Left rectangle ads redesigned
History of Tribeca Buildings
Mr Chow is indeed closing
Mr Chow, the storied Chinese restaurant that has been on the corner of Hudson and N. Moore for two decades and in existence for nearly seven, is closing. Taking its place: Olio e Più, an Italian restaurant with three locations in the city. They are coming before Community Board 1’s Licensing Committee on May 13. (Thanks to F. and J. for the heads up.)
There had been rumors about Mr Chow closing for months, but when I asked around (and checked CB1 records, where the business had just renewed its license) it seemed all systems were go. Not true, clearly.
A notice to residents of the building from the applicant said that Olio e Più was first opened in 2010 by Emil Stefkov, who had a hospitality business in Macedonia before immigrating to the US in 2009. His first restaurant here was the Greenwich Avenue location in the Village; he opened at Bryant Park in 2025 and has a pending liquor license application for a spot in the East Village.
Stefkov also has a chain of French restaurants called Boucherie. There are four locations in the city; the first, in the West Village, opened in 2016. The Grand Boucherie stretches the entire block at 53rd and Sixth and he now has locations in Chicago, Miami and DC.
The 2500-square-foot first floor will have 120 seats at tables plus seven at the bar; the loading docks accommodate 52 outside; the cellar can accommodate 32 seats (though the note said it is 3100 square feet). They are asking for 11a to midnight Sunday to Thursday; 11a to 1a Friday and Saturday. Profosed hours for the loading dock outside are 11a to 11p Sunday to Thursday and 11a to midnight Friday and Saturday.
The restaurant chain *did* close its location at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in May 2025, which may have started some of the rumors? I also heard that their lease was not renewed.
16 Comments
Comment:
Medium rectangle #1 (top)
Right column rectangle ads
Mega rectangle
Restaurant guide icon
This is terrible news! Such a shame!
To the Olio e Piu owners, sincerely: please do not blight this location with fake flowers. We will welcome you to the neighborhood if you commit to not adorning this beautiful, historic corner with fake flowers. Importantly, forgoing that flavor of decor is in your best interest as more restrained, historically congruent taste will also attract more locals to your business. Thank you
have to agree here – will of course give the Olio e Piu team a fair shake but i hope the fake flower epidemic plaguing West Village doesn’t take root in Tribeca (pun intended!)
Nooooo! Tribeca is really changing. I guess all things change sooner or later.
Replaced with the most mediocre Italian food
When is Mr Chows closing?
Sad, Another viable business getting pushed out by landlords jacking up the rents making it impossible to stay open.
If you read the article you’d see it is not true. Headline is misleading
Kinda wish they were opening a Boucherie instead- already plenty of italian pasta restaurants in the neighborhood, and no real french bistro places (Odeon doesnt count since normal locals can’t get in anymore)
there is a mr chow’s on 57th street. Wondering if the whole of Mr Chow ecosystem is folding or just Tribeca. I dont know how Restaurants stay afloat although the prices at the Tribeca location were pretty high. But no greater than anything else in Tribeca of that caliber.
The new place is a disappointment. Mediocre chain in an A+ location. Tribeca deserves better. Agree on flowers comment. Please don’t ruin this corner.
However, Mr chow fans – are you really lamenting the loss of the most overpriced and disgusting Chinese food in the world? Especially considering you are <1 mile Chinatown. Come on. The food is so bad it’s comical. I’m shocked it’s lasted as long as it has.
Always wondered how they managed to stay in business this long… Walk (or bike) to Chinatown for better food, lower prices & supporting a neighborhood that is hurting!
Why do people act like the food was slop? Eating in Chinatown and going to Mr chow are entirely different. If going to either, you’d never be deciding between the two so it’s a pointless comparison. It’s like saying why would you go to Cipriani when there’s Little Italy right there.
Um, I don’t know? Because I’d like to get dressed up and be served dinner in a restaurant at a table in a beautiful setting?
These comparisons bug me so much omg. And now we’re losing Mr Chow, so.
Agree with N Moore Guy Re Chow but this new place is so not the answer.
It’s been pretty much downhill since The Harrison closed. Though Teakwood and Upon the Palace are good recent additions to offset the limited ( as far as reasonably priced places) and overpriced restaurant scene in our nabe.
Mr. Chow’s was always a “B & T” choice offering overpriced faux-Chinese food when we’re less than 10″ from Chinatown.
And when s Friedman’s going to open, if ever?
And what about the “Korean” on Hudson off N. Moore St?
This is tragic. Mr Chow has been part of the fabric of this corner for two decades — the kind of constant that makes a neighborhood feel like home. The food was never the point, really. It’s the staff that knows you by name, the lights spilling onto Hudson on a winter night, the sense that something was always alive on that corner. They are family to those of us who live nearby. Please don’t ruin our beauitufl corner with faux adornments — this is not the West Village.
WV resident here. This is such a shame. Genuinely disappointed. First in Mr Chow closing, so many great memories there. But also in it being replaced with Olio e Piu? That’s just salt in the wound. I’ve seen what these types of lowbrow, low quality, fake flower infested restaurants have done to the west village (and I adore my neighborhood) but watching it spread to Tribeca is really such a shame.
I hope for our sake that nobody eats there and they swiftly go out of business but unfortunately that will likely not be the case.