Overview

• The restaurant will serve its final meal on August 17 after owners posted a closure notice on its website as well as Instagram.
• Longtime employees report that Elephant & Castle has not turned a profit since before the pandemic, with waiter Tony Ray noting losses spanning decades.
• Regulars have lined up for last meals and recalled the restaurant as a Village mainstay, with many describing its closure as the end of an era.
• Founded in 1973 by George Schwarz, the Greenwich Avenue location survived a four-month pandemic pause but will shutter its doors on August 17 even as its 1989 Irish sister restaurant stays open.
• Industry data indicate that rising food, labor and rent costs plus softer consumer spending have pushed many long-standing restaurants to permanent shutdowns nationwide.