Jing Fong, the dim sum destination, will close its Chinatown banquet hall and indoor dining in March. However, they will continue to operate delivery and takeout service, plus outdoor dining, at 20 Elizabeth Street, as they look for a new Chinatown location.
The restaurant, founded in 1972, announced that its final day of indoor restaurant service would be March 7th in an Instagram post. "We are heartbroken to announce that our Chinatown location at 20 Elizabeth Street, will be permanently closing its indoor dining operation on March 7, 2021 at 8:00pm. We will continue to operate from the 2nd floor kitchen for our outside patio, take-out, and delivery until further notice," they wrote.
They added, "Please, join us safely for one last meal inside as we look back on all the memories we had here together. If you do not feel comfortable dining with us yet, no worries at all. We will continue to post memories shared with us on our stories. This is not the end for us, here at Chinatown, as we are actively looking for a new location to move into as soon as possible. We will keep you all updated as we figure out the next chapter for us."
Jing Fong's Upper West Side outpost—a fraction of the Chinatown restaurant's 20,000 square foot—will remain open.
The Elizabeth Street restaurant had temporarily closed last March, right before New York State shut down. Marketing director Claudia Leo told the Post 11 months ago, "We will re-open when everything passes. Honestly we have no idea when. Maybe when there is a vaccine and a cure but there is no light at the end of this tunnel right now."
Now, indoor dining has only returned at 25% capacity just last week, with only an increase to 35% on February 26th—which is still not enough for many businesses, especially those in Asian-American communities which have faced bias during the pandemic, to cover their expenses.
Jing Fong's 20 Elizabeth Street location is open from 10 a.m. until 7:45 p.m., Monday through Sunday, through March 7th.
