Popular Chinese Hotpot Joint ’99 Favor Taste Restaurant’ Expands to 285 Grand Street
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The new glass box at 285 Grand Street touched down from outer-space one year ago. It arrived three years after that terrible fire consumed almost half the block, resulting in the destruction of two tenement buildings, the displacement of 200 residents, and the loss of an elderly Chinese man. But the fire-kissed properties have finally made their comeback. Rehabilitation of number 289 was finally completed over the summer, allowing former residents to return and a 99-cent store to open in the retail space; a day care center also opened on the second floor of number 285.
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Of all the possible commercial uses on the ground level of 285 Grand, however, a Chinese restaurant was actually the last thing we expected. Nevertheless, 99 Favor Taste Restaurant will open here imminently. The hotpot joint has roots in Sunset Park, where it opened the first outpost in 2012. Store signage was installed earlier this week after months behind a shroud of smokey glass. But the interior still needs plenty of organization.
Below is the menu from the Brooklyn location; the Lower East Side version can’t be much different.
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