La Mode Organic Cleaner closed its doors last month
In December, we said farewell to St. James Gate, the Irish bar that opened in 2007 at 441 Amsterdam Avenue. The space is now on the market for $65,550 a month, or $240 per square foot annually. In January, La Mode Cleaners closed its doors at 106 West 69th Street. The location famously served as the setting for Meg Ryan’s character Kathleen Kelly’s bookstore, The Shop Around the Corner, in the 1998 rom-com You’ve Got Mail. To close out the month, the Halal Guys outpost at 720 Amsterdam Avenue and West 95th Street has also shuttered.
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“It’s a lovely store, and in a week, it will be something really depressing, like a Baby Gap,” said Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail when her Shop Around the Corner bookstore faced closure. While the future remains uncertain, the space at 106 West 69th Street (between Columbus Avenue and Broadway) is now vacant, with a “space for rent” sign in the window. Before La Mode Cleaners, the location housed Café Sonatina, which, to this day, remains one of the only places in New York City where I’ve been able to find Pago Juices—a delicious assortment of fruit beverages from Austria. Strawberry was always my favorite. In 2021, we published a story about all the books we could spot inside Kathleen Kelly’s shop, filmed at this very address. Here’s the list.
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The Halal Guys, famous for their food carts by Radio City Music Hall, have closed their Upper West Side brick-and-mortar location at 720 Amsterdam Avenue and West 95th Street. Opened in the summer of 2014, the location lasted just over a decade before closing on January 31 (according to our tipster). In January 2024, Forbes published a piece titled “The Halal Guys Franchises Keep Expanding.” The brand had reportedly grown to 114 global locations, with 100 of them based in the U.S. “The key to The Halal Guys’ growth has been its franchising prowess, with 107 shops franchised and only 7 company-owned,” reported Forbes. As of December, ScrapeHero data shows there are now 90 locations in the U.S.
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Surprised but not surprised about Halal Guys. They are the mediocre McDonald’s of halal food and there’s a lot more competition these days for falafel and shawarma and kebobs.
Cindy,
“there’s a lot more competition these days for falafel and shawarma and kebobs”, only if these days means the last 40 years.
Not one of those dishes is new to NYC or the Upper West Side in the last 20 years+, unlike half decent Mexican food (still not on the UWS) or Thai food.
Since Halal Guys opened Mamoun’s, Naya, Shawarma Shabazi, Moshe’s, Zurna and Zaad have all opened within a half mile. None of those places were there before. This is really want you want to comment on Jay?
Cindy,
Your initial comment more than implies that such food was not readily available in NYC say 30 years ago. This is absolutely untrue, so unlike the examples I cited.
While your response makes a neighborhood point; there are now more falafel places in the area around this particular Halal Guys. That’s an entirely different issue.
By the way, Mamoun’s has had place south of Washington Square Park for decades, looks like since 1971 — don’t know if it moved within the Village in the last 54 years.
Jay is a tad petulant. Been that way forever.
I agree there’s more competition than when they first opened in 2014. That’s all you said.
Anyone know what will replace halal guys on that corner??
You never explained why these places closed. How much rent did they hike? Did business decline due to higher prices and lower traffic?
Can the legislators do anything to help these businesses?
I went in Halal Guys exactly once, when it first opened. I thought it was very bland. I prefer the truck that parks on Broadway and 87th Street.
I’m newish to the city, does anyone have any recs for food similar to the Halal guys? I really enjoyed their low prices.