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Closed for business:
Where did they all go?
Every week we hear about another closure: Mare, China doll, 3rd Cellar, The Rickshaw, and Stumble Inn are among the more notable but there have been many more. Out of Beijing’s more than 50,000 restaurants and bars, we can expect over 9,500 to close or disappear in 2010. Mare was one of Beijing’s favorite restaurants. The Rickshaw was printing cash just a year before. So what happened? For foreigners, Beijing is a small place with an active rumor mill. Most businesses will close their doors and we will never know why. But for those that follow the scene, many of the closings are written on the wall. Before you head out this weekend, search localnoodles for “CLOSED” to see if your favorite restaurant or bar is still around. For the 2010 "Closed for business report" click HERE.
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Best Sanlitun's Survivor? |
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The Tree..... |
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Suzie Wong's..... |
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Q-bar..... |
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| 1. Rickshaw - CLOSED - Beijing's freshest closing experience, The Rickshaw was an institution for several years until the owners decided not to renew the lease last month. |
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| 2. China Doll 3.3 - CLOSED - Originally owned by Ai Wan, China Doll was sold long after it had been bankrupt. The new owner assumed the debt and a host of PR issues after bouncers pummeled partygoers and restricted access to Kokomo above. |
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| 3. Chienmen 23 - HALF CLOSED - Beijing's most posh dining and nightlife area closed half of its bars and restaurants almost overnight: Hex, Fez, Agua, & Shiro Matsu. Chienmen management claimed they weren't paying the rent and cut off their power. |
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| 4. 3rd Cellar - CLOSED - One of the sexiest wine bars to open up last year closed less than a year later. Its remote location on the side of the Chaoyang Acrobatic theatre was the primary reason for the closing. |
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| 5. La Baie des Anges - CLOSED - La Baie was one of a kind in early 2007 but post Olympic competition took its toll. After the owner was hired to work at locally based international wine distributor, La Baie closed its doors and went up for sale. |
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| 6. XIAO WANG FU (SANLITUN) - CLOSED - Xiao Wang Fu was extremely popular for its foreign friendly Chinese food. The Sanlitun location was highly trafficked but more and more high-end Chinese competition and a changing Sanlitun led to its demise. |
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| 7. Qu Nar - CLOSED - Once a popular Jiangsu restaurant located just north of Chang Hong Qiao, this restaurant went bankrupt just in time for the entire area to be earmarked for destruction. |
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| 8. 中国红街 - CLOSED - seems cursed. Rupa, 66 North, Budapest, and KLUBB ROUGE and a few others have either gone out of business or are quickly head that way. Bad business ideas, location, management, and landlord issues are just a few reasons why. |
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| 9. W Sports & Music - CLOSED - probably the worst name a bar could possibly manage, this bar was started by a Swedish Ping Pong legend. The owner had a life size version of himself posted outside to greet customers. Was it a bar? A restaurant? Or a place to play ping pong? Nobody knew and the resulting mystery led to its demise. |
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| 10. RAS - CLOSED - Beijing's best and only Ethiopian restaurant moved from Lido to Sanlitun only to close less than a year later. Solid food and management were not enough to compensate for the poor location. |
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| 10. Ozone Fitness - CLOSED - Gyms are as suseptable as any restaurant or bar. 12 hours after their new membership drive new customers found the Ozone Chaoyang Park location closed forever. Rumors are that the entire chain may be headed toward bankruptcy. Beware! |
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OTHER NOTABLE CLOSINGS: Browns, Igosso, Gobi Gear, Alba, Stumble Inn, Double Coffee, Amigo Pizza, Pink loft, Ache, The Med, Cafe de Niro, Afro Arena, Chingari, La Gauche, Garden of Delights, Toper Beer House, Guantanamera, Java & Yangoon, Stone Boat Cafe, Pili Pili (2x), Angel Italian Food, Block House, Ciao Bella, Dao, Sambal Urban, Bridge Cafe, Around Midnight, Pepper, The Little Mermaid, Xiao Wang Fu, Escape Bar, Tribute North, Kick bar, Sahara, Toscana, Bai He Vegetarian, The Olive (lidu), Ruby Khi, Piazza Italia, Impressions of Yunan, Mondo Gelato, NY City Music Kitchen, Arena Club, Peter Pan, Club Sandwich, Solaire Bistro, +39, (Jianwai), Cylinder Bar & Cafe, Dini's, The Beach, Together, Night club, Gisa Italian Restaurant, The Stone Boat Cafe, Vegetarian's Celebration, Whale Inside, possibily Q-bar, and many, many more...
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| For full list, search CLOSED |
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