Keybar and Latin Lounge Eying Orchard Street

The destructive tidal wave of nightlife is breaking on the decimated shores of upper Orchard Street and it’s not looking good. As the leather and suitcase vendors continue to fade in the face of uber gentrification, it’s restaurants and bars that are picking up the slack. The blocks between East Houston and Delancey are being totally crowded out.

Two new establishments within a few yards of each other are both on the SLA agenda for the Community Board 3 licensing committee later this month. One seeks beer and wine, while the other wants full on-premise.  Let’s start first with 134 Orchard Street, which once housed Daniel’s Leather II.

Alphabet City watering hole Keybar is looking to expand its empire further south into the Lower East Side. This offshoot will reportedly boast a fifty-foot rectangular bar with twenty-two stools, as well as table seating for seventy. Project plans call for a kitchen to be built for serving Hungarian food, and a sound system “built for quality not volume.” Ownership is going for broke by seeking a 4 am, seven days liquor license.

Next up is the southern half of 140 Orchard Street (the other half belongs to Corner Hoggers Grocers). It was here that Batchilly Fashions, ABC Gifts & Perfumes, and Fiedler’s Bargains operated for years. Now a Latin-themed lounge called Mi Casa Es Su Casa is eying the three-store space. It’ll hold roughly thirty-two patrons, serve Latin cuisine, and feature occasional live music.  Oh, and they also want a sidewalk cafe.

This beleaguered block of real estate is gonna be quite a nuisance once (nay, if) the Allen Street Hotel across the way is finished. Say goodbye to the pedestrian mall…