What’s Up with Lenox Wines

Someone recently inquired via Twitter or Facebook what’s up with Lenox Wines. Since we are often in the area, we kept a close eye on the four-year-old store which has been closed for quite a few weeks now. While passing the store on Friday, I noticed a sign in the window. Apparently, the owners are …

La Perle Noire is Now Island Salad II

We just received some exciting (yet sad) news.  First the bad news: My favorite cafe, La Perle Noire, is closed for good. The good news is that it is reopening as Island Salad II. Johnny, the owner of La Perle Noire, confirmed the closing saying that he has been so busy with his work in …

New bistro Cedric coming to St. Nicholas Avenue

We were sad to learn to that one of Harlem’s favorite eateries is down for the count. We held out hope that Mojo would be able to get their act together and come back on the scene stronger than ever, but last week we found out that Mojo was gone for good. The New York …

Boutique shoe store closed and owner charged with assault

Rashidah Ali has closed the Harlem branch of her shoe store, Bourgeoisie Shoes, after being charged with felony assault back in January. Originally thought to have “clawed” the face of a bouncer in a SoHo club where she and friends were celebrating in the VIP section, the bouncer is now claiming that Ali used a razor …

Uptown’s Dirty Little Secrets Exposed

This week we’ve posted about two Harlem restaurants with a history of health code violations that have recently closed. Last week amNY posted an article that zip code 10026 in Morningside Heights/West Harlem has the highest percentage of violations in the city. Ten of the 50 restaurants in that ZIP code inspected by the health …

Trattoria Amici Shuttered for Good

This post has been sitting in our files for a while. We actually tweeted about it back in December.  Trattoria Amici seems to be closed for good this time. If you remember, this troubled eatery has never been a favorite of uptowners. It first opened as Pizza Party Buffet back in 2008, then a year …

Pollen Nation closes up shop

After bringing some class to the east end of 125th Street, Pollen Nation has decided to close the doors of its retail establishment. We gain a florist and lose a florist. Here is the official statement: Pollen Nation has officially closed the retail arm of our business and will concentrate on our existing customers and …

What’s up with Pollen Nation

Passing by Pollen Nation yesterday, I peeked in to give a wave to the staff. I was surprised to see that all of the inventory and many of the fixtures had been removed. I tried to contact them to find out if they decided to close the retail location in order to focus on the …

Frizzante is now Lido

Photo by D. Bell After much wondering about the future of what was formerly Frizzante, a short-lived Italian restaurant on Frederick Douglass Boulevard, a fresh and vibrant blue awning reveals that it will be reincarnated as Lido. From the look of construction going on inside it might be open as early as next month.  Yesterday, …

N Boutique Closed!

Good Morning readers. We awoke to a notice from N Boutique that they have closed the new Lenox Avenue location. This is  a huge shock to us!  Another intrepid blogger actually saw the move happening last night and reported it on Twitter, but the official word came from the owners themselves today. They will be …

What’s Up, Doc’s?

Docs, originally uploaded by Uptownflavor Photos. After less than two years in business, Doc’s has gone of out business and Jay’s on Seventh has taken over. If you remember, Doc’s was the scaled down version of Amy Ruth’s, owned by famed chef Carl Redding. You can read more about Doc’s in our past posts: http://uptownflavor.com/2009/02/08/docs-hopes-to-cure-the-economic-recession-with-soul-food/

Toni’s Touch Closed

Spring is the perfect time of year to get those tootsies back into presentable condition, but sadly there is one less salon in Harlem to visit. Toni’s Touch has left the Harlem small business scene due to the downturn in the economy. Toni decided to close up shop and wait for the economic tides to …

Cheesesteak Factory is shuttered

Cheesesteak, originally uploaded by Uptownflavor Photos. Read our previous post about the closing of Harlem’s only cheesesteak shop.

What’s happening on the Harlem food scene?

First the good news, Tea and Things of that Kind has opened!  I’m not sure how long they have been open and they are a bit inconspicuous, but they are indeed open for business.  You can visit them at 137th and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. Heading west one avenue over, Charles’ Country Pan Fried has scaled …

Grand Reopening of Charles’ Buffet

A little over a year ago we reported the closing of Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes Charles’ has reemerged in its former location, freshened up and ready to serve its loyal patrons their favorite ‘all you can eat’ dishes. As many can attest, Charles’ pan fried chicken pulled hot out of …

The Den Returns to the Harlem Scene

By: joseph riley land The DEN isn’t dead after all. Remember last May when they closed the doors and told us they would be back, new and improved, by the end of the summer – and then it did not happen? Well, I spoke with Jack Correia, owner of The DEN, this afternoon and he …

Dancy Auto Closed?

The other night while walking up Lenox I noticed that Dancy Auto had no cars on the showroom floor. With the exception of art and furniture the location appeared to be abandoned. I sent a Tweet out asking what was up and received no response from Twitterville.  While the website is still live and the location …

Now closed: Talay

Late last month, Talay decided to do a ‘do over’ and change their name and menu. The former Latin-Asian fusion hot spot switched to a Mexican menu and renamed the restaurant Pancho Gringo. You can read more about the change over at Greasy Guide’s blog. Read our previous posts about Talay

Shuttered: Samba Bakery

All of last week while I was in East Harlem I noticed that Samba was gated. Today word came our way that Samba is closed for good. Their website is also down. We are always sad to hear about Harlem businesses closing, especially when they were one of the good guys. Support your Harlem businesses …

Bottomline Source Closing

If you are ever in the lower Hamilton Heights area then you might have paused to see what neighborhood flavor Bottomline Source had on display in their windows. Passing by the store the other day I noticed that the windows that typically decorated with mannequins dressed in the latest urban fashion are now plastered with …

Open em Shut em

There have been a number of new businesses on the horizon, while a number of old-ish business have disappeared in the meantime. Two businesses in the Hamilton Heights area that are trading off are two small restaurants. Oklahoma Smoke  was located on 145th Street near 8th Avenue. Oklahoma Smoke tried to hold on but just couldn’t keep their …

Warburg Abandons Harlem Office

Following in the footsteps of Corcoran, Warburg has bid farewell to their Harlem outpost. According to The Real Deal: When asked in mid-January about rumors that the Harlem location would close, Warburg President Frederick Peters told The Real Deal by e-mail: “I have no plans to close that office.” A month later, Peters posted on …

Shuttered: Renaissance Cigar Emporium

An UPTOWNflavor reader sent us an email letting us know that  it seems that the neighborhood cigar bar has gone the way of the caviar bar and other high-end luxury businesses that cropped up during Harlem’s ‘new renaissance’. The folks over at Manhattan (Harlem) Kids have a prediction list of who will be next. Read …

Maroons Says ‘Goodbye’

Folks, I’m sure many of you have passed by 145St and Bradhurst Avenue and wondered whatever happened to Maroons’ slated opening here in Harlem. You may remember that last year they had issues with finding investors. I recently received an email from Arlene Weston, owner of Maroons, stating they are closing for business:   Dear …

Gone with the Wind

In my travels through Harlem I noticed a couple of businesses seem to be shuttered.  I mentioned the new-ish juice bar below back in October which is now all packed up.  I also noticed that Butterfly Blue was shuttered possibly due to a fire.  I never got up there to try their food, but check …

A Look Back: Home Sweet Harlem Cafe

Last week we wrote about the late Home Sweet Harlem Cafe.  Here is an old video that looks back on the early days of the restaurants.  The owner drops some serious knowledge and insightful wisdom about ‘soul food’ and Harlem. more about “Homesweet Harlem Cafe “, posted with vodpod

The Denim Library

*Ed. note: We later received an email from DL that they are relocating. The Denim Library – purveyor of high end denim wear – has been closed each time I’ve passed the store over the last month.  On my way home from Abyssinian on Sunday I happened to notice that the store fixtures were being …

Seized: Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen

As part of the previous renovations post, I checked up on Charles’ Southern Style Kitchen. To my surprise I saw the gates plastered with bright orange SEIZED signs.  There will be a lot of disappointed all you can eat patrons who have made the long trek up there.

Local Eats: Under Renovation

It has been brought to our attention that yet another business is “under renovation.”  Last week we reported that Cafe Bon Jour on St. Nicholas was dark with a closed for renovations sign in the window, yet there didn’t appear to be physical signs of construction going on inside of the tiny cafe. The other evening …

Fading Businesses in ‘New’ Harlem

Harlem blogger Nicole Moore from UptownLife.Net talks about different black-owned businesses (new and old) that have closed their doors or are rumored to be closing soon: “Last week as I walked around the hood I started noticing something a tad bit disturbing– the closing of many new businesses. In spite of Harlem’s much hyped real …

Vanishing Harlem

Photo credit: jeremoss via flickr.com Jeremiah of Vanishing New York deconstructs the deconstruction of Harlem on his blog. He visited the strip of businesses that were being pushed out on Frederick Douglass Boulevard, near 125th Street. Some of these businesses had been in the neighborhood for two decades, and included House of Seafood, Manna’s, Bobby’s …

It’s Official – M&G Diner Closed

M&G Diner closed, West 125th Street, originally uploaded by Eating In Translation. Writes a longtime employee of M&G: “I am sorry to say that now it is officially over the diner has been sold we left for vacation on June 29, 2008 we will not be back. We are very sorry about the inconvenience to …

EZ’s Trying to Ease Out of Business

We’ve written about EZ’s Woodshed several times here on U.F. That’s why we were saddened to learn that Gordon Polatnick, the owner of the club had fallen on hard times. Polatnick has resorted to hosting rent parties in order to keep the club’s doors open. NY1 recently aired a piece about Gordon’s situation and hopefully …

EZ’s Woodshed/Big Apple Jazz

Gordon P., owner of EZ’s Woodshed/Big Apple Jazz, gives a tour of the historical jazz district where his club is located. Big Apple Jazz is located at 2236 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd., Harlem, NY 10027. Related: EZ’s Tries To Ease Out of Business more about “EZ’s Woodshed/Big Apple Jazz at 2236 …“, posted with vodpod

The Glaring Gaze of Gentrification

Shopping at El Mundo, by gregbrophy via Flickr Victim of Columbia’s expansion or the city cracking down on building code violations, the latest Harlem institution (of sorts) to be shuttered is El Mundo on Broadway and 134th. Photos and back story over on Curbed.

Next…Out with the New and in with the Newer

Well, as soon as we get used to having one business set up shop in the nabe, they decide to close down and we are left to wonder who will be next? I can run down a short list of places off the top of my head. We’ve heard the rumors about Sugarhill Java and …

EZ’s Woodshed is up for sale

EZ’s has been in trouble for a while despite having received two very glowing U.F. reviews. Earlier this year Gordon started throwing rent parties to keep the place going, but it seems that he has since decided to go ahead and put the joint up for sale. See details below:

Remember ‘La Marqueta’?

Some years ago UF reported on the stalled efforts to jump start the East Harlem market. Yesterday the New York Times released an article about its history and the latest in failed attempts to revive this market which once bustled with hundreds of people who wanted to stock up on the foods they once enjoyed in their home countries. …

What’s Up with Boma?

Speaking of coffee, a reader submitted the following to our inbox: I was walking past Boma Coffee & Tea Co. on the corner of 126th and Fifth Avenue last Friday and noticed they were closed early. When I looked inside, I saw a bunch of moving pallets and many items boxed up for moving. Outside …

Manna Digs In

Remember the controversy surrounding the Record Shack and neighboring businesses being evicted last year?  Well, despite having several other locations all over Harlem, Manna is refusing to give up their prime location on 125th Street.  See below for details: Getting rid of evicted Harlem soul-food restaurant Manna’s has proven harder than getting baked macaroni from …