PetCo —> Uniqlo

From the Times:
The countdown has begun to the closing of the 16th Street space that this influential restaurant has occupied for 30 years. The cafe, which was the first piece of Danny Meyer’s culinary empire, has been a favorite of New York’s publishing world and jump-started the renaissance of the Union Square area. But it will not renew its lease at a higher rent, and in the spring will relocate to nearby 235 Park Avenue South, at East 19th Street.

To mark the final days at its current spot, from Dec. 1 to 12, the last day of service, the restaurant will switch to a three-course dinner menu called the 12 Nights of Union Square Cafe, highlighting some of its best-known seasonal dishes, including garganelli with white truffles, beef tartare, lamb braciole and Berkshire rack of pork. There are optional wine pairings from some of the restaurant’s favorite producers. Lunches will feature the regular à la carte menu:

Dinner reservations Dec. 1 to 12 by phone only, $85 prepaid; lunch reservations up to 28 days ahead, opentable.com;

Union Square Cafe, 21 East 16th Street, 212-243-4020,

unionsquarecafe.com.

Open House New York, the annual architecture tour, is offering tours of the new Zero Irving at 124 E 14th St on Friday, October 21st.

Reserve at https://ohny.org/

Piola, the Brazilian pizza place on East 12th St., has closed.

Here’s the update: 

Since Best Buy is constantly looking to build on its existing culture of innovation and tailor its stores to the needs of local customers, the electronic retail powerhouse figures, “Heck, why not open a 24-hour spot down there in New York City’s Union Square?” That’s right, Best Buy’s CEO Brian Dunn announced today that a 24-hour, 48,000 square-foot location (the old Circuit City) will open its doors at the corner of 14th Street and 4th Avenue, the heart of historic “please don’t run into me with your skateboard” Union Square, on Nov. 13. Dunn explained, “Today’s consumers have hectic lifestyles that don’t always conform to traditional retail hours. New York has long been known as the city that never sleeps.” Ye —people are lying awake at night, wishing they had a Golden Girls DVD or an Epson scanner! (Sorry, Virgin Megastore.) Maybe people really are looking to shop after 10 p.m.—the 24-hour 5th Avenue Apple Store is doing well. And there’s always the possibility of making a night of it with a bite to eat at the soon-to-come TGI Friday’s. The new location will be open each week from 8 a.m. on Monday through 12 a.m. on Sunday, re-opening for regular Sunday hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Union Square Partnership offers many good deals on local shops and restaurants.

See them here.

Awful news: the building replacing Bowlmor Lanes will be 23 stories high. Here are the terrible details.