When word got out about the impending closure of Leyenda, a fixture in its Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood, the place started filling up early every night.

“Everyone wants to get a piece now that we’re closing,” owner Ivy Mix said with a laugh. “I mean, I get it. I’ve gone to places when they close. … But the other part of me is like, ‘Where were you? Where were you, though?’”

Mix opened Leyenda, a pan-Latin cocktail bar and restaurant, in the upscale Boerum Hill area in the spring of 2015. In early 2025, she and her co-owners decided not to renew their lease, joining a growing list of small, independent restaurants shutting down. The list includes lots of places that have been around for years, some famous, like Marlow & Sons and the Pencil Factory, and others that are beloved locally.

“There’s many reasons,” Mix said. “The restaurant-bar industry is difficult. It’s become more difficult over time, the whole country over, but I think New York City is not necessarily the most hospitable place for small businesses a lot of the time.”

Rent, which has always been high in the city, has become much more expensive in the last few years, since the pandemic. Insurance has, too, along with almost everything else — utilities, food, labor.

“Labor is big,” Mix said. “I’m the type of person that thinks that it should go up. But as a business owner, I’m like, ‘Whoa!’ If you look at our labor costs now compared to 2017, it’s a huge difference.”

“The restaurant-bar industry is difficult,” said Ivy Mix, owner of the now-closed Leyenda. (Samantha Fields/Marketplace)

Credit card processing fees are also taking an increasingly big chunk out of many restaurants’ already-thin profit margins — every time someone pays with a card, which is all the time, 2% to 4% goes to the credit card companies.

“At the end of every month, it’s like, here you go, Mastercard and Visa,” Mix said. “Here’s all this money.”

It all adds up in a business where, if you’re doing really well, you’re making maybe 10 cents on the dollar.

“At the end of the day, we’re like, is the juice worth the squeeze?” she said. “Like, maybe not. Maybe not right now, maybe not like this, maybe not this iteration.”

A lot of restaurant owners she knows feel the same way. Five years out from the start of the pandemic, people tend to think of it as being over, Mix said, but “the effects of COVID are still very much here. If you got loans out during COVID, they’re due now. If you are trying to still make up from losing all that revenue in COVID, we’re still in that now.”

And the jubilance of post-vaccine 2021 and 2022, when everyone was going out a lot, is decidedly over — now, people are eating out less, and drinking less when they do.

Then there’s the future, with all its economic and political uncertainty. And tariffs.

“Everything I sell here is from a different country, literally everything. Also, most of my staff is from a different country,” Mix said. “It is very scary to look at this and be like, OK, if I’m forecasting two or three years from now, do I like what I’m seeing? If my lease is up now, and I’m not gonna get penalized for leaving it, I might just take the out.”

It was tough to make that call; Leyenda wasn’t struggling. But running a restaurant is a lot of hard work, even in the best of times. And right now, Mix said, “it’s like a Jenga game, and like the pieces are just getting pulled left and right, and we’re just like, wobbling around. And wobbling around is so exhausting.”

One of Mix’s biggest worries about closing was what would happen to her staff, but she said almost all of them have jobs lined up. And she’s not leaving the business entirely — she still has a wine bar in a different part of town, Whoopsie Daisy, and a wine store, Fiasco, and she’s already starting to think about new concepts for the future.

A note announces the closure of Leyenda. (Samantha Fields/Marketplace)

But Leyenda was her first place, where she built her career and a community.

“This little place, this little bar, has been my whole life,” she said. “I built my career here. You know, most of my friends had actual children, and I had this. So to see it go is heartbreaking.”

Even if it’s also a relief.

In the bar’s last days, lots of regulars, past and present, came through to say goodbye to Mix, to the staff and to the space, with its long, wooden bar, arched windows and gold ceiling.

Devon Flynnperrault used to come in a few nights a week when he lived in the neighborhood, to sit at the bar and have a cocktail and tacos.

On the last Thursday night Leyenda was open, he got there early to make sure he snagged a seat. He’d made the hourlong subway trip from his home in Queens to be there on Tuesday and Wednesday too, and he planned to do the same on Friday and Saturday.

“Five nights in a row,” he said with a laugh. “Tonight I’m gonna be here for a very long time. I will definitely be going cocktail, mocktail, cocktail, mocktail. It’s a celebration of how great the bar was. And also a bit of a wake.”

Flynnperrault’s old, regular coffee shop nearby just closed recently too. It’s weird, he said, and sad.

“Businesses and people make up a neighborhood. I consider this neighborhood my favorite neighborhood in the city. But without my friends — a lot of them have moved out — and without the businesses, I might have to start rethinking that.”

is an editor for Eater’s Northeast region and Eater New York, and was the former Eater Austin editor, who often writes about food and pop culture.

This is Eater’s guide to all the New York City restaurants, bars, and cafes that closed in May 2025 (see: April, March, February, and January). This list will be updated weekly and is a round-up of the dining and drinking places that have shuttered around the city. If a restaurant or bar has closed in your neighborhood, let us know at ny@eater.com.

May 30

Bay Ridge: Greek restaurant Blue Door Seafood Taverna closed on Friday, May 23, as reported by Brooklyn Eagle. Owner Kyriaki Vitale decided to close the restaurant because “this past year has brought many challenges,” as she explained on Instagram. Raising three sons while operating a small business, “l’ve found myself pulled in two directions-each requiring my full heart and energy […] l’ve made the incredibly hard decision to close our doors.” She opened the restaurant with her father, Anastasios Lekkas in 2017; when her father died in 2019, she took over fully. 8413 Third Avenue, between 84th and 85th streets

Bed-Stuy: Brooklyn beer bar Bed-Vyne Brew is closing on Saturday, May 31. The beer barhad temporarily closed from January to April, citing “unprecedented pressure and targeting by the 79th Precinct” And then, ultimately, the team announced the 12-year-old bar was closing back in April, writing that “Brew has always been more than a bar but a conscious movement to bring folks together and that will continue.” 370 Tompkins Avenue at Putnam Avenue

East Village: All-day cafe Upperz Cafe and Bar is closing on Saturday, May 31, as reported by EV Grieve. Co-owners and siblings Marilyn Velazquez and Ramon Velazquez announced the shutter on Instagram, saying that the “decision was not made lightly.” They had opened the cafe in November 2024. 319 East 14th Street, between First and Second avenues

Upper West Side: Longtime uptown staple Mama’s Pizza is closing this week, as reported by ILovetheUpperWestSide. The business has been in this location for 20 years; the family is looking to relocate. The restaurant got its name from Marianinna, known as “Mama” — who died four years ago, according to her grandson, Frank Tuttolomondo. He went on to open his own offshoot slice shop, Mama’s Too, nearby and in the Village. 941 Amsterdam Avenue at West 106th Street

May 23

East Village: Adorable Vietnamese dessert shop Ănjelly seems to have closed down in late May, as reported by EV Grieve. The restaurant was known for its amazing jiggling animal jellies. It opened in the fall of 2023. 103 St. Marks Place, near First Avenue.

Williamsburg: Vegan chain Planta closed down its Brooklyn restaurant, as noticed by Instagram account Vegan NYC in mid-May. The location is listed as permanently closed on Google. There is only one other New York location remaining in Nomad, plus others in Florida, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and the Washington metropolitan area, along with Toronto. 316 Wythe Avenue, between South First and Grand streets

May 16

Crown Heights: Brooklyn restaurant Winner seems to have closed down its Franklin Avenue location sometime in May. Owner and chef Daniel Eddy still runs Winner’s bakery, bar and restaurant Runner Up, and Winner the butcher shop (all in Park Slope), along with a Winner outpost in Prospect Park. 747 Franklin Avenue, at Sterling Place

East Village: Vegan restaurant Seasoned Vegan Real Quick closed on Tuesday, April 29. Mother-son team Brenda “Chef B” Beener and Aaron Beener opened the restaurant in August 2023 after they closed their previous place, Harlem’s Season Vegan, that spring. In early April, they launched a GoFundMe campaign seeking $100,000 to keep the business running, but, as of the publishing of this article, it had raised under $60,000. On its last day of service, TikTok food critic Keith Lee posted a video about the restaurant’s struggles. 128 Second Avenue, near St. Marks Place

Greenpoint: It appears that fast-casual Polish restaurant Polka Dot has closed, as reported by Greenpointers. Google lists the restaurant as permanently closed, too. The family-run restaurant started a GoFundMe campaign in January to help pay its bills and tax debts and hire more staffers. The address was originally the Polski Deli Market in 1996, and turned into Polka Dot in 2016. 726 Manhattan Avenue between Norman and Meserole avenues

Lower East Side: Filipino tasting menu restaurant Tadhana closed sometime at the end of April. The restaurant, run by Top Chef season 13 contestant Frances Tariga, is going to relocate in August to a new address to be announced later. It had opened in May 2024. 151 Allen Street, near Rivington Street

Midtown West: Spanish restaurant Casa Dani and Los Angeles-based sushi restaurant Katsuya both closed up as part of the overall Citizens Market Hall shutter inside the Manhattan West development back in April. Per a rep, Brookfield Properties owned the location and had operated the businesses through stadium concessions company Legends Hospitality. The food hall closed for revamps to eventually be turned into a new food hall with stands run by the respective businesses. Spanish chef Dani García opened his semi-namesake restaurant in 2021; chef Katsuya Uechi opened the New York location in 2022. Both are actually expanding into Los Angeles in June. 448 West 33rd Street, between between Ninth and Tenth avenues

Queens: JFK Terminal 4 restaurant Central Diner has closed. Instagram account Diners of NYC noticed that the retro-styled diner was temporarily closed last year, and it was able to confirm the permanent shutter this week. John F. Kennedy International Airport

Upper East Side: The 35-year-old Italian American restaurant Nino’s Ristorante had its last day of service on Monday, May 12. Owner Nino Selimaj told Eater about the impending shutter back in January, because the building is being demolished for a new residential building. However, he’s going to be reopening the restaurant in Midtown East this June, in the former Le Périgord space (which has been empty since 2017). 1354 First Avenue, at East 73rd Street

West Village: New York bakery Mah-Ze-Dahr suddenly closed its original location after a decade of operations because it was evicted from its address. Owner Umber Ahmad tells Eater that she plans on opening a production kitchen in Brooklyn, reopening elsewhere in the West Village, and is working on a new location inside an impending hotel next to the Jacob Javits Center. Its Brookfield Place location remains open. 28 Greenwich Avenue near West 10th Street

Williamsburg: After announcing that Brooklyn cafe Buddies Coffee was in danger of closing in February because of a rent hike, co-owner Rachel Nieves announced that she is closing the cafe this weekend. Its last day will be on Saturday, May 17. It appears, though, that she and co-owner Taylor Nawrocki, who opened Buddies in 2021, are going to be reopening the business elsewhere, to be announced later. 150 Grand Street, at Berry Street

May 9

Hell’s Kitchen: Filipino restaurant Tradisyon closed on Monday, March 24. The team is working on relocating the restaurant to a bigger space in Chelsea, set to open in June. Already, the previous address has been turned into a Singaporean restaurant, Uncle Ray’s Chicken Rice, by chef Raymond Kiang of the popular food hall stand Lou Yau Kee. 790 Ninth Avenue, between West 52nd and 53rd streets

Park Slope: Sichuan Southern spicy fried chicken restaurant Pecking House is closing its Brooklyn restaurant, with its last day of service on Friday, May 9. Chef and owner Eric Huang isn’t sure if this is a permanent closure or if he’ll reopen the restaurant. The Chinatown location is staying open. 244 Flatbush Avenue, near St. Marks Avenue

Upper East Side: Cocktail lounge Not a Speakeasy closed after three years of service, as reported by East Side Feed. Its last day was on Saturday, May 3. Bond Property Group opened bar three years ago, known for its weekly drag bingo, which relocated to one of its other bars, UES. The company is also working on opening another bar, the Champagne Sea, in June. 301 East 84th Street at Second Avenue

May 2

Chinatown: Long-time Chinese restaurant Vegetarian Dim Sum House appears to have closed, as Instagram account Vegan NYC posted this week. The cash-only restaurant had opened in the late 1980s, serving a casual menu of vegan and vegetarian dim sum dishes like tofu skins, pork buns, and dumplings. 24 Pell Street, between Mott Street and Bowery

East Village: Montreal-meets-New York-style bagel shop Black Seed Bagels is closing its nearly 10-year-old location in Manhattan on Sunday, May 4. Co-owner Matt Kliegman explains that the business decided to close this address because the lease was ending and they didn’t need its big space anymore, as reported by EV Grieve. There are nine other locations, with one more to come in Long Island City this month. 176 First Avenue, between East 11th and 10th streets

Long Island City: Groundbreaking Indian restaurant Adda officially closed its original location in Queens, which opened in 2018. But never fear: parent company Unapologetic Foods reopened the iconic restaurant in Manhattan on May 1 in a bigger space. 107 First Avenue, between Sixth and Seventh streets

Prospect Heights: Brooklyn’s go-to date night spot Bar Meridian closed on Wednesday, April 30. Owner Sage Geyer opened the bar five years ago. However, the address is being turned into a new unnamed oyster bar by the team behind NYC seafood spots Hart’s, Cervo’s, and Eel Bar, set to open by the end of 2025. 406 Prospect Place, at Grand Avenue

Sunnyside: Queens Japanese restaurant OKI closed on Wednesday, April 30, as reported by the Sunnyside Post. The publication reported that the 25-year-old restaurant announced its shutter with a notice on its door reading that the closure was happening “with a heavy heart.” An employee shared that the business had to close because it was at the end of its lease, there was an impending rent hike, and high costs involving tariffs. 45-11 Queens Boulevard, between 45th and Bliss streets

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For nearly 20 years, kids in Morningside Heights could get fitted for their shoes at The Shoe Tree. But outside is a sign to let customers know they will be closing shop.

“That is a hard thing to give up,” said Karen Dixon, who co-owns the store. “That’s a hard thing to give up.”

What You Need To Know The Shoe Tree will close its doors in June after 18 years in business

The store is co-owned by Karen Dixon and Essam Moussa

Dixon also is a full-time member of the Metropolitan Opera

The pair say declining traffic for years since the pandemic has made it too hard to stay open

She has owned the store for 18 years with her husband, Essam.

“We’ve been getting messages that their children took their first step in our store and now they’re going to college,” she said.

Last year, NY1 profiled Dixon, whose day job is at the store but is also a full-time member of the chorus at the Metropolitan Opera.

While the work at the opera may be pitch perfect, problems at The Shoe Tree have been going on for years.

“The past couple of years is where the sales have really declined,” she said. “Since [COVID-19] it has really been going down.”

Their biggest competition: our phones, where buying shoes with a tap of a finger has become more popular, said Dixon.

“Sadly, we have customers, we even have customers shop online in the store while they’re getting their feet fit,” she said.

NY1 even heard a customer discuss buying a pair of shoes online, while in the store.

A quick look online and the closest shoe stores for kids on the west side: a Kids Foot Locker in Harlem and a Harrys Shoes on the Upper West Side.

“We tried to stay in business as long as we could for that reason,” said Dixon.

It’s a problem, though, not just in Manhattan.

“The independent retail shoe channel is under duress,” said Matt Priest, the CEO of the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, a trade organization representing about 95% of businesses that sell shoes.

He said big box stores carrying shoes and online shopping leave mom-and-pop store owners tied in financial knots.

“So the margins for boutique store who’s focused on the children’s footwear industry, they’re having less opportunity to make profit because the duty rates on kids shoes tends to be higher,” said Priest.

Dixon will keep performing at the Metropolitan Opera, but Essam will take some time to figure out what’s next, as they work as always, putting one foot in front of the other.

Family sells historic cinema after more than 30 years

13 May 2025 Share Save Share Save

Andrew Poole The Pavilion Cinema has been in operation in Galashiels for more than 100 years

A historic cinema in the Borders has been sold after being run by the same family for more than 30 years. The Pavilion Cinema in Galashiels first opened its doors in 1920 and has been operated by the Poole family since 1993. Manager Andrew Poole confirmed the business had been sold to leading independent national operator Merlin Cinemas. He said that after more than three decades in charge his family felt the time was right to “pass the baton on”.

Andrew Poole The Poole family has operated the site for more than 30 years

“During our tenure at the Pavilion, my family and I have enjoyed tremendous support from over three million amazingly loyal customers and we can’t thank them enough for their custom, through the good times and the bad times,” he said. “But we leave the Pavilion cinema in very safe hands. “Merlin has 19 other cinemas across the UK – including two other Scottish sites in Ayr and Thurso.” He said that they had invested significantly in the cinema over their time in charge and the deal would ensure it continued to operate for some time to come.

Andrew Poole The Poole family said it had invested significantly in the site over the years

“We’ve survived the Covid crisis, the cost of living crisis, a couple of writers’ strikes and the recent actors’ strike,” he said. “And the cinema is still here. This deal ensures the cinema’s future for many years to come.” He added that the “greatest asset” was the site’s staff. “Without their unwavering support, hard work and dedication we wouldn’t have a business to hand over to Merlin,” he said. “So, I would like to thank all of them, past and present, for their time over the past 31 years. “I’m delighted to say that all our employees will be transferred to Merlin with their employment continuing with them when the handover completes in mid-June.”

Jim Barton All the staff will transfer to the new owners when the handover is completed next month

Geoff Greaves, managing director of Merlin Cinemas, said it looked forward to continuing the Poole family’s “fantastic work”. “This much-loved venue has a rich history and a loyal audience, and we are excited to build on that legacy,” he said. “The cinema will remain open during the period of Merlin taking over and we look forward to a smooth transition.”