Noah’s Ark Deli on Grand is Officially Kaput
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Noah’s Ark Deli joins the long, albeit distinguished list of fallen Lower East Side Jewish joints. It was the last full-service kosher restaurant in the neighborhood. Other delis, like Katz’s, are merely kosher-style.
Despite numerous promises to the contrary by front office workers, the ten-year-old eatery is kaput. Their situation down at 399 Grand Street has been on the rocks for quite some time, but made abundantly clear during the high holiday season. It was then that they closed for observance, never to reopen.
The deli was reportedly paying roughly $5,500 in monthly rent to landlord Seward Park Co-op – certainly a deal – but fell behind. Eviction soon followed.
The Jewish Week reported on the closure, addressing the impact on the local Jewish population.
Rabbi Romm estimated that about 300 kosher-observant families remain in the neighborhood, and noted that many kosher options remain in the neighborhood — everything from bagels and bialys to pickles and pizza. The Lower East Side, he concluded, “remains a mecca for kosher and non-kosher tourists of all types.”
So why did Noah’s Ark pull up stakes?A resident of the Seward Park co-op, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the restaurant had been declining for years — unlike the deli’s flagship location, owned by the same couple, Noam and Shelly Sokolow, in Teaneck. “It was no secret that the place was not full,” he said, “and that the prices were rising and the quality going down. The owners were trying to save a sinking ship.”
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