Sarabeth's served its final brunch plates at two Manhattan locations on Sunday, shuttering its Greenwich Village and Park Avenue South restaurants after the brand determined the economics of running them were no longer sustainable. The closures come as a separate legal fight plays out over the company's longtime Upper West Side outpost, where its landlord is suing over allegedly unpaid rent and unreported sales figures.
The 45-year-old brunch institution, founded in 1981 by Sarabeth Levine as a jam-making operation out of her apartment, confirmed the closures in a statement reported by the New York Post. The company said it had invested extra capital trying to keep both locations open before ultimately deciding the numbers no longer worked. In an Instagram statement, Sarabeth's thanked the teams, guests, and neighbors who had supported the two shuttered restaurants.
Attorney Stephen Van Note, who represents operator RBM Restaurant Group, told the Post that rising labor and operating costs, aging facilities, and occupancy expenses drove the decision. He described the closed locations as financially unsustainable, though he declined to disclose specific rent figures for either restaurant. Van Note said both restaurants had remained busy right up until closing, and he added that Sarabeth's would consider opening in a new spot if the right location fits the brand.
Greenwich Village Location Lasted Less Than Two Years
The Greenwich Village restaurant at 100 W. Houston St. had only opened on November 12, 2024, marking Sarabeth's first major Manhattan expansion in 13 years, according to Crain's New York Business. That means the location operated for less than 21 months before closing. Hoodline covered the opening back in 2024, when the spot was billed as an expansion of the brand's brunch footprint in the city. The Greenwich Village landlord cooperated with transitioning the space to a new tenant, per the Post's reporting.
The Park Avenue South closure followed a different path. That building changed hands before Sarabeth's shut its doors there, and the new ownership left the restaurant dealing with low occupancy in the building and long-term scaffolding outside it. Sarabeth's was unable to reach an arrangement with the new landlord that made continued operation viable, the company said.
Together, the two closures affected roughly 90 employees. RBM Restaurant Group said it lacks the capacity to absorb all of those workers into its remaining restaurants, though affected employees are eligible for rehire elsewhere in the company.
Landlord Sues Upper West Side Location Over Sales Reporting
While two locations have closed, Sarabeth's is fighting to keep its longstanding Upper West Side restaurant at 423 Amsterdam Ave. open. That location holds particular significance for the brand — Sarabeth's opened its first restaurant on the Upper West Side, and the lease there, executed in 1998, isn't set to expire until February 28, 2030, according to West Side Rag.
The dispute traces back to a lease modification signed May 10, 2020, during the pandemic's initial dining shutdowns. That modification replaced the restaurant's fixed rent with a hybrid structure requiring Sarabeth's to pay $10,000 per month or 8% of monthly gross sales, whichever was greater, plus an additional 1% of sales to repay previously abated rent. Landlord 423 AMCO now claims in a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit that the entity operating the location, listed as BSWR Inc. (also referenced as BWRS Inc.), failed to report its monthly gross sales within 30 days of each month's end as the modification required.
According to the landlord's complaint, 423 AMCO sent a default notice on June 11, 2026, giving Sarabeth's until June 22, 2026 to cure the alleged breach. When that didn't happen to the landlord's satisfaction, 423 AMCO sent a formal notice of lease cancellation on July 1, 2026, terminating the lease effective July 13, 2026. The landlord alleges Sarabeth's remained in occupancy after that termination date without its consent.
Court Grants Temporary Restraining Order, Sets September Hearing
Attorney Norman Flitt, representing 423 AMCO, filed a motion on August 5, 2026 seeking a temporary restraining order against Sarabeth's. Justice Lyle E. Frank granted that order, which bars Sarabeth's from destroying sales records and requires the company to provide monthly gross sales figures dating back to March 2026. The order also directs Sarabeth's to pay $17,810.72 monthly in use and occupancy charges going forward, due on or before the first day of each calendar month.
423 AMCO's complaint claims BSWR Inc. owes $43,432.16 in back rent, additional rent, and percentage rent covering May through July 2026. The landlord's lawsuit seeks a formal judgment of ejectment under Article 6 of New York's Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, a money judgment for the unpaid rent, an order requiring Sarabeth's to resume sales reporting, and at least $50,000 in attorney fee recovery. The broader request also includes recovery of the arrears and posting more than $43,000 to cover them, along with the right to eject Sarabeth's with the city sheriff's assistance if it fails to comply.
Justice Frank has directed that the landlord's broader request be argued orally at a hearing scheduled for September 8, 2026 in Manhattan Supreme Court. Sarabeth's did not respond to the Post's request for comment on the litigation. Despite the legal fight, the company said it will keep operating both the Upper West Side location and its flagship at 40 Central Park South, which it described as a thriving restaurant.
A Pattern of Contraction Across a 45-Year-Old Brand
The Upper West Side lawsuit and the weekend's closures fit into a broader pullback for Sarabeth's over the past two years. The brand's Tribeca restaurant at Greenwich and Jay Streets closed on July 1, 2024, after 13 years following a lease loss, with the space later taken over by Italian restaurant Ludico Tribeca, according to the Tribeca Citizen. Sarabeth's Bakery also permanently closed its concourse stall inside Chelsea Market on March 1, 2026, ending a 28-year presence there before Supermoon Bakehouse moved in — a transition Hoodline reported in an earlier eviction dispute nearby involving a different Central Park South tenant.
That prior Hoodline story covered Gabriel's Restaurant, which occupies the same 40 Central Park South building as Sarabeth's flagship and resolved its own commercial eviction dispute earlier in August. The overlap underscores broader friction between landlords and dining tenants along that stretch of Manhattan even as Sarabeth's flagship there continues to thrive on tourist traffic.
The pressures squeezing Sarabeth's are hardly unique. An August 2026 survey by the NYC Hospitality Alliance found that 70% of city restaurant and bar operators reported squeezed profit margins in the second quarter of 2026 due to escalating labor, food, insurance, and rent costs despite overall sales gains. A separate July 2026 survey from the same group found that 95% of local hospitality operators faced delays in government permitting, licensing, or inspections, with many paying commercial rent for six months or more before generating any revenue.
Sarabeth's full-service restaurants are operated by RBM Restaurant Group, an independent New York City hospitality company that also runs Docks Oyster Bar near Grand Central Terminal. For now, the brand's footprint has narrowed to its flagship on Central Park South and its Upper West Side original — the very location where the company's brunch legacy began, and where its future is now being litigated in court.
