It’s with a heavy heart that I must report the closing of Big Nick’s Burger & Pizza Joint Too. A treasured gem of the Upper West Side, especially for Juilliard Students, people getting a late-night meal after a long night, or simply those who enjoyed the décor of a classic NYC establishment that served good food from a cozy kitchen you could see from your table; spicy waffle fries no more, the retail space at 70 West 71st Street is on the market for $14,000 per month. (Thanks to ‘Upper West Sider’ for the link).
“The sumo turkey burger was the greatest indulgence that almost felt healthy. Another institution falls to COVID and high rent. A true loss,” Rodger Wells, a long time Big Nick’s patron told I Love The Upper West Side.
When I moved to the Upper West Side over a decade ago, Big Nick’s Too was the first restaurant I considered my ‘home’ eatery. Historically known for being open 24 hours a day, I always knew I could count on it for a late night craving.
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Big Nick’s had a long and complicated road involving multiple owners and a $2 million lawsuit for labor violations. This ultimately led to its bankruptcy before Demetris Raptis and Yannis Botsis bought the space and kept the Big Nick’s Too tradition alive.
The Pandemic was the perfect storm to obliterate Big Nick’s realistic chances of survival. No longer could patrons come inside to enjoy the charm of their space. And with COVID restrictions forcing restaurants to close at 10pm, late night owls like me no longer had a place to go.
ILoveTheUWS has been monitoring the space to see if we could find anyone inside that could help tell us more. Alas, just empty soda fridges, pots on the floor and a mess of the space in general, it tells us that Big Nick is probably up in restaurant heaven somewhere looking down on us now, I pray still smiling.
On Thursday night, this sign was spotted in the window of Big Nick’s Too.
On Friday night, we returned to the site of Big Nick’s Too to find someone had kissed the sign.
Big Nick’s Too will always remain in our hearts. Thank you.
I won’t forget.
Why are you honoring this pizza joint with this story after it was ordered to pay 2 million in labor law violations. Just because the writer misses his pizza is not worth writing about especially when honest businesses closed without this kind of send off
these were different owners as i understand it
galanopoulos was the defendant
these owners were
raptis
botis
This wasn’t the real big nicks, but sorry to see anyone closing…change isn’t always a good thing
Sad about the closing of Big Nick’s, the owners were good people. Wishing all small business owners good wishes during these hard times. The closing of Big Nicks has given me a greater appreciation of the restaurant industry in New York City.
$14K for this little spot on a side street. What would the rent be for the Food City building on Columbus then? Anyone with real estate knowledge care to hazard a guess?
Guys, this is a Blog. If the Site Master wants to lament the loss of something local that was special to them, why not reign in your vitriol and “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all?” There are plenty of other posts where you can express your petty, neighborhood grievances.
ILTUWS, I’m sorry for the loss of one of your favorite haunts…and to all the other fans & employees, as well.
Well, my friends, my family, and I all stopped patronizing Big Nick Too after the business was forced to pay $2M for labor law and wage violations. It seems that this venerable and beloved institution had a black heart. By the time new owners came around, the back story offended me so much that I had no inclination to return.
And to the Cranky One. Despite your desire to censor the blog, ANYONE may answer as he/she sees fit.
I miss the original Big Nicks on Broadway & 77th. They were there for over 50 years & were forced to close when the landlord raised the rent to $50,000 a month. Very unfair & the space sat empty for years.
NYC needs a commercial vacancy tax to counter market gouging.
1. If a commercial space is vacant for more than 90 days without a verified tenant, then 10% of the asking monthly rent is due the city every month.
2. It then goes up 5% every 3 months.
This allows the city to recoup some of the lost sales taxes by the space not being used.
The pizza was great. Will miss seeing you Musa and Singh.