Closed for Business: Chiles & Chocolate Oaxacan Kitchen, 54 Seventh Avenue
Wednesday, October 5, 2024 at 5:32PM
Chiles & Chocolate, the Oaxacan restaurant on Seventh Avenue between Union and Berkeley, has closed.
The restaurant, which swapped spaces with Amin Indian Restaurant a couple blocks away back in June, was simply too large for the space, and often sat nearly empty at prime times. In my opinion, it was far more well-suited to the tiny space now occupied by Amin, as the niche, mole-based cuisine, as good as it might have been, was never too large a draw.
A manager at Amin, which has the same owner, confirmed that the restaurant shut down due to not being able to afford the rent, which was $15,000 per month.
Back in August the restaurant opened an outpost on Eighth Avenue near 18th Street in Manhattan, so not all is lost. Yelp reviews are mostly positive, so hopefully it can thrive in Manhattan moreso than in Brooklyn.
Closed for Business in Food, Scoops, Storefronts
Reader Comments (5)
It should be noted that Chiles and Chocolate changed owners when it moved a couple months ago. Before the move, it was excellent. After the move (and new owner, which is same as Amin) is has failed miserably. This is no surprise given how terrible Amin is.
Did you really think someone who owns an Indian restaurant and an Oaxacan restaurant could do both well? No, they did/do neither well, actually.
BTW, I wouldn't believe A WORD that guy from Amin told you.
They moved 2 months ago and this is a surprise that the rent was increased? Don't you think they would have known about a possible rent increase less than 2 months ago when they moved.
That guy you spoke with from Amin is a liar. Blaming everything on landlors is an easy cop out. The truth of the matter is that the food was terrible under new ownership and they did NOTHING with the space other than put up a new awning. They kept the same tacky decor inside.
Don't believe everything you hear!
Check out the reviews on Yelp for this location. Consistently received 3 and 4 stars before the move and then after the move, the reviews are all 1 star.
The owner should be ashamed for killing what was a nice place so quickly.
@parkslopefoodie Just double checked with the manager and he clarified that the rent wasn't increased, but the owner just wasn't able to pay the rent because business was so bad. I made the change.
Too bad. I'll add this to the list of restaurants I wanted to try but never got the chance before they closed.