New signage went up at 1589 Second Avenue in mid-September and caused some confusion online. The sign said Caffe Buon Gusto, a name Upper East Siders know from 77th Street. The space had been Osteria Nando until the end of August. People asked on Instagram whether Buon Gusto was moving or closing its original location. The restaurant answered in the comments, as East Side Feed reported: "Yes, it's the same owner! Our 77th Street location and our Brooklyn location remain open and are not going anywhere."
Both restaurants belong to Nando Ghorchian. He is turning the old osteria into a new Buon Gusto outpost rather than handing it to an unrelated concept. The same thing is happening up and down the East Side. The summer took out a run of familiar dining rooms, and most of those spaces already have a named successor. A surprising share of the successors are businesses that were already operating within a few blocks.
The Summer Closings, Address by Address
The closings bunched up between August and early October. The table below lists each one with its successor and the most recent reported status. Unless a source confirmed that a place is open, treat the status as planned.
| Address | What closed | What's next | Latest reported status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1589 Second Ave, near 83rd | Osteria Nando, late August | Caffe Buon Gusto bar & grill | Opening "very soon," per a September 13 report |
| 1556 Second Ave, 80th–81st | Adria, week of September 18 | Bluestone Lane café | No opening date announced |
| 1716 Second Ave, at 89th | San Matteo Pizza & Espresso Bar | Doria, Northern Italian | Major renovation underway as of September 15 |
| 408 E. 64th St | Bayon, August 3 | Bon Ga, Korean | Open, per Eater's September openings roundup |
| 355 E. 78th St | Le Petit Parisien, August 9 | Bottega del Gusto, Roman | Liquor application backed by committee October 6 |
| 1584 Second Ave, at 82nd | Sushi Ren, early August | None announced | Reported to be looking for space nearby |
| 1415 Second Ave, at 74th | Killers Kiss, closure announced early October | None announced | No successor reported |
Five of the seven spaces have a successor on record. Sushi Ren lost its lease, and Eater NY reported that it was looking to reopen a few blocks away. No new address had been announced as of this writing. Killers Kiss was a punk-rock bar named for the 1950s Stanley Kubrick film. It announced its closure less than a year after opening, and no next tenant has been reported.
The Successors Mostly Already Operate Here
Several replacements are moves by businesses already on the East Side, which is why the turnover feels smaller in practice than the list of closings suggests.
Bluestone Lane, the Australian-inspired coffee chain, is taking 1556 Second Avenue. It already runs a café at 1085 Fifth Avenue, at the Church of the Heavenly Rest between 89th and 90th Streets. The space it is taking has turned over often. Adria opened there in 2024, replacing Gray Hawk Grill. Adria may not be leaving the area either. Chef and co-owner Endri Qalliu told East Side Feed that the team is "currently exploring opportunities to relocate Adria within the neighborhood," with no timeline yet.
Caffe Buon Gusto's second location will look different from the original. Because the Second Avenue space has a much bigger bar than the 77th Street restaurant, the plan is a "Bar & Grill/Sports Bar experience." The kitchen will keep house staples such as homemade pasta with truffle sauce and add steaks, burgers, short rib, sea bass and salmon. Ghorchian told What Now that he has been in the business for 38 years.
Some of the closings were never full exits:
- San Matteo still runs a pizzeria and cucina about eight blocks south on the same stretch of Second Avenue.
- Le Petit Parisien closed only its 78th Street location, which ran as a bakery by day and a Supper Club at night. Its Lenox Hill and East Village locations remain open.
- Bondi Sushi is adding a second Upper East Side location at 1445 Third Avenue, between 81st and 82nd Streets. Its first is at 1140 Third Avenue, between 66th and 67th.
Doria, at San Matteo's old address, comes from a team with Upper East Side restaurant experience. Partner Greg Giannone told Patch that the operators previously worked at Sant Ambroeus and Felice. Patch later corrected its story to make clear they do not own that hospitality group.
Some of the new tenants are new to the area. On East 64th Street, Bayon was a Cambodian restaurant with a Michelin Bib Gourmand that closed when its chef retired after 45 years in the business. Eater NY reported in September that Bon Ga had already taken its place. Bon Ga serves Korean comfort food such as bulgogi and seafood pancakes. Bon Ga has a 10-table dining room and an open-air space out back that seats 26.
A Tavern Coming Back to the Neighborhood
The clearest example of the pattern is a business returning after 14 years away. Ship of Fools opened at 1590 Second Avenue, between 82nd and 83rd Streets, in 1996 and stayed until 2012, when The Penrose took over the space. Owner Glenn Treacher told Community Board 8 that the tavern was "ran out of the neighborhood by the Second Avenue subway," according to East Side Feed.
The new Ship of Fools will be at 1152 First Avenue, between 63rd and 64th Streets, in the space Baker Street Irregulars occupied most recently. The plan calls for 35 tables, 71 seats and a 22-stool bar, with background music only. Treacher said he wants to return to "what we used to be back in 1996," and he is aiming to open in January. Its old address sits directly across Second Avenue from 1589, where Caffe Buon Gusto is now preparing to open.
First Avenue Got the Restaurants That Actually Opened
Second Avenue has mostly announcements so far. The places that have actually served their first meals since August are on or just off First Avenue:
- Goop Kitchen opened its first walk-in storefront in New York City on August 3 at 346 East 92nd Street, at First Avenue.
- La Collina, a bright-orange Italian restaurant and pizzeria, opened August 18 at 1431 First Avenue, at 74th Street. It serves lunch, dinner and brunch, and its weekday lunch offers two courses for $34.
- Ob Uan opened in September at 1479 First Avenue, at 77th Street, in the former Spice space. The menu is Thai, with specials from specific regions, including khao soi gai from the north and a crab curry from Surat Thani in the south.
- Zaxbys opened its first Manhattan location on September 30 at 1267 First Avenue.
Ob Uan follows the same pattern as Second Avenue, with a new restaurant moving into a space another kitchen had just left. Pepe & Vera, a full-service Italian restaurant, is working on 1712 First Avenue, between 88th and 89th Streets. That space was most recently Holly Brook Lane and, before that, Basilic. According to Patch, the owners are aiming for Thanksgiving week but say the date is tentative.
October 21 Is the Next Date to Watch
On October 6, Community Board 8's Street Life Committee backed liquor license applications for six restaurants. The full board takes them up on October 21.
| Restaurant | Address | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Ship of Fools | 1152 First Ave | 71 seats plus a 22-stool bar |
| Blue Ribbon Sushi | 132 E. 61st St, former Javitri Indian Cuisine | 60 seats, all seated service, no customer bar |
| Bondi Sushi | 1445 Third Ave | Second UES location |
| Tulipán Kitchen | 1065 Madison Ave | 40 seats in a Hungarian cultural center |
| Bottega del Gusto | 355 E. 78th St | 45 seats, Roman cuisine |
| Pepe & Vera | 1712 First Ave | 42 seats plus an eight-seat bar |
Married owners Daniel and Elona Demiri run Bottega del Gusto. They plan to start with lunch and dinner and add breakfast once their team is in place. The Réka Darida Foundation is building Tulipán Kitchen in an 1890s townhouse between 80th and 81st Streets. The building will also hold retail space, a gallery, and apartments for visiting artist and chef grantees. East Side Feed reported that it expects to open in spring 2027.
The board's vote is a recommendation. The State Liquor Authority makes the final decision on each license. Doria shows how much time can pass after approval. The full board voted 44–0 in July to back its application, according to CB8's draft minutes. By mid-September, Upper East Site was reporting that the space was gearing up for a major renovation and that Doria would not open any time soon.
KALÓ is not on this month's agenda. It is a Greek restaurant built around live-fire cooking at 1007 Lexington Avenue, between 72nd and 73rd Streets, and Patch reported in early September that it plans to open "this fall." As of October 13, no source had confirmed that either KALÓ or the new Caffe Buon Gusto was serving.
Storefront turnover is one of the details we follow when we advise East Side clients, because what happens to a building's ground floor changes how its block feels day to day. If you'd like to talk about how changes on Second or First Avenue relate to a property you own or are considering, The Steven Kramer Team can help. Request a confidential consultation.
