Old-School Diner Cup and Saucer Will Close After Nearly 30 Years in Chinatown

Lower East Side-Chinatown classic diner Cup & Saucer is saying its goodbye next Monday after nearly 30 years on Canal Street.

Owners of the luncheonette with an old-school sign and simple diner fare tells The Lo-Down that they can no longer afford rent at 89 Canal Street, saying that it’s gone up to $15,000 per month. John Vasilopoulos and Nick Castanos say that they will be looking for a new location for the restaurant.

The diner is one of the mainstays of the Lower East Side and Chinatown border. It’s known for being one of the last remaining democratic old-school diners in the city with swivel chairs and an overhead greasy spoon menu. Most recently, a fire in the building shuttered it temporarily.

Eater has reached out to the landlord about the rent price.

Cup & Saucer is just the latest NYC diner to disappear — a November Times story pointed to five diner deaths in the last few years, while as recently as late June New York magazine lamented the city’s diminishing diner culture.

• Cup & Saucer, Classic Lower East Side Diner, is Closing Next Week [The Lo-Down]