50 Popular Restaurants That Won’t Reopen After the Pandemic

The Venetian and Palazzo hotel and casino complex has reopened, but one of its restaurants, the 12-year-old Morels, is not following suit. “Unfortunately,” the owners told Eater Vegas, “these uncertain economic times brought on by COVID-19 has made it impossible to survive as an independent restaurant operator in a hotel with an estimated occupancy less than 50 percent for the foreseeable future.”

Add this 24-year-old Soho seafood restaurant to the list of establishments that had closed temporarily in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, but has now decided to make the closure permanent. “Aquagrill is not continuing to operate in light of the unsafe effects of the coronavirus on public dining out,” reads a statement on the restaurant website.

Described by the Peekskill Daily Voice as “One of the area’s favorite restaurants for elegant dining,” this establishment in suburban Westchester County called it quits on June 28. “It’s with deep sadness at end of business tonight we will be closing our doors permanently,” owner Fatsmir Pushka wrote on Instagram. “The financial burden as a result of COVID has made it impossible to remain open.”

Known for its creative cocktails and its ever-changing roster of DJs and art exhibits, as well as for such casual fare as Sicilian tuna sandwiches and meatloaf locomoco, Kinfolk is going out of business after a dozen years. “Unfortunately, the reality of the extended shut down and piling up of operational costs has essentially forced the decision to be made for us,” read a statement on the Kinfolk Instagram page.

A well-known Manhattan steakhouse that bills itself as having been “instrumental at the forefront of a revolution of fine kosher food and wine,” Wolf & Lamb opened this Brooklyn outpost almost a decade ago. A statement on the restaurant website states that “Due to Covid 19, Wolf & Lamb sadly closed our Brooklyn location…[but] we look forward to opening a new location in Brooklyn when the conditions are right.” The Manhattan location remains in business.