A longtime Financial District hospitality veteran is putting her name on the neighborhood's latest restaurant and bar, with a new spot called Evelyn now quietly serving guests inside the ground-floor space at 11 Hanover Square. The roughly 2,000-square-foot venue is set for its official opening on August 26, occupying a corner of the 27-story office building that has cycled through several dining tenants over the past decade.
The opening was first reported by Crain's New York Business, which detailed the new owner's plans to run her own restaurant and bar in the Financial District after building a career in the neighborhood's hospitality scene. Evelyn operates under Dunmoreen Corp, the entity behind a full liquor license and temporary retail permit application that Manhattan Community Board 1's Licensing & Permits Committee reviewed in February, according to Manhattan Community Board 1. That filing covers Suite 0101 at 11 Hanover Square, a space that also carries the alternate street address of 76 Beaver Street.
A soft opening got underway in early August, with the restaurant running from 4 p.m. to midnight Monday through Friday and using a main public entrance along Beaver Street, according to a post in a local Facebook group. Those hours give Downtown regulars a chance to check out the space before the formal August 26 opening date takes effect.
A Pre-War Tower With a Revolving Door of Restaurants
The building housing Evelyn has a long history of its own. Built in 1931 and designed by architect Chester James Storm, the 26-story commercial tower comprises roughly 92,000 to 95,000 square feet of Class B office space, according to PropertyShark. The ground-floor restaurant slot Evelyn now occupies has changed hands more than once, having previously housed Mediterranean eatery 11 Hanover Greek during the 2010s before Greek restaurant Selene took over starting in September 2022, per a Facebook post cataloging the location's dining history.
That earlier tenant left behind more than just a vacated lease. Former employees of 11 Hanover Greek filed a federal collective action wage-and-hour lawsuit in December 2017 against four operating entities tied to the building, alleging violations of federal and state labor laws, according to records from ClassAction.org. There's no indication in available records connecting that litigation to Evelyn's current ownership.
Rising Property Values Mirror a Busier FiDi
The building itself has also gained value amid the broader reassessment of Lower Manhattan real estate. City property assessment records show 11 Hanover Square was valued at $9.273 million for the 2025/2026 fiscal year, a 16.4% increase over the $7.966 million valuation the year before, per figures from the NYC Department of Finance's property information portal.
That uptick tracks with a Financial District that's steadily filling back in. Lower Manhattan's daytime population now includes roughly 282,000 office workers alongside a growing resident base of about 70,000, according to Downtown Alliance data cited by BARNES New York. Commercial office leasing in the district reached 1.42 million square feet in the first quarter of 2025, marking five consecutive quarters of positive net office absorption, per the Downtown Alliance.
Evelyn Joins a Crowded Wave of New FiDi Openings
Evelyn arrives as the Financial District's food and beverage scene keeps expanding. The Downtown Alliance's 23rd annual Dine Around Downtown festival drew a record 54 participating local eateries to Fosun Plaza in June, reflecting how much culinary activity has piled into the neighborhood in recent years.
Evelyn also lands amid a run of new restaurant leases across Lower Manhattan. Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop Kitchen took 1,850 square feet for a sit-down cafe in June, and Hawaiian-Caribbean concept Solerum inked a 20-year lease at 2 Gold Street this month, according to the Commercial Observer. Whether the neighborhood's evening and weekend foot traffic can sustain another full dinner-and-bar operation, on top of the office-hour crowds that have long defined FiDi dining, remains to be seen once Evelyn's official opening arrives on August 26.
