
- Tsukiji – It was a hidden gem on Huguenot avenue – and surprisingly seemed successful to us
- Pk’s express (As mentioned above with Paradise Brisk), Pk’s also tried to open a second location but it seems like this new address is plagued
- Hossty House on Port Richmond was opened for maybe a week or so
- Majestic Diner (Burger Heaven spot also mentioned above) – Closed
The Trend that we see is most of the same spots are being opened and closed, maybe its locations or just that they are available for such low cost to get in, landlords giving these spots just to collect on rent – therefore people coming in where never serious in building businesses, but instead just taking over locations hoping for the best.
Restaurants take years to establish – and just one month to destroy – it’s hard and is even harder today, between 3rd party companies taking commissions to increased operating and labor costs – the restaurant business is fragile. WhereYouEat has been on Staten Island since 2007/2008 and we have never seen so many closings/changes in such a short period of time in our history.