For a quarter of a century, the Organic Grill has served both the East and West Village with unique, handcrafted Vegan food, even surviving the COVID-19 pandemic. But their time has run out.
The Organic Grill has shut down, according to owner Vlad Grinberg, a Ukrainian immigrant who carried the restaurant’s mission intended to bring healthy, organic food to local residents.
Yet after the business was forced to relocate from the East Village to 133 West 3rd St. during the coronavirus outbreak, things were never quite the same for Grinberg. His regular customers were not so regular anymore.
“In this economy, I found out that you practically don’t have regular customers, regular customers come in, but they come in very rarely. They do come in, they spend money, but it’s nothing like it used to be. People would come twice a week or three times,” Grinberg told amNewYork Metro. “You have somebody who comes once in six months or once a year now and you’re still friends, you still hug and they still feel like they support you and they are regular customers, but statistics show different.”
Grinberg attempted to save the eatery by transforming the restaurant into a cultural, neighborhood hub built around live music and a meetup point for various groups. But it backfired thanks to thieves who made it even harder not only to establish the diner as a community hub, but also to stay in business.
“To tell you the truth, I would say there is danger in this neighborhood. There are a lot of disturbed people who are really aggressive. They would come, they would steal money from musicians, they would intimidate my waiters and me,” Grinberg explained.
In one instance, Grinberg said he was forced to confront one man who stole tips from musicians on what he said became a nightly occurrence. When Grinberg threatened to call police, the thief was long gone before the cops would arrive.
In one last ditch effort to save the Organic Grill, Grinberg attempted to reach out to patrons and even influencers to raise awareness and promote the business. This effort, however, fell on deaf ears — leading to his July 9 announcement that the Organic Grill’s doors had closed for good.
“When you are at a funeral, you say nice things,” Grinberg said. “There were a lot of people who were genuinely upset who are our friends and supporters.”
Toward the end, Grinberg said it would be just himself and his wife who would be working at the restaurant, striving to stay open for the love of their mission and for those who stayed loyal to them. However, in his defiance, the owner says he has racked up over $20,000 in debt that now hangs over his head, even after closure.
“Debt is debt, debt is a liability. That is a legal issue,” said Grinberg.
The Organic Grill has started a GoFundMe page in hopes of paying off a portion of their debt.
