Adria, the coastal Italian restaurant that opened on the Upper East Side two years ago, has closed. A notice now sits in the front window, and the restaurant’s website has been updated to say it’s no longer operating at its current location.
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The restaurant was located at 1556 Second Avenue, between 80th and 81st streets, in the space formerly occupied by Gray Hawk Grill. We covered Adria’s opening in September 2024, when co-owner Maria Marquez-Hass told us the goal was to land somewhere between the old-fashioned and modern restaurants on Second Avenue: “High-end, relaxed, and chic.”Adria’s website now reads: “After two wonderful years on the Upper East Side, Adria has closed its current location. We’re exploring what comes next and hope to share more soon.” Visitors are invited to join the restaurant’s newsletter for updates on “Adria’s next chapter.”
The closure was flagged this week on Reddit, where the original poster wrote that they’d passed by Monday evening and found the restaurant closed with a large notice in the window. Several commenters said they’d enjoyed the place. “Loved that place but always empty. Service was incredible there,” one wrote. Another offered a theory about the location itself: “That space is cursed. I really liked Gray Hawk but that never seemed to do too well either. I thought Adria’s dinner business was getting better but likely not good enough.” The poster also pointed to competition, noting that La Pecora Bianca is just half a block away and suggesting the space may have been too big for the concept.
Marquez-Hass runs Adria with Chef Endrie Qalliu and her husband, Lawrence Hass. As we reported at the time of the opening, the trio also operates the Colombian restaurant La Dulce Vida on East 83rd Street and the Italian restaurant L’Osteria on Lexington Avenue, and Adria was born out of a desire for a bigger space after L’Osteria lost its outdoor seating.
We’ve reached out to the restaurant’s owners to ask about the reason for the closing, and to see what they might have in store for the future.
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