Shawarma Center has opened at Houston and Orchard streets, at the former Bereket Turkish Kebab House location, next door to Ankara Turkish Restaurant’s former space at 183 Houston Street. The new tenant serves shawarma and hot dogs; EV Grieve reported the opening.
Ankara’s run—and the corner’s earlier history
Ankara closed in August after more than three years at the location. It had opened in March 2023; Eater NY reported that its opening marked Ramazan Turgut’s return to the Lower East Side. Turgut had previously owned Bereket Turkish Kebab House. Eater also reported that Bereket closed in 2014 after a residential development displaced it, years before Turgut returned with Ankara.
Business pressures across the district
The board has also documented business pressures at different points. Its FY 2026 statement said local businesses were still recovering from revenue losses and struggling with expenses including rent. An earlier FY 2020 statement described a sustained loss of independent businesses, citing rising costs and competition. These assessments provide district context, not evidence about why either restaurant left this particular space.
A separate borough-level comparison points to a different period and measure: the New York City Council Data Team reported that Manhattan’s storefront vacancy rate fell by 1.01 percentage points from 2020 to 2021. That older result neither establishes a current trend nor directly compares with CB3’s summer 2025 property study.
