From July 2025 until this fall, the corner of Broadway and West 64th had no restaurant. Boulud Sud, Bar Boulud and Épicerie Boulud all closed there that July, after two decades across from Lincoln Center, and the space stayed under construction for the next year. A block east, Rosa Mexicano had left 61 Columbus Avenue in 2025.
Both spaces are full again. Over roughly five weeks, Brasserie Boulud, La Pecora Bianca Lincoln Square and Lucia Pizza opened within a few blocks of the plaza, right as the November performance calendar starts. Their hours tell you who they were built for. The two big dining rooms open in the late afternoon on weekends. So when Paul Taylor, the Met or the Philharmonic has an early weekend curtain, the newest place you can eat before the show is a pizza counter with no seats.
The Boulud Corner Reopened With One Big Room
Brasserie Boulud takes the old three-restaurant footprint at 1900 Broadway and makes it one two-floor brasserie, designed by Rockwell Group. Plans include a main dining room with a large central bar, a speakeasy and private dining rooms. Resy's preview reported that the main room seats up to 160 and the bar seats 22.
Daniel Boulud runs it with chef Christina D'Angelo. The menu covers housemade charcuterie, coq au vin, steak frites and a rotating rotisserie of chicken, lamb and beef. The Original DB burger is available in limited numbers, and the wine list leans heavily on Beaujolais. D'Angelo has also added a pasta section that includes a braised rabbit pasta and saffron spaghetti.
Plans and current hours don't match yet. West Side Rag reported that the brasserie plans to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, with morning coffee and croissants to go and express menus before and after shows. For now, Resy lists hours of 4:30 to 10:30 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, and says other meals will be added later. Reservations open 30 days ahead at midnight. If you're planning around an opening night, that sets your calendar reminder.
The Largest La Pecora Bianca Took the Rosa Mexicano Space
La Pecora Bianca Lincoln Square opened October 19 at 61 Columbus Avenue at West 62nd Street. It's the group's second Upper West Side location, after 359 Columbus at West 77th. At 8,000 square feet over two floors with seats for more than 250, it's also the chain's biggest. The usual rigatoni vodka and whipped ricotta toast are on the menu. This location also has its own fall dishes: mafaldine with roasted butternut squash and brown butter, trecce with braised short rib ragu, and a pizza topped with delicata squash, speck and fontina. Outdoor seating arrives in the spring.
On weekdays it's the only new sit-down room near the plaza that serves lunch. On weekends it opens later.
The Hours, Side by Side
| Brasserie Boulud | La Pecora Bianca Lincoln Square | |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Closed | 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. | 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. |
| Thursday and Friday | 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. | 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. |
| Saturday | 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. | 4 p.m. to midnight |
| Sunday | 4:30 to 10:30 p.m. | 4 to 10 p.m. |
Look at the weekend rows. On Saturdays and Sundays, the earliest either room opens is 4 p.m. Lincoln Center's November weekend calendar has a lot of afternoon curtains.
A Weekend Matinee Leaves You at the Standing Bar
Lucia Pizza opened October 5 at 159 Columbus Avenue, between West 67th and 68th, the city's fifth Lucia. The shop has no tables. Co-owner Dylan Schwartz told West Side Rag that three standing bars hold about a dozen people. Slices are made from slow-fermented dough and finished with basil, Pecorino Romano and Sicilian olive oil. It opens at 11 a.m., or noon on Sundays, which makes it the one new opening near the plaza serving food before a weekend afternoon show.
These November and early December weekend curtains all start before either new dining room opens:
- Saturday, November 7, 1 p.m.: The Met's Lincoln in the Bardo.
- Saturday, November 7, 2 p.m.: The New York Philharmonic's Peter and the Wolf Young People's Concert, with family activities starting at 1 p.m. It's also simulcast free on David Geffen Hall's 50-foot digital wall, so you can watch without a ticket.
- Saturdays, November 14 and 21, 2 p.m.: Paul Taylor Dance Company's Family Express matinees at the David H. Koch Theater.
- Saturday, November 28, 2 p.m., and Sunday, November 29, 1 p.m.: New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker, opening weekend. Matinees continue on December 5 and 6.
The two sit-down rooms do work after a matinee. NYCB's 5 p.m. Nutcracker on November 29 and December 6 lets out into the dinner hours at both. For a 1 p.m. curtain, though, the new options come down to a slice eaten standing on Columbus.
Weeknight Curtains Fit the New Rooms
Evenings are what these spaces were designed for, and the November calendar has plenty of them. Paul Taylor Dance Company runs November 3 through 22 at the Koch Theater with live music by the Orchestra of St. Luke's. Its opening night on Tuesday, November 3, at 7 p.m. is a $10 Night. The Met's Lincoln in the Bardo also plays November 3 at 7:30 p.m., so the plaza will have two audiences arriving at once that night. Brasserie Boulud opens at 4:30 on Tuesdays, which gives you time to eat before either show. Bookings for that night opened 30 days ahead, at midnight.
The Met's La Bohème starts November 24 at 7:30 p.m. and continues November 28, December 3, December 5 and December 10. At David Geffen Hall, the Philharmonic's Rouvali Conducts Schubert program plays November 25, 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. and again December 1. It runs about an hour and 45 minutes with intermission. Starting at 7:30, the concert should end around 9:15, which gets you to Broadway and 64th with more than an hour before Brasserie Boulud's 10:30 close. On Saturday, November 28, La Pecora Bianca is open until midnight, the latest of the new rooms.
NYCB's Nutcracker opens Friday, November 27, at 8 p.m. Its evening shows run through the first weekend of December. That puts Thanksgiving week near the plaza at full capacity: Philharmonic concerts on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights, La Bohème on Saturday, and the ballet's opening weekend. Wednesday, November 25, is also the day the Macy's parade balloons are inflated around the American Museum of Natural History, with entry near West 72nd and Columbus. Macy's says it will release public-access details closer to the date.
What Opens Next on Columbus
Two more leases on Columbus are lined up between West 68th and 70th, and both are quick-service spots that could change the weekend picture. Both appear in CBRE's Q3 2026 Manhattan retail figures, and West Side Rag reported that neither has an opening date yet.
- Edith's Sandwich Counter, 186 Columbus Avenue between West 68th and 69th: The Jewish comfort-food sandwich shop founded by Elyssa Heller already has locations in Williamsburg, Tribeca and the West Village. It's moving into the space Francesco's Pizza left when it closed in July after 27 years. The New York Times named Edith's bacon, egg and cheese on a bagel one of the 57 sandwiches that define the city. Breakfast sandwiches are a core part of the menu, which would fill the weekend-morning gap a block from Lucia.
- Mimi's, 221 Columbus Avenue at West 70th: A self-serve Australian frozen yogurt shop that uses Greek yogurt, kefir, cane sugar and locally sourced fruit. Its other three city locations are in Greenwich Village, SoHo and the Upper East Side.
The longer wait is at 1 West 67th Street, between Central Park West and Columbus. Café des Artistes closed in 2009 and plans to return in early 2027, "returning to its original glamour." West Side Rag reported that restaurateurs Ariel Arce and Max Katzenberg are behind the revival and are still developing its plans. If you ate there before 2009, worked there or lived nearby, they're collecting memories at [email protected].
At DTNYC Team, we track how Lincoln Square's storefronts turn over because it shapes daily life on these blocks and how buyers see them. If you own nearby and want to know how this fall's openings fit into the value of your apartment, request a VIP Market Valuation and we'll go through it with you.
