Second Avenue in the Low 80s Is Trading Its Dinner Rooms for Daytime Counters

Glenn Treacher went before Community Board 8 in October with a liquor license application and a grudge he has held for 14 years. His tavern, Ship of Fools, opened at 1590 Second Avenue in 1996 and lasted until 2012. In his words, as East Side Feed reported, the business was "ran out of the neighborhood by the Second Avenue subway."

Ship of Fools is coming back to the Upper East Side, but it won't be on Second Avenue. Treacher is taking 1152 First Avenue, between East 63rd and 64th Streets, and aiming for a January opening. His return fits a pattern that has been building since August on the blocks where his tavern used to be. On the five blocks between East 79th and 84th Streets, the spaces that closed this fall are mostly reopening as places you visit in daylight. The neighborhood's new dinner restaurants are heading somewhere else.

Five Addresses, Walking North From 79th Street

1. 1535 Second Avenue, between 79th and 80th. A former Rite Aid is being turned into a Pop Up Grocer, which combines a café and a grocery store. Upper East Site reported construction underway by October 16. The plans call for about 18 café seats and proposed hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. As of a What Now report on October 20, no opening date had been announced.
2. 1547 Second Avenue, between 80th and 81st. Myka, a frozen yogurt chain from Madrid, announced an opening for Saturday, October 24, in the storefront that used to hold Ania Rybka Salon.
3. 1556 Second Avenue, between 80th and 81st. Bluestone Lane opened its "Yorkville café" here in October, in the space Adria occupied until September 12.
4. 1584 Second Avenue, between 82nd and 83rd. Sushi Ren closed in early August after losing its lease, according to Eater NY. No replacement tenant has been announced.
5. 1589 Second Avenue, between 82nd and 83rd. Osteria Nando closed at the end of August, and its owner is reopening the space under a different name. The section on 1589 below covers what's going in.

Three of these five addresses are becoming daytime businesses: a coffee shop, a frozen yogurt counter and a café with a grocery attached. One is still empty. Only the fifth is set up for a cocktail and a steak.

The Adria Space Has Changed Hands Twice

The clearest example is 1556 Second Avenue. East Side Feed traced its recent history: Gray Hawk Grill, then Adria starting in 2024, and now Bluestone Lane. Adria served coastal Italian food for two years. Owner Endri Qalliu told Patch that business didn't reach what the owners had hoped for, especially during the slower season, and that moving "probably makes more sense for us in terms of the space." He and his partners, Larry and Maria Hass, want to stay on the Upper East Side, ideally near L'Osteria, their other restaurant at East 83rd Street and Lexington Avenue.

The new tenant serves an all-day menu. It includes Avo Smash, lemon ricotta pancakes, a breakfast burrito, flat whites and a Hot Milo, the malted chocolate drink the menu calls an Aussie favorite. Bluestone Lane already had one Upper East Side café, at 1085 Fifth Avenue inside the Church of the Heavenly Rest. The Second Avenue location brings the brand east of Lexington.

Pop Up Grocer, two blocks south, is also built around daytime hours. Founder Emily Schildt told Community Board 8 she wants the shop to become "a staple in the neighborhood" for groceries and "as a cafe destination," as Patch reported in March.

One Block, Four Frozen Desserts

Myka's arrival shows how full this part of the avenue already is. The shop makes its base from Greek yogurt and goat's milk kefir on site, and it changes its two seasonal flavors every month. Toppings include baklava, pistachio sauce, olive oil and fig compote. Pinkberry, 16 Handles and Anita Gelato are all less than a block north, on Second Avenue between 81st and 82nd Streets.

The trend extends past this stretch. Mimi's, an Australian frozen yogurt brand, opened on Lexington Avenue at East 72nd Street in September. Before that, Mythos opened on First Avenue between 68th and 69th Streets. Counter-service operators clearly see room on these avenues, and they're signing leases faster than full-service restaurants are.

Where the Dinner Rooms Are Going

Sit-down restaurants are still opening on the Upper East Side, just mostly on other blocks. On October 6, Community Board 8's Street Life Committee supported liquor license applications for six restaurants, as East Side Feed reported.

None of the six is on Second Avenue. Bondi Sushi is the closest, one block west on Third Avenue at the same cross streets as the frozen yogurt cluster. Bottega del Gusto is taking over the former Le Petit Parisien on East 78th Street, a bakery that also ran a supper club at night until it closed in August.

The process also explains why the cafés are opening first. The committee's votes are recommendations. They went to the full board on October 21, and the State Liquor Authority makes the final decision on each license. Ship of Fools is the only one of the six with a public target date, and it's in the new year. A Bluestone Lane or a Myka has no license hearing to wait for before it unlocks the door.

The Holdout at 1589

The exception is on the same stretch. Nando Ghorchian owned Osteria Nando at 1589 Second Avenue and also owns Caffe Buon Gusto on East 77th Street. He is turning the osteria into a second Caffe Buon Gusto, and it will have a twist. The Second Avenue room has a much bigger bar than the original, so the new location will run as a "Bar & Grill/Sports Bar experience," according to East Side Feed.

The menu will keep house favorites like homemade pasta with truffle sauce and add steaks, burgers, short rib, sea bass and salmon. Ghorchian, who has been in the business for 38 years, told What Now the idea combines his two favorite things, food and sports. The restaurant says it will open "very soon." Even this evening spot is a reworked existing business with an owner already on the block, which is how it reached the avenue ahead of the new names waiting on licenses.

A Block West, a 42-Year Run Ends

Third Avenue lost one of its longest-running dinner restaurants at the same time. Mezzaluna, the Lenox Hill trattoria at 1295 Third Avenue near East 74th Street, scheduled its last meal for Sunday, November 1, according to East Side Feed and Patch. It had served pasta and wood-fired pizza for more than 40 years. Owner Aldo Bozzi told ABC7 that rising business costs and an expensive renovation led him to decide against signing another 10-year lease.

Further south, Killers Kiss, a punk-rock dive bar at 1415 Second Avenue near East 74th Street, announced in early October that it would close after less than a year, according to Eater NY. Bayon, the Cambodian restaurant at 408 East 64th Street, closed August 3, and Eater NY's August closings report said it shut when chef Minh Truong retired after 45 years in the business.

Dates Between Now and January

• Already open: Bluestone Lane at 1556 Second Avenue. Coffee Project New York at 1219 First Avenue and East 66th Street has been serving since September.
• October 24: Myka's announced opening at 1547 Second Avenue.
• November 1: Mezzaluna's scheduled last service at 1295 Third Avenue.
• November 23: The East River Esplanade between East 72nd and 78th Streets is expected to reopen, according to HSS. The date moved back from October because NYC Parks needs access to the area for sinkhole repairs near East 80th Street.
• "Very soon": Caffe Buon Gusto's bar and grill at 1589 Second Avenue.
• January: Ship of Fools' target opening at 1152 First Avenue, 14 years after it left 1590 Second Avenue.

Pop Up Grocer at 1535 Second Avenue and whatever replaces Sushi Ren at 1584 still have no dates. Those two will settle how far the daytime trend goes between 79th and 84th Streets.

If you'd like to talk through how changes along Second Avenue fit into the bigger Upper East Side picture, The Holt Team keeps track of these blocks address by address. Request a Consultation, and we'll walk the avenue with you.