886, the Taiwanese restaurant that turned a stretch of St. Mark's Place into a late-night Taipei night-market stand-in, has closed for good after eight years in business. The restaurant at 26 St. Mark's Place, between Second Avenue and Third Avenue, served its final round of modern Taiwanese dishes on August 31.
Co-founders Eric Sze and Andy Chuang announced the closure in an Instagram post, as reported by EV Grieve. In that same official announcement ahead of the final service, the owners wrote that the restaurant had touched many lives in the past nine years and invited the community for one last round of its menu, according to WhatNow. Neither Sze nor Chuang offered a public explanation for the permanent shutdown.
A Menu Built on Nostalgia and Late Nights
886 opened in 2018, and its name was a direct nod to Taiwan's international telephone country code, +886, per Wikipedia. The restaurant became known for dishes like the Sausage Party, pork sausage wrapped in sticky rice, and a fried chicken sandwich inspired by the McDonald's version Sze grew up eating in Taiwan, per EV Grieve's reporting.
Before opening 886 in July 2018 alongside general manager Andy Chuang, Sze had launched the modern East Village Chinese noodle shop The Tang, later selling his shares in that venture, the culinary outlet StarChefs notes. The Tang had even landed on Hoodline's own list of NYC's top Taiwanese spots back in January 2019, underscoring how long Sze's fingerprints have been on the neighborhood's Taiwanese dining scene.
Recognition Beyond the East Village
The pair's profile grew well past St. Mark's Place over the years. Forbes named Sze and Chuang to its 2021 30 Under 30 list in the Food & Drink category in December 2020, honoring both their concept and their pandemic relief work. During the spring 2020 shutdowns, 886 raised $130,000 to deliver more than 10,000 donated meals to New York City hospital workers, and in 2021 the team co-launched Enough is Enough, raising over $50,000 to combat anti-Asian hate crimes and food insecurity, according to Washington Square News.
Critically, the restaurant kept climbing too. Culinary directory Pearl reported that 886 earned continuous recognition in the Opinionated About Dining Casual North America rankings from 2023 to 2025, jumping from #696 in 2024 to #501 in 2025 — a sign, Pearl noted, that 886 remained a serious culinary operation on a notoriously chaotic East Village block.
Sister Restaurant Wenwen Carries the Torch in Brooklyn
While 886's St. Mark's Place doors are now shut, the Sze-Chuang partnership's Taiwanese cooking remains alive in Brooklyn. Wenwen, their Greenpoint restaurant, remains open, per EV Grieve. Sze and Chuang opened Wenwen in March 2022, naming it after Sze's mother and wife, and designed it as a warmer, dinner-party counterpart to 886's rowdier 20-something energy, according to Greenpointers.
Wenwen has since earned its own institutional recognition, landing in the Michelin Guide New York as a recommended Taiwanese venue in 2022. The Michelin Guide praised the restaurant for combining classic Taiwanese comfort flavors with creative modern techniques.
Another Storefront Turns Over on a Well-Worn Block
886's closing adds to a run of late-summer closures across Downtown Manhattan, including East Village dumpling spot Mimi Cheng's and Lower East Side Turkish restaurant Ankara, according to DiningOut. The 26 St. Mark's Place storefront itself has cycled through concepts before, having housed a location of Korean chain BBQ Chicken back in 2008 and, before that, the long-running Dojo Restaurant, per reporting from The Village Voice.
886's exit leaves another empty storefront on a stretch of St. Mark's Place between Second and Third Avenues that has long been defined by casual, youth-oriented dining spots. For now, there's no word on what, if anything, will replace the restaurant that spent eight years turning a slice of the East Village into a taste of Taipei nightlife.
