After nine long years, Jeepney, a well-loved Filipino restaurant located in the East Village of New York City, is closing its doors for good.
This trailblazing establishment will be serving its loyal customers only until September 25, 2021, as revealed by owner and founder Nicole Ponseca in an interview with Eater magazine. “I could have closed a month ago,” Ponseca was quoted as saying. “But I wanted to stay open so people could get their last meals and so our staff could take their final bow.”
She also explained that she felt burnt out for being an independent owner for the last decade. “One of the reasons I’m closing is that I want a better life for myself. If I could see my vision through, it would have a support team. I don’t want to be the only one in the room anymore.”
This news comes only two years after Ponseca closed down her first Filipino restaurant Maharlika back in 2019 which had also lasted for nine years. Both Maharlika and Jeepney were hailed among the best Filipino restaurants in the city.
But Ponseca clarified to patrons and those who have been looking forward to dining at her famed gastropub that there’s no need to worry at all; the closure is just to make way for bigger plans for the future of Jeepney. “I want to graduate from being an independent operator into something more formidable with more support,” she said. “I don’t want this to be the end of Jeepney.”
She added that she hopes to partner with a restaurant group to open a more casual version of her pioneering restaurant in multiple cities including New York, according to Eater.
Ponseca’s second branch of Jeepney is still open to customers at the 1-800-Lucky food hall in the Wynwood neighborhood in Miami, Florida. Her barbeque joint called Tita Baby’s can also be found there.
Jeepney NYC will be open until Sept. 25 from 5 to 11 PM on Fridays and Saturdays.
(ALSO READ: 40 Filipino Restaurants You Have to Try When in the United States)
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