Another Restaurant Has Closed

Azabu Daruma-Ya 428 GreenwichI was walking to dinner last night when I noticed the “for sale” sign on 428 Greenwich. It wasn’t news that the building is on the market—I included it in the “Mansion Fever!” round-up in May—but then I saw that the ground-floor restaurant was dark. (While the cellar restaurant has always been Sushi Azabu, the street-level restaurant was first Greenwich Grill, then Daruma-Ya, then it was all Azabu.) I was pretty sure I had seen a sign in previous days saying that the restaurant would reopen today. Inside the cold-weather vestibule, or whatever those things are called, a sign said patrons hoping to reach Sushi Azabu should take the door to the right. I went down the extremely dark stairs and felt around for what I thought was the door to Azabu, but there was no handle. I knocked; nothing. Then I felt a door to the left, and opened it. Inside, a melancholy young man confirmed that the upstairs restaurant was closed, that they were doing “some renovations” for “six months,” and that the establishment was “going through some changes.” Given the history of turnover at that address, and the fact that the building is for sale, it seems safe to assume that the street-level part isn’t reopening and that the downstairs sushi restaurant is probably looking for another space. (P.S. In case this isn’t crystal-clear, Sushi Azabu is still open.)

sushi azabu sign

 

7 Comments

  1. Loved Azabu… sorry to see them close… Yet another empty space… “This Town is turning to a Ghost Town”? Sad…

  2. The sushi was way underappreciated. Far better than a lot of the more hyped restaurants. I hope the sushi bar finds another home nearby, although I am not optimistic.

    • The downstairs sushi bar is still open

      • Based on the experience you described, I would imagine that the clock is ticking…

        FYI, that building has been on and off the market for sale for a while (I believe an affiliate of the restaurant owner owns it). It is probably more appealing without the retail tenants.

    • The Sushi Bar at Azabu, is open and has possibly the best sushi in NYC. The chef has been there since early summer, and is a nice guy and a very skilled sushi chef. His assistant chef is returning to Azabu next month from Japan. So it seems they plan on staying open downstairs for awhile.
      I wish they would reopen somewhere with the original Japanese/Italian concept that Greenwich Grill had.
      As another poster said, I hope they open nearby.

  3. The sushi restaurant is still open and thriving in the same location. The ground floor just opened a sake bar. It’s very nice

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