‘sNice Appears To Be All Cleared Out

About a week after a notice appeared on the window announcing ‘sNice, the cafe at 315 5th Avenue, had been closed by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the space appears to be cleared out.

When we passed by yesterday afternoon and looked in the windows, the tables and chairs had been removed, and though there are still some cups and utensils behind the counter, it looks like most of the major items have been taken out.

People at neighboring businesses told us they did not believe the space would be reopening. We’re still waiting to hear back from ‘sNice for any information, and will update if we hear.

The vegetarian and vegan cafe , which opened on the corner of 5th Ave and 3rd Street in 2008, was closed by the DOH following its inspection on December 8 after racking up 40 points for violations including evidence of mice, food not being kept and the right temperature, and more. That doesn’t usually mean the end of the road for a restaurant, though — the DOH will reinspect once those issues have been corrected and, if they pass, they are allowed to reopen.

With this and the closures of Tea Lounge and Two Moon, locals looking for a cozy place to sit with coffee and free wifi may be looking for someplace to fill the void — thankfully, we do still have quite a few great options.

UPDATE: Mark Caserta from the 5th Avenue BID left this comment on our Facebook page:

The landlord was doing work in the hallway and mice started spreading through the building. They got into the restaurant and the department of health came to do their regular inspection (just bad luck) and shut them down. They wouldn’t have gotten their hearing until December 23rd and that’s a long time to have a department of health warning on your door. They felt it wasn’t worth making the comeback.

Really sorry to hear it. Best of luck to everyone who was a part of ‘sNice!